User Panel
Posted: 6/5/2023 9:30:48 PM EDT
What food do you put in there?
At one end of the spectrum, we have real pemmican. Just pounded jerky and tallow. That gives us about 5200 calories and 2.2 lbs per liter. Not sure I would want to live exclusively on that. And 5200 calories gives us a little room to dial back for some fluffier, tastier calories...like the occasional snickers bar. and still hit a close to required calories per day and stay within