Looking for recommendations for food bags. What do you all use? Is the Harmony barrel a good purchase?

Ursack

I use a Duluth Pack food when going with multiple people.

If it's just my wife and I for a 7-9 day trip or I do a long solo I use a harmony barrel with CCS harness.

I love my CCS Deluxe Food Pack with the set of four stuff sacks made for it. Very comfortable pack. One sack each breakfast, lunch, and dinner and one for common. I hang the whole pack at night.

Like Tomcat I take dehydrated food that is light and compact, and others take their own. I started many years ago with a roll-top drybag that I hung, but switched to bear canisters (BearVault, Backpackers Cache), then to Ursacks.

one benefit of using a canister (we have 2 garcia's) is that it can double as a place to sit.

Hello

I have used a blue barrel for 20 years. The only thing I hang now is a garbage bag. A few years ago I picked up the smaller one. I like it better than the bigger one. If you need more space bring two. I fit mine into an old backpack with side pockets. There was a nice video of a bear taking a well hung blue barrel in a pack down then walking away on youtube(knife lake bear). The other bear containers may be more secure, but smaller and do not hold as much. I have thought of the Ursack for weight savings. To me the key is keeping the smell down (clean camp). If my memory is correct Carl Jacobson has done a lot of trips with out any bear container. In his book he mentioned not hanging. He used ziplock bags and hid the food in a few different location outside of camp. Read his book. There is my two cents. Have a wonderful trip.

boonie: "Like Tomcat I take dehydrated food that is light and compact, and others take their own. I started many years ago with a roll-top drybag that I hung, but switched to bear canisters (BearVault, Backpackers Cache), then to Ursacks. "

That's my progression as well. I really like my BearVaults but if my trip is short/light enough to get away with the Ursack it always wins.

Ursack for me as well,too, also

HappyPaddle22, if you could be more specific. Food containers, bags canisters barrels. Or backpack food packs?

butthead

I used to hang but have gone with a bearvault and an ursack and like it much better. I just stash them in different places away from camp.

The key with an ursack is to seal the food so there are no smells to give away the location. I double freezer ziplock everything and keep my hands clean when handling the bag. Ursacks are great because they shrink down in bulk as you use the food. I use mine mainly for dog food and pre sealed items like trail bars or drink mix packets.

I'm a CCS quad pocket 60L barrel pack kind of guy. It holds all my food and all my kitchen gear. I like the hard pack that protects everything. I don't hang my pack, and I don't hide it. I keep a clean camp and close up the barrel at night and put pots and pans on it. I'm of mind that I'm going to defend my food. if a bear was to get in camp, I would attempt to scare it off, pack up, and get out of there to prevent future encounters.
Joe

We've used an Ursack for the past several years and love them.

I use Sealine roll top dry bags and hang or hide.

CCS 30L Quad Barrel Pack and a 6 gallon bucket with a Gamma Seal Lid, upgraded my Gamma lid this year with one from CCS with the cutting board on the opposite side.

bucket and lid double as a nice stool

I did a search of "bear bag" and read a bunch of entries. It seems that the majority prefers NOT to hang their food using ropes and such. Most of the posts were 10 or so years ago. In this thread, some have abandoned hanging and opted for the stowing method, but not everyone offered an opinion either way.

On all but one of my trips, I have hung my food, but now I am questioning whether I should continue this method going forward.

I have a bearvault which I used backpacking in the RMNP--they are required. My upcoming Sep trip will see its use, but it will not hold all of the food.

----------------------------------QUESTION-------------------------
Does anyone feel that hanging is the best method?

I've hung a bear bag for 20 years. I usually don't have a problem finding a tree on the Western side of the BWCA. It becomes a part of my daily routine, and I've never had mouse holes in my pack. Currently use the Granite Gear Superior Pack. I use a large plastic pack bag (found at Midwest Mountaineering) on the interior, twist and seal it, and find a white pine branch next to the lake. I like hanging a pack because I feel I'm doing my part to discourage bears from camp.

On a Canadian fishing trip a bear did come and start messing with the pack. We heard it from 50 yards away and had the security of knowing it wasn't right in camp with our kids!

I'm saving up to try the CCS Deluxe food pack. have nothing against the bear barrels except I appreciate a non- rigid backpack in the canoe.

CStoke: "

I'm saving up to try the CCS Deluxe food pack. have nothing against the bear barrels except I appreciate a non- rigid backpack in the canoe.

"

Thanks, our plan of record is to rent the CCS and hoist it suspended to a rope crossing tree-to tree. This is what I have done before. Have never tried the barrel.

I've used a blue barrel of one kind or another for my last few canoe trips. Prior to that, including my 1st trip, we used a 5 gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid on top. We've never had a bear encounter, but I suspect it's more because of luck and timing and not because of our hang/stash method.

We've hung excess food that could not fit into the barrel/bucket. I still have and carry a pulley system "just in case."

mirth: "We've never had a bear encounter, but I suspect it's more because of luck and timing and not because of our hang/stash method."

I had one bear encounter. The crew I was with was pretty sloppy. Came back from fishing and a bear was enjoying a mid-morning snack of powdered eggs. She was with her cub. We ran her off and high-tailed it. I have been judicious about food storage ever since!!

TechnoScout: "

mirth: "We've never had a bear encounter, but I suspect it's more because of luck and timing and not because of our hang/stash method."

I had one bear encounter. The crew I was with was pretty sloppy. Came back from fishing and a bear was enjoying a mid-morning snack of powdered eggs. She was with her cub. We ran her off and high-tailed it. I have been judicious about food storage ever since!!"

My only bear encounter was in 1985. We were out of camp for the day exploring. We had a great hang tree and hung our Food pack well(Duluth Pack). When we came back the pack was still hung where we left it but was ripped wide open on the side. The bear apparently had climbed the tree, shimmied out on the limb and down the rope and shredded the pack. Our food was scattered everywhere. Back then it was all dehydrated goods, beans, noodles, powders, etc. She didn't touch that stuff. But the butter and oil were a thing of great joy for the bear. We sewed the pack up and gathered our food and hung it back up with a few pots and pans attached as an alarm. That bear came back several times in the night and we would get up and scare her off. I continued to hang until I saw a Cliff Jacobson video on how he stashes his pack in the woods without any trouble. I've done it many times now with Duluth Pack or Barrel. I rarely hang anymore. And even the mice don't find it since it's not in camp.

Cliff Jacobson on hanging