Please help with food storage

“I live in Texas and am new to backpacking. We have no bears so I am curious as to a safe way to store food from raccoons, mice, etc. My last trip I hung my food in my sleeping bag's bag from a tree. Is this safe and affective given that I don't have to worry about bears?”

“I take along an old AOL CD, then when I am hanging my bag, I knot a stick into the line and hang the CD on that. If a mouse is crawling down the line, it will fall off when it gets to the CD.”

“What are you trying to store and how long will you be out?

I usually take freeze dried foods which have been packed in seperate zip lock bags. I put everythign in zip locks. Don't skimp with the cheap bags, buy the real ones. Store all food in nylon stuff sack.

I would not put anything except yourself into your sleeping bag. If an animal gets into it looking for food, you may have to replace it. Also, the food may spill out in it.

That may be ok though. You will just have to eat while you are sleeping.”

“If you don't have to worry about bears, you're just as good putting your food under your pillow :)”

“WK, I think srperry meant he/she used the sleeping bag's stuff sack as a food hanging bag. However, WK has a good point. You should use a dedicated hanging bag for your food instead of your sleeping bag stuff, because if an animal does get into it, poof, no sleeping bag stuff sack.”

“IJ has been known to enjoy the mice playing in his hair, lol...”

“Get one of those thin metal cans like what gourmet popcorn comes in, the kind that is already popped. You can buy a can at a local thrift store. Then hang that in a bag to keep racoons out, and the metal can, very light-weight, will stop all rodents or plain old moisture from ruining your food. Or you can use a plastic bucket like what dishwasher detergent comes in from the warehouse store. They are OKed by Olympic National Park as racoon deterrents for beach hikes. The kind I mean have a lid that snaps on, much like the standard 5-gallon paint bucket, only smaller. The handle makes hanging easy, and no bag is needed since the buckets are waterproof already. But if there are no bears, then the bucket can just sit on the ground. These buckets weigh a fraction of a real bear cannister, and can be had for free. I have a couple of extras if you want one.”

“Thanks for the CD trick bitpusher. WK I meant the stuff sack for my bag. I normally take 1 freezed dried meal a day and the rest is snack food in ziplocks. Indiana john-- isn't putting food in your tent risky b/c a raccoon, mountain lion, bobcat (in texas) might try to get in the tent? That's what I'm scared of.
So nobody has a bad story of hanging food in a tree in non-bear country? If so that will make me feel better. I still fear ants/squirels/mice but feel a little better about it. And should I still attempt to hang the food as far away from my campsite as possible?”

“Get an Ursack. No hanging needed, Just tie it off something immovable (such as a tree). Or do as Sluggy says, and use the bucket trick.”

“I've never lost food to any animal in the backcountry, regardless of how I stored it. Generally I hang my food, always when I am in bear country, and usually when I am not.

Also hang your garbage as well...that smells of your food.”

“Thanks again everyone. last weekend I had a well fed raccoon decided to visit in the middle of the night and ever since I've been trying to hedge against this happening again. I appreciate it.”

“What bitpusher said, hang everything with a scent; food, trash, toothpaste, deoderant etc... If you're leaving your backpack at camp while you go dayhiking, that's the time the critters will rip through your pack for stuff that smells good to them. I've also always hung my food and have had more problems with the little critters than the bears. Do use a dedicated food bag so you don't wake up to find a mountain lion chewing on your foot. I like to use thick trash bags and double bag. Hang your bag correctly, don't just lob it over the closest tree limb. Hang your food at least 12-15 feet high and between two tree limbs at least 20-30 feet apart, you should be in good shape. Also, make sure that your bag is not hanging close to any branches where the critters can catapult off of and land onto the food bag (although it's probably pretty fun to watch!)”

“I have had hung food ravaged by mice. The right kind (or wrong kind)of mouse uses a bear wire as a highway to your food. That's why I started using the can, then switched to the bucket. I also have a bear cannister for when I am in the high country where there may not be trees convenient for hanging. The bucket also serves to prevent the crushing of your food in the pack, and makes a dandy seat or low table in a campsite.”

“I worry more about the wild hogs in Texas than I do bears.

I was down there a couple years ago and saw an entire tent ripped to shreds where then went in after the food.”

“Then you just have to take Artex with you when you go to Texas.”

“CAPN BOB- out of curiosity, why btwn two trees? why not just over a limb? Please explain. thanks.”

