Another canister question

[ghassert]

I didn't want to hijack the other canister thread.

The question I have is about freeze dried food. If it's still sealed in it's original package, does it need to go in the canister?

 

[DougPaul]

I didn't want to hijack the other canister thread.

The question I have is about freeze dried food. If it's still sealed in it's original package, does it need to go in the canister?

Yes. Bears can still rip the package open.

The rule is all food and anthing that might smell like food to a bear (toothpaste etc).

Doug

 

[ghassert]

Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't sure, since they're vacuum packed and sealed, I thought there might not be any odor put off by them. They're just taking up alot of space in the canister.

 

[DougPaul]

The sealed package will reduce the odor, but may not completely eliminate it. The packets can also pick up odors from other food items.

One other possibility is that the bear has learned to identify them by sight.

Also put your garbage in the cannister. Its food or smells like food to a bear.

Doug

 

[tonycc]

One of the things we need to remember is that habituated bears have learned to find food by sight in addition to smell. For awhile anyways, encounters will most likely continue, with bears entering tents and ripping open backpacks.

Tony

 

[explorer13421]

All smellables should canistered or hung. What is a smellable? It is anything with an odor that a bear might investigate, even if after investigation the bear would move on. That included water bottles that had Gatorade or equivalent in them, clothes worn while cooking or on which food or Gatorade spilled or dripped, toothbrush, food wrappers, etc. Putting food in the canister is the first priority, then toiletries like toothpaste, and then probably food wrappers. In a ideally clean bearproofed camp there will be nothing for a bear to eat, and nothing that entices the bear to investigate. There are at least two goals to serve: one is to deny reinforcing bear investigations of human campsites by eliminating the chance for the bear to find food, and the second is to avoid interaction between the humans and curious bears.