Best Backpacking Food Storage Tips You Should ALWAYS Remember
Whether you are going for a hiking trip or some backwoods camping trip, remembering these best backpacking food storage tips will come in handy.
The fact is, during any day or overnight camping trip any kind of critter or creepy crawling bug can get into your food. Mice, rodents not mention bears, will gnaw all through a tent or backpack to attack at crumbs or goodies left inside. This is not only extremely gross and unhygienic but it’s also our responsibility as campers to try stopping wild animals from getting any human food. This disrupts their natural diet and makes them dependent upon people and makes them a security threat. Bears that become habituated to humans and a nuisance may end up by being killed.
If you would like to spend some time on the trail, not the bathroom, make sure to heed the rules below of backpacking food storage.
General Backpacking Food Storage Tips:
Keeping human food (and other aromatic items like toiletries) faraway from animals requires similar practices in both a campground and back country campsite.
Here are some basic and general food storage tips for camping:
• Never leave food, trash or other scented products inside your tent.
• Never leave your food unattended. Jays, squirrels and chipmunks can quickly snatch food in broad daylight, and other animals come foraging in the dark.
Backpacking Food Storage For A Campground Trip:
• During the daytime, make sure that all your food is protected in your car or cooler, even though you are sitting nearby and also particularly if you are gone on a hike.
• At hours of darkness, place any loose food, in addition a cooler if you have got one, within your vehicle or into a metal bear box if there is one. Bears and raccoons are adept at opening some coolers. A number of cooler manufacturers claim that certain models are bear-proof, though padlocks could be mandatory. You can also hang up a bag of food from a high branch or simply use a bear canister, if bears are a known trouble within the campground.
Backpacking Food Storage For The Backwoods Country Trip:
If you’ll be in the bear-inhabited backwoods country of a parkland or national forest, or on a national scenic trail like the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail, follow its regulations and suggestions for food storage carefully.
If you’re backpacking food storage in a locality where there aren’t any defined regulations, you’ll make a choice from three methods:
• Using a provided metal food locker
• Using a bear canister or bear bag
• Hanging your foodstuff on a pole or tree
Metal Food Lockers:
Some campgrounds similarly as designated back country campsites provide large metal bear-proof boxes within which you’ll be able to stash your food, trash and toiletries. These are sometimes communal, so there’s no guarantee there’ll be room for your stuff. Also, it is important to secure the latch properly so bears can’t get in. Otherwise, you’ll bet they are going to.
1. Bear Canisters
The hard shell plastic cylinders come with lids that humans can twist on and off (some may even require a screwdriver or coin to lock and unlock). They’re designed to suit into most backpacks and are available in several sizes, so if you’re traveling solo, you’ll choose a smaller one.
If you’re backpacking food storage in areas where canisters are required, make sure to use one. If a ranger stops you on the trail and you don’t have one, you’ll be issued a hefty fine. In some national parks, ranger’s loan or rent bears canisters. However, on high-demand summer weekends they will run out of canisters before you get there, so have a backup plan. Canisters also prevent raccoons from getting in your food and garbage, and will be required for that reason.
Pros:
• Bears have rarely been known to open a canister.
• You can leave them on the ground rather than hanging them.
• With the lid on they create a decent camp seat.
• Some are clear so you’ll see whether you remembered to place that chocolate candy in or not.
• Many bears have learned that canisters aren’t worth their effort and should march on from your camp once they see you’ve got one.
Cons:
• Heavy and hulking (most weigh 2-3 pounds).
Tip for using a bear canister:
• Put reflective tape on your canister. That way, if you hear something disturbing it in the dark, you’ll be able to more easily see what’s happening.
2. Bear Bags
If a bear canister isn’t specifically required but you still got to protect your food from bears, then a bear bag may be a good selection. These are made from a high-density polyethylene that a bear cannot tear open. The aluminum liner is on the market separately that will fit inside a smaller model to avoid the bears from puncturing or crushing the things inside.
The odor proof plastic bags (that are also waterproof, contrasting the bear bag itself) are available individually to place your food and garbage into first to further include bear deterrence. Some of the models are created to discourage mice, marmots and other rodents, but if you are in a bear country, choose the bag model that is specifically designed for bears.
Pros:
• They’re lightweight and compact.
Cons:
• Some national parks don’t accept bear bags as a bear-proof food-storage method.
• A bear could crush it (without the aluminum liner) or maybe carry the bag away, though it can’t get into the bag.
Tips for using bear bags:
• Be certain to cinch the drawstring tight and tie the knot precisely the way the manufacturer instructs.
• While these bags are often left on the ground just like a canister, you would possibly want to tie the bag to a tree limb or hang it from a bear pole (see below).
• Bear bags are usually solid white. To distinguish yours aside from others, use a permanent marker to write down your name or draw a design thereon.
• If you’re uncertain whether to use a canister or bag, bring a canister for your most significant food additionally as a bear bag for your trash and least crucial items.
3. Hanging Your Food
Here are some important methods for hanging food:
• You can suspend your food from a high, sturdy tree limb.
• At a few back country campsites you will find the bear poles, a sober improvement over tree branches. With this method, you’ll find an elevated metal pole with huge hooks at the highest from where you can hang your entire backpack or food bag. An extended metal lifter pole is provided for hoisting your food bag up onto one amongst the hooks.
• Or you could even find a high straight metal cable strung connecting two poles, which is usually easier to hold your food bags.
Pros:
• You don’t have to buy specialized equipment. Some rope and a sturdy bag are all you’ll need.
Cons:
• If you are backpacking food storage on top of timber line or in the deserted areas with low shrubs then hanging from a branch is not even an option for you.
• Hanging food in a tree may be difficult and time-consuming. Trying to plant a food bag with a bulky pole on to a hook at the top; a tall pole takes tons of attempts.
• Some bears have learned to tug on ropes to get to the bag.
Tips for hanging food:
• Tie 50 to 100 foot rope to any weight (you can try using a hand size rock or simply fill your tent bag with any rock) and toss it over tree limb or a cable. It is going to take many attempts to get it over.
• Once over and back on the bottom, untie the rock or tent-stake bag, and connect your food bag.
• Hoist your bag 10 to 15 feet high so a standing bear can’t reach it, and confirm it’s a minimum of four feet out from the trunk or pole.
• Tie the opposite end of the rope to a trunk or pole to secure it.
Food Handling Basics:
The final thing you would like to try and do while camping is spend time dashing to the latrine.
There are three general ways you may become sick from the inappropriate hygiene and food handling while you camp:
• Transmission of pathogens to your hands and mouth after getting to the toilet (fecal-oral transmission)
• Eating spoiled food from a cooler
• Improper handling of meat
How to keep cooler food from spoiling:
Chances are high that you’ll have a cooler if you’re car camping. In it you’ll want to stay any perishables, like meat (especially raw), cheese, eggs and milk, at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder in order that they don’t spoil.
More backpacking food storage tips for camping:
• Keep odors at a distance:
Cook food and wash dishes (and hands) well far away from your tent so odors don’t attract animals near where you sleep. Use only a little bit of liquid unscented soap.
• Dishwater:
Strain out any food scraps and put them in your trash. Disperse rinse water over a rocky area if possible, well far away from your campsite.
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Last update on 2021-12-07 : Disclosure: Outdoorfarer.com participates in the Amazon Affiliate program and may earn advertising fees from sales on displayed products
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