I have done cream cheese on a pack trip to the Canyonlands-7 days, 70 miles, high desert temps...never have been sick on trail or from trail....KNocking on wood right now I dont worry about cheese to much the hard kind anyway!and the way that I figure it if it doesn't pass the sniff test and/or it doesn't pass the fear test I dont eat it. Been sick way more often from restaurants way more But with the mylar at least I would be going out in starwars style-May the FORCE be with you all

I'd encourage all of you who bring coolers to stick a thermometer in it. Just because there's a gallon jug with ice in it doesn't mean everything inside your (my god those things are expensive!) name brand whatever is 32, 42, 52 ... degrees. Try a thermometer, I'm sure it will surprise you as much as it always did me.

Keeping things cold is something I cannot consistently do to my satisfaction even after all these years. Evaporative cooling is helpful on windy days - the lower the dew point the better. Cool is doable depending.... You can keep fillets overnight in most any temp but they will still taste, ummm, like seafood in the midwest. Cheesecake? Pudding? No problem.

I've tried a wide variety of approaches and what I miss most is aluminum canoes in Spring. I've even intended to do the math and experiment on whether or not the same size bottle filled with either gas or water (ice) or whatever makes a difference.

Your mileage may vary - GREATLY!     It all depends on what you want or need to keep cool or cold and for how long and how you view risk.

I remember one group trip where we picked out the moldiest (green as I recall) pieces of Kraft pre-shredded cheese ... based mostly on how much we needed to sufficiently cover the pizza before the other toppings went on. Use by dates are meaningless up there and I doubt anyone of us washed our hands before but I know I did after picking out moldy cheese ... excellent pizza none the less.

jjcanoeguide wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 1:46pm:


 OR, I TOLD that rookie, cut AWAY from you when FILLETING

The mylar would probably help.  LOL.  I can envision the strange looks you'd get from passers-by at your huge space blanket covered pack.  Some suggested responses:

Asteroid, satellite, rocket, or space junk recovery.
We didn't have a body bag.
Just heating up leftovers from our wild pig roast last night.

jjcanoeguide wrote on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 3:31pm:


  I think it would help for sure. I use this trick to keep a Laker I caught in Jean and gutted and put in Zip lock, then canvas "money" bag fresh and cool while paddling east down Sturgeon on a 90 degree day.
  I kept bag under my seat out of the direct sun, and just re-whetted when needed. I could of kept it cool a long time using this method.
  I "wonder" if you couldn't take a foil type rescue blanket and with the reflecting side out, make a makeshift cover for the food pack as it lay in the canoe? If you had say a big potato burlap bag inside pack, with your food in a plastic liner inside that, if you couldn't wet the burlap before you portage and use the mylar cover, if it wouldn't keep you food a lot longer? Also keep pack out of sun in camp and keep burlap wet overnight.  Between that and the ice jugs, I would think you'd get a few extra days?

With all the reviews, I'll have to try the fresh/frozen food plan sometime.  Since we usually go in early/mid august for at least 8 days, I'm betting frozen food won't stay that way for much more than 5 days in the August sun & heat.  Wonder if the burlap trick (wet a burlap sack routinely and the evaporation cools the contents somewhat) would help keep temps down when sitting all day in a canoe.

I have the insulated food pack from Kondos and a cooler that fits in it like a glove,  I made a freezer box out of styrofoam about a inch thick, big enough to finish filling out out pack.  We use dry ice in the freezer section and reular ice in the Cooler.  I can send pics later. or PM me for more information.  Works for our group as we have had stuff stay frozen into day 5 of an 8 day trip.

i have the bwj insulated food pack and the wife and i love it. yes this pack can start out heavy, but gets lighter every day. it is easy to hang and easy to carry imo. i have had a bear steal it on a long portage, he tore the zipper and just alittle bit of the pack, before i was able to get it back from him. he did get a bag of treats that was at the top of the pack. once he got something out of it he was willing to leave. he did charge me a couple times just to keep me away until he did get a treat.  we also do dry food trips with bear vaults containers. either system works for us depending on our trip plans.

  vinnie

I purchased one of the BWJ food pack systems, and I regret spending the money.  If you freeze any meat your planning on bringing and use a soft sided cooler, you'll reap the same benefits and save about $350.  The upside to the system:  my wife loves the cold water produced from the melting gallon jugs.

If $ is no object, than I'm sure that they're great! If you must have fresh food. I use a 60l barrel for everything. They make a cooler that fits in the bottom. A note on Barrels, upgrade the harness. All my gear except for rods & paddels will fit. Love them or hate them, the best thing about barrels is your gear stays dry,you don't need a chair and I never have to hang my food from a tree.