[pct-l] food storage strategy

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Mike,

I’ve been hiking the Mountain West – off and on -- since the 1950s; the
vast majority of the time sleeping under the stars or under an open tarp
rather than in an enclosed tent.  Except where bear ‘cans are required, I
keep my grub in one or two SilNylon sacks at the head of my bed.  I’ve not
lost any food, and only a couple of times have I heard the faint
scritch-scritch-scritch of little night critter poking around, and had to
chase it off.

It probably helps that I avoid – but not entirely – the most prominent
hiker campsites.  That not only avoids many of the experienced
camp-critters, but it also allows the larger sites to be used by groups of
other hikers with tents, since all I need is a mostly flat and level patch
about 2’ x 7’ in size.

Other experienced hikers have tales of mice getting into their chow, but I
do not.  Maybe it’s just good luck.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 5:42 PM, mike Shoys <mashoys at gmail.com> wrote:

> hello all,
>
> i'm attaining all of the gear i'll need for the pct and have come to food
> storage and need help. from what i've heard rodents are a frequent problem
> and bears a less frequent problem. i imagine hanging a food bag will be out
> of question for much of the desert, but where do most of you store your
> food at night? in the tent or in the trees? i'd love to bypass the extra
> chore if it's not a foolish idea, and i'm thinking of getting one of these
> if hanging food is more desirable... 4.7 oz. and 60 bucks... seems a bit
> spendy but not completely out of question:
>
> http://gossamergear.com/packs/bearister-food-hanging-system.html
>
> would love to hear your thoughts on it.
>
>
> mike
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