Snowdog & I use an action packer box made by rubbermaid as our basic component. It has latching handles. To start with we use grocery store food re packed in ziploc freezer bags. We use mostly gallon size. Those go in the box. The exact box we use is no longer made, but any heavy duty plastic box that seals will work. The box goes into a heavy duty plastic pack liner, which goes into our Camp Trails Tripper Pack. All of the straps need to be cinched tight to help seal. We have had bears & other critters walk right past it. Four other key points: Wash it after each trip with dish soap & a weak clorox solution to eliminate odors. Move it away from the cooking area. Burn all garbage each night. Keep a clean camp. This system has worked for more than ten years without incident. I've only had one occasion where a bear tried to get my pack, but he failed. That's another story for another day. It was NOT related to use of our system. And I've never hung a food pack in over 30 years of tripping. I have seen bears scanning the trees looking for a free lunch, however.

Posted by old salt on March 16, 2002 at 23:57
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