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[pct-l] opening freeze-dried



John asks..

>>does anyone know, when packing a bear canister, 
>>is it ok to punture a freeze dried package to let the air out?

As soon as you open the package and air (oxygen) gets in the food
starts to deteriorate.  As a practical matter unless you are doing
something to rapidly aireate the package, or are in very damp
conditions you don't need to worry over reasonable time periods.

When I did my JMT hike I re-packaged about 40 pounds of FD foods
into Ziplok and Seal-a-meal bags, and had nothing spoil over a
three month period.  I have had "left-overs" from other trips last
at least a year, depending on the particular item.  The stuff with
cheese, sour cream, eggs, etc. seems to go first.  Keep opened
packets (resealed as best you can) in the freezer or refrigerator 
if you can.

You will find packing a cannister even easier if you discard all
the original FD bags and substitute soft poly bags.  These will
squish down into the corners and voids a lot better than the fairly
heavy and stiff original packets.

. . . Kurt



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