Chicken092 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 4:00pm:

We we first started doing our own food packing the oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes would go in a plastic container of some sort. Which was fine but then lugged around the useless empty containers the rest of the trip. Now we bring out more garbage but it allows us to lose one of our food packs much more quickly.

This post on the "oatmeal" thread got me thinking (that's unfortunate) about how I package my food ... that plus the placement of an anticipated food cache near the beginning of my trip this year.

Much of my food is packaged in zip lock bags of various sizes.  Some of the bags are for extra water protection, some are to group together items that will be used for a meal (e.g., dinner).  Yet, there are other containers in my kit for various other reasons (many of them re-purposed).  So, if you were to open up my food pack, you'd likely see:

1) my pride-and-joy find ... one (if not 2) plastic containers I found for storing round crackers (just love those Toasteds in the field).  They are highly crush resistant and are in the shape of two side-by-side cylinders (with a lid resembling a figure-8).  I can place the crackers inside a snack bag and then slide them into a tube and they are fresh and dry for the entire trip.  (Found these at a Black and Decker outlet store of all places!)
2) plastic pill bottles (like vitamins come in) ... used mostly for dehydrated meats (e.g., chicken, beef, whatever).  I found the sharper edges on especially dehydrated chicken tended to poke holes in plastic bags.  I can also use as much as needed and then re-cap, although often a full bottle is needed for a meal. (BTW:  The smaller ones fit nicely into the cracker-carrier cylinders when empty.)
3) plastic containers that drink products like Crystal Lite powdered drinks used to come in.  I started off using these for crackers early on ... until I found something better.  Now they are taken for storage of things like shoe-string potatoes ... when I'm in desperate need of a salt hit.
4) round plastic container to store Sandwich Thins/Rounds in (interesting newer bread product, but are satisfactory for things like PB&J sandwiches)

Finally, to help organize foods (mostly by breakfast/lunch/dinner) I take 3 Sterilite boxes (about 14 X 8 X 5 inch).  These are stackable and fit neatly inside my food pack.  The flat top surface is useful when preparing food and are water resistant, so a spill or a sudden shower doesn't mean scurrying around trying to get things under cover).  They also partially telescope inside each other when empty.  To these, I add a couple of soft-side pouches, mostly for snacks, but I do have a red one that is either packed on top (when traveling) or lashed to a thwart (on days spent fishing) that is my lunch bag (which is where little tubes of powdered drinks are stored).

So, what kinds of food containers or packaging have you found useful for your backcountry adventures?

dd

You guys already know what I like for food storage (nalgene water canteens) but I'll tell you what I don't like and that's those alok saks. Those totally suck and in fact the town where they are made sucks too. (there......... can I be a hockey fan now?)  ;D

Food saver film, zip locks, screw top hard nalgene jars of various sizes, and a GSI gasketed box. Meals are sorted to color coded stuff sacks.

Our goal every year is to loose food packs as we eat our way through the trip. So our food is packed in cardboard banker boxes. We use a heavy contractor garbage bag to prevent the box from getting wet. (Not that it would matter a great deal to the food since all our food is vacuumed sealed.)

All of our food was then vacuum sealed in meal size portions. Last year for example, I vacuumed sealed instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal, pancake mix, and tortilla shells. (Wax paper was used to separate shells.) We eat a lot of hamburger helper type meals and these too are vacuum sealed together. (We don't open season packets, but we probably could.)

I still vacuum seal items with sharp ends, but I add a simple piece of computer paper to help protect the bag. I would say it works about 85-90% of the time.

Finally I use stuff sacks to separate like items. TP, shovel in one sack, Spices in another sack, and dishes in another sack.

Things I am considering this year; is vacuum sealing drink mixes and then transferring them to the one plastic container as needed. Appropriate size fish batter vacuum sealed pouches. Finally, I plan on putting identifying tape on the vacuum seal containers for ready identification in the pack.

We developed this method for a group of six. Last year, we started with 2 duluth #4 packs (I think that is the size), and 1 smaller ruck sack of food for a 9 night trip. After 4/5 days we lost one duluth pack. The rucksack was tucked away by day 7. Not sure how much a solo person or smaller group would gain doing it this way. When we used the containers it seemed that we had a great deal of wasted space in the packs by the end of the trip.

Ahhh, the beauty of the Rubbermaid is you don't have to dig for stuff and if you solo it's always right where you put it.
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The only hard container beyond the pack is a Godiva chocolate box for crackers that will go in my dayfood pack. I originally intended to burn 'em but ended up using 'em for years.

Cherry Kool-aid is my drink mix of choice for a trip since I can get 16 -20 qts worth in a 2oz plastic squeeze bottle. Flip the spout, give it a couple squeezes, close the spout. On hot days or for variety I'll add some Gatoraid but that's so voluminous it just gets double bagged and poured.

The only thing I vacuum seal is steak as it's pretty stiff and bulky, overkill type packaging inside the Rubbermaid.

db,

What size is the Rubbermaid and how did you make the harness for carrying it?

Pat

The harness may be a simple tump.  Basically a Rubermaid wannigan.