“In 35 years of hiking, I've had a few mice chew the corner off my Payday bars, or in the bag of nuts in my pack, but that's about it. If I have smelly food like bacon, I keep it well sealed until I eat it, then I eat all of it, and wash up afterwards. I keep sardine can trash, tuna can trash, canned chicken trash, etc, in a sealed trash sack, and that has been chewed into a few times by mice. The worst problem I've ever had was with aggressive racoons on the Olympic coast. The other problem was having a mouse in my tent and running all over me as I tried to sleep. Nasty! I don't think my sealed dried food or freeze dried food is very interesting to bears. I don't often have meat, except summer sausage, or jerky, which they must not smell.”

“Are regular zip lock bags effective in keeping the smells so that mice and raccoons don't catch a whiff? and if someone has the time, could you please explain an affective way of tying up btwn two trees? I'm curious also as to why tying up to a branch on a single tree is not affective? again, thanks”

“Spend the $10 and order a 3 bag set of the odor barrier bags from Ursack. You can line a regular stuffsack with them, and cut off 99% of the food smell. They are like heavy duty Ziplocs.
If hiking in alpine areas, you can put food in them, and put them up high on rock ledges also.”

“Forget Ziplocs, forget odor barrier bags, nothing at all can prevent any animal from smelling the food inside. There will be residue on your fingers (even if you wash) which gets on the outside of the bag, or the food may brush the top edge of the bag even a little bit. Even when sealed very few zip-type bags are completely air-tight. No matter what you do they will smell your food, unless it is in an unopened can or jar. Even then acclimated animals know what cans and jars contain and will chew through anyway. The only way to guard your food is through careful hanging or a proven canister.

Ursack isn't proven for persistent bears yet, but is good most of the rest of the time. For proven protection buy Bearikade or a canister sold by REI/EMS/etc.

As for hanging between trees, I'm sure he was talking about hanging on a steel cable that is strung between two trees - something done for you at an official site, not something you do yourself. In a backcountry campsite you just need to find one "good" tree. Visit this site for an excellent reference on hanging technique.”

“You can hang between two trees without there being a pre-hung cable, it just takes two lines. Nowslimmer showed me this technique a couple of years ago. You pick a couple of trees about 30 feet apart, that each have a good branch at about the same level, and toss a line over those branches. Then attach your food bag to both lines, and haul them up until the lines are nearly parallel to the ground, and tie them off. This is a two-person job.

One good tree and a well-hung bag, more than 10 feet off the ground and more than five feet away from the tree, will generally work though.”

“Nope. I'm talking about using rope (typically clothes line size). I carry about 50-75 feet with me. Tie a rock to one end of the rope and throw it over a tree limb that's nice and high, the higher the better. Try to get the rope snugged in between the trunk and the tree limb, or the limb may break if you're hoisting a heavy bag. Find the center of the rope and tie it to a rock or have someone hold on to it as you repeat throwing the other end of the rope over the othe tree limb. Put a slip knot at the center spot on the rope and connect your food bag at the slip knot. Pull both ends of the rope up evenly and get the bag up as high as you can. I like to tie the rope off at each tree by winding the excess rope around the tree trunk and make sure it's good and secure. Make sure your bag is positioned high up, centered between and away from both trees, and not close to any other trees with branches where a critter can jump to the bag from. It's easy to hoist the bag by both rope ends if you have two people, just get it tied in nice and tight, try to keep the slack out of the rope or the bag from sagging. You can do it by yourself as well, it just takes alittle patience and forethought as you tie off at one tree and then hoist from the second tree and keeping your bag centered.

I've seen way too many sloppily tossed bags over a single limb, so low that a dog could jump and reach it.

Is this 100% fullproof? No, but I've never had a bag pulled down and if you really get the bag between two trees with a distance, that's alot of tightrope walking for a critter to get to the bag.

That's how I do it anyway.”

“I will shut up on the Ursack thing ;-)
But here is my last thingie on it: 3 years and not any food lost. I have a couple hiking partners with them also, and none of us have lost anything, or had our food crushed. It is a good middle ground for when you want protection but not weight (ie. a canister) They are also much more affordable than a canister.
I do NOT hang mine either-which is another reason Ursacks are popular. 30 seconds of tying a knot and it's bedtime. You can't beat that!”

“In bear country the counterbalance method on a well selected limb is the only foolproof method. I've hiked for years in the Yosemite area and the bears unfortunately are very smart there. Their lives depend on proper food storage since they learn quickly and become a hazard. Any technique that involves tying off 1 end to a tree they will figure out and simply chew off the line. They are so good at climbing trees that in popular areas I've seen people double bag food and fill it with rocks and sink it in a lake. When we are in area's with unsuitable trees we do the best we can and sleep at the base of that tree but have still been awaken with a bear in our tree but then we can successfully defend our food. I'm going to break down and buy a bearikade. I've never lost food to a bear but it's just such a hassle and above treeline it's the only way to go. Works for all critters too. I've had much more damage from chipmunks and mice. I hate those meeses to pieces!”