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