I like to keep things very simple and easy.  If it can't take being stuffed & crammed & sat on, it's not worth taking.  All my food is packed & organized using ZipLocks & then into SeaLine bags.  Ziplocks used for both waterproofing & organization.

On shorter trips I may pack a little cooler for some fresh foods.

I use 2 Sterilite tubs with locking lids that are the W X L X H of my Granite Gear food pack  I believe SD uses a similar set-up. I put a 1" piece of close cell foam on bottom of pack so if I set pack down hard or on unseen object, it won't crack the food boxes. I also wrap a old Thermarest Ridge Rest sleeping pad around the boxes in pack.
Serves 4 purposes. Between the close cell foam base and foam " wrapper" the food pack will float fully loaded. The also add an insulation factor. The foam bottom and wrapper also protects and muffles any banging you get when/if the pack is hit. Last but very nice, is that in camp I have that cut down Ridge Rest as a ground insulator seat, or under my sleeping pad if I have to settle for less than desirable ground conditions.
I also made a homemade silicon gasket for the food box lids. Put a 1/2" bead around the inside of lid, put plastic wrap over box edge and locked lid overnight. Helps cut down on any errant food odors. All the food in boxes are sorted and secured in zip-locks.
I'm a hanger, so my 3 pulley rope system sits on the top with room to spare, along with stove/cook gear.
I had Kondo's add compression side straps to my food pack and I added two OR gear packs, one on each side. I carry fuel bottles/ trowel/ misc items in there.
In camp the boxes are nice for preparing food. I can sit on one box on the Ridge Rest, and use the other's top for meal prep. So far they've held up under a few trips with no damage. They're cheap and like db's big Rubbermaid, they make finding things very easy.

I use the big blue plastic tub (actually I painted it green).  Within it, I  organize food according to breakfast/lunch/dinner in color coded stuff sacks.  Within each stuff sack, the food is double-baggied.  All unnecessary cardboard packaging is discarded.  We tie the tub to a tree at night, and stack pans on top as an early alert for trouble.

On longer trips and/or with larger groups, I take a second food pack, a Quetico/Superior food pack (see pic).  I bought a plastic 3-drawer liner that fits the pack and helps organize food.  Again, everything is double-bagged.  We put greasy or smelly food in this one, and hang it.  

Each morning we load our day pack with snack/lunch fixings so we don't have to open the bigger food packs.    

prouboy

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rlageman3 wrote on Apr 12^th, 2011 at 12:55pm:

db, What size is the Rubbermaid and how did you make the harness for carrying it?

Once, years ago, I was asked the same thing. Took me a while to dig 'em up again so I put 'em here for everyones' viewing pleasure:
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#1 - Ready for hanging or setting in the canoe.
#2+3 - Are meant show how you wear it
#4 - Shows how the rope connects to it and how it's reinforced w/ wood.
#5 - One of these years I gotta come up with an integral La-Z-Boy type footrest.

Fits nicely inside expensive packs like GG, Duluth ... but being the frugal bastard I am, I went with straps and the next year, a belt from Campmor. It could be done better but if it ain't broke.... It's actually very comfy to portage even with food for four.

Honestly, in 25 years, I've not seen anything I'd like better for many times the price. Granted, it looks dorky. I remember being somewhat embarrassed to be seen on a portage with the guy who first brought one ... until I realized what an awesome foodpack one would make.

~ID = 18 x 13 x 11 or so.  Fit's nicely in a Magic or Prism fore and aft.

Hey master, you know you need want one!  ;D ;)

Sorry, no clue if they're made anymore.

db wrote on Apr 13^th, 2011 at 6:39am:

rlageman3 wrote on Apr 12th, 2011 at 12:55pm: db, What size is the Rubbermaid and how did you make the harness for carrying it? Once, years ago, I was asked the same thing. Took me a while to dig 'em up again so I put 'em here for everyones' viewing pleasure:   (You need to Login or Register #1 - Ready for hanging or setting in the canoe. #2+3 - Are meant show how you wear it #4 - Shows how the rope connects to it and how it's reinforced w/ wood. #5 - One of these years I gotta come up with an integral La-Z-Boy type footrest. Fits nicely inside expensive packs like GG, Duluth ... but being the frugal bastard I am, I went with straps and the next year, a belt from Campmor. It could be done better but if it ain't broke.... It's actually very comfy to portage even with food for four. ~ID = 18 x 13 x 11 or so.  Fit's nicely in a Magic or Prism fore and aft.

Thanks db, that explains it nicely. I tried to figure it out from the pictures in the "How to hang a food pack" thread, but I wasn't even close.

Pat

I've settled on a similar system to several of the posters, though maybe a bit more costly than some.  Last year I purchased a poly food box from BWJ ($105).  At about 3600 cu.in., it fits nicely inside a GG Superior (or whatever it is called), with room for a few other items, like cutting board and a tarp.

The box adds some weight to the system, but it corrals everything nicely, has a frigerator-type gasket on top and a good closure system for the top.  Will easily carry two weeks worth of food for two.  Can be used with or without foam insulation.  I used an old piece of ensolite on a fall trip last year, and everything stayed nice and cool.

