eating in tent?

[Bear Cables]

There are discussion about hanging bear bags and not keeping ones food in the tent but what about eating/drinking in the tent? I have always understood and taught new hikers to never have food in the tent but I read of hikers saying they get in the tent and eat or drink. I even see ads where the hiker is in the tent with coffee. What do others think or do about this?

[Spot In The Sky]

Hey thanks for asking this- I was thinking the same thing cause I was taught to set up food "200 yards" from the sleeping area. But I have also read people talking about a tent-fly is good because you can cook under it sometimes yada yada yada.

[restlesss]

I too have seen people say they eat in their tents and even have food in their tents. I also saw a post from a future Darwin Award Winner saying a bear took his food from his tent only two inches from his head but also i think said he would continue doing it. Hey it probably will never be an issue with you and a large preditor but there is always a chance. I do not eat in my tent and I hang my food away from the tent. I don't know if I go far enough away but at least I am trying to be safe for me and future hikers. Remember if a preditor hurts or kills you because of your stupidity then that animals life is probably going to be forfeit and others too just because it did what it is supposed to do and that is hunt and gather food.

So long story short... I do not recommend eating in a tent or keeping food in a tent and advertisements are just that NOT REAL LIFE!!!

Do what you want just think of the consequences first.

[Mountain Wildman]

Never hiked the A.T. yet but I haved camped since 1984.
When I retire into my tent it is to sleep, I don't plan on bringing food with me, Just a water bottle for the dry throat in the middle of my slumber.
In the morning if it is cold I might do the hanging out of the tent door while I make coffee and breakfast thing, But since I will have to take my bear bag down I will probably just stay up. My tent cost too much to risk a bear or mouse chewing through it for food. Just my opinion.

[climber2377]

i try not to eat in the tent/hammock and do my best to keep food smells in the bear bag and not all over me. but such is life. if its pouring rain out and i can stay dry and cook under my tarp im game. i dont mind sitting on my hammock and eating. i try not to make a mess. and im pretty good about getting all food stuff and anything scented out of my pack and into the bear bag.

[jesse]

Small critters can be a nuisance. Never had a bear come into my tent, but I accidently left a snickers bar in a outside pocket in my pack, a damn mouse chewed a hole in my pack.

[Graywolf]

There are discussion about hanging bear bags and not keeping ones food in the tent but what about eating/drinking in the tent? I have always understood and taught new hikers to never have food in the tent but I read of hikers saying they get in the tent and eat or drink. I even see ads where the hiker is in the tent with coffee. What do others think or do about this?

Soooo????? Bears are hanging bags now?? Hmmmmm...Their getting smarter....

[10-K]

I confess... I usually have my stove setup in the vestibule so when I wake up I can roll over and fix my breakfast before I get out of my bag, usually just before dawn. Half the time I eat and roll back over and snooze for a few more minutes.

[fiddlehead]

If you don't eat in your tent, and it's raining or snowing? where do you eat?
I usually sit outside of my tent to eat. (Unless it's raining/snowing.)

[JAK]

Depends.

I mean that's what I like to wear in case the bears come knocking.

[Egads]

I have eaten trail bars in a tent during inclement weather; but never cooked in a tent. All food & trash stays outside.

[Hikes in Rain]

I confess... I usually have my stove setup in the vestibule so when I wake up I can roll over and fix my breakfast before I get out of my bag, usually just before dawn. Half the time I eat and roll back over and snooze for a few more minutes.

I love this idea, and I've tried it a number of times. Unfortunately, my bladder won't let me, and once I'm up anyway......

[Manwich]

I'm a case study of the princess and the pea. One single crumb inside my tent and I cannot sleep.

I don't poop where I eat, I don't eat where I poop .
I don't sleep where I poop, I don't poop where I sleep.
I don't eat where I sleep, I don't sleep where I eat.

Except for that time I was living out of that bathroom.

[Lone Wolf]

There are discussion about hanging bear bags and not keeping ones food in the tent but what about eating/drinking in the tent? I have always understood and taught new hikers to never have food in the tent but I read of hikers saying they get in the tent and eat or drink. I even see ads where the hiker is in the tent with coffee. What do others think or do about this?

i've been eating, drinking, cooking and sleeping with food in my tent for 25 years. never had a problem

[Gray Blazer]

My wife and I never ate in the tent and never even brought candy wrappers or gum in the tent. Yet we had a bear try to get in with us while we were sleeping in the middle of the night.

Now when I backpack, I keep my pack and food in the tent. The bears on the AT seem to be wary of humans, so far.

[Rockhound]

Bears shmears. The real hazard of eating in a tent is mice. They will chew holes through a tent to get to food. Would really suck if you are out there in a new Hubba Hubba HP. I have only found this to be a problem in shelter areas. This is the only reason I hang. Otherwise I would just take LWs advice and use my food bag as a pillow.

[Rockhound]

Another option is crumbling up a Pop Tart to leave outside your buddies tent so the mice leave you alone.

[Gray Blazer]

Another option is crumbling up a Pop Tart to leave outside your buddies tent so the mice leave you alone.

Yeah, that'll distract them about 30 secs.

[JustaTouron]

I think with all safety measures....be it keeping food out of your tent, size of first aid kit, bringing spot/cell phone etc. One must look at the particular situation and balance. Also bears/mice are not the only risk involved in cooking in vestibule. Fire is another risk.

Using all of your food as a pillow in your tent is one option. Put all of your food a bear bag is one option. But those are not the only two options. A third could be put all of your food except one teaspoon of instant coffee in your bear bag, which gets kept in the vestibule overnight.

Never bringing food into your tent is one option. Always bring food into your tent is one option. A third option could be to only bring food into your tent when hiking in areas with low/no bear risk, but bear bagging when the risk is higher.

Also cooking and eating in your tent is not the same as storing food in your tent. During a rain storm you might prepare dinner in your vestibule, eat, and then hang your bear bag. The next morning retrive the bear bag eat breakfast and then pack up. Of course in that case you want avoid spilling food and also avoid food with a high smell factor that might get into the fabric.

[fiddlehead]

I have an interesting story that happened to me in griz country on the next to last night of my '98 CDT hike, about 10 miles south of Waterton Lakes terminus of the CDT
You can read it here.