Since I am a hider, the box is mostly critter proof, though certainly not bear proof, and I wrap it up tight in a tarp, with an alarm system perched on the top.  Have had no problems so far, knock on wood.

With improvements in kitchen containers, I use more semi-hard-sided Glad-type units and fewer plastic bags than previously.  As others noted, crackers, and in my case fresh veggies, really carry well in these.

I experimented with carrying a couple of water filled and frozen 20 oz. gatorade bottles last fall, thinking maybe we could have ice in our evening cocktails for a few days.  It worked, but paddled/carried 40 oz of ice about 20 miles.  Not sure if it was worth it...

ProRecreator wrote on Apr 14^th, 2011 at 5:11pm:

Last year I purchased a poly food box from BWJ ($105 ).

I too bought a poly food box last year. I had it shipped to my work ( I work at a plastic manufacturing business) and when I opened it up I figured that it would cost (less the shock cord and straps and buckles) about 5 dollars to make. I guess ol' Stu and Kondoes have to put food on the table.  ;D

I agree that the markup on the poly box is absurd.  I figure it will last for the rest of my tripping career, and it just seems to do the job nicely. I personally lack the required creativity, and I'm guessing many of the readers here would be able to go with a home-made solution, a la db.

What I find interesting is how food storage and portage hauling have evolved during the last ten years or so.  When I recall some of the food containers we used in years gone by, I shudder at the memory.  Perhaps worst of all was a giant-sized two-handled cooler-type unit that two guys (the two who insisted we bring it) stumbled on every portage from beaverhouse to prairie.  Excuse, I have to take an Aleve...

DB's rubbermaid set-up was worth the price of admission alone to QJ for me.  Every time I pack the darn thing I quietly say a prayer of thanks to him for the idea.

Fun to read everyone's idea's, Lord knows we are all unique.  I use bear Vaults. The BV500.  I repack everything in zip locks, much like dd.  I double package some items, so they don't come open.  A lot of times, I package two paper towels around noodle product or dehydrated meats.  This doubles for two things.  The towels keep the noodles, meat, or whatever from poking through the zip locks, and I use the towels to clean up after I am done with dinner.  I use small nalgene products for soaps, honey, etc. works peachy.  SunCatcher

I pack to minimize weight, minimize volume (both so I can take more stuff!) and minimize odors.

So I'm with Preacher: I put everything I can into freezer ziplock bags, and burn them as they get emptied. Store-bought foil packs get repacked at home into burnable ziplocks, and little ziplocks get collected into big ziplocks (all soups together, for example).

No plastic tubs (all plastic picks up odor, even Nalgene) and only a few small Nalgene bottles for veg oil, lemon juice, and S&P. I use stashed olive barrels for canoeing, hung packs for backpacking.

There is a major environmental issue with burning plastic.  I don't know what chemicals are produced, but I do know the toxins released by burning plastic are very bad.  So while many may burn some plastic, it would be best to minimize (eliminate) how much we burn.  Ideally, all plastics would be packed out.

Westwood

"Ideally, all plastics would be packed out."

yep - ideally, we could bring all the plastic out to be recycled:  so that it can be burned by someone else at a cogen facility - that's how most of it gets "recycled" - very little gets reused as plastic.

Really Mat? Is that true? That is so disappointing to hear. I am always a bit leery of burning trash as the fumes seems especially noxious. I try and stay upwind.

I like the paper towel idea for both stated reasons.  Lots of things I dehydrate (OK, to be honest most of my dehydrating is tomato stew of various kinds like spag sauce & chili) end up with pointy bits that poke tiny holes in the zip-locks.

I'm a little split on burning garbage.  Mostly I don't want to deal with someone else's garbage.  Foil bits, that sock that got too dry, etc...  If the wind is right & the fire is HOT I may start burning.  Usually it accumulates for a couple days.

Re toxic fumes from burning plastic:

It depends on how complete the combustion is. At 100%, all that gets produced is carbon dioxide and water.

If you have a good hot fire going and the plastic has lots of surface area (like ziplock bags), combustion is essentially complete. If you have a smouldering fire, or the plastic is in a solid chunk, then there can be some harmful emissions.

Doesn't that presume a reasonably pure hydrocarbon fuel source?  What happens when something that isn't pure is in the mix?
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FWIW it is against BWCA regulations to burn trash.

This past summer I used several 8oz, 16oz and liter sized light plastic bottles that you initially buy things like salad dressing, catsup, water, juice, or soda in.  I repackaged ground coffee, coffee creamer and sugar, cooking oil, pancake mix, pancake syrup, and so forth into them.  They are sturdy, generally do not leak, and you can pour out the contents conveniently.  I also use 1oz, 2oz and 4oz (Bailey's Minis) individual drink alcohol containers for very small amounts of some items like vinegar, olive oil, etc .

Preacher wrote on Nov 9^th, 2011 at 5:59pm:

Doesn't that presume a reasonably pure hydrocarbon fuel source?  What happens when something that isn't pure is in the mix?

Yes, polyethylene is for all practical purposes a pure hydrocarbon. It will burn much more cleanly than the wood used to build the fire in the first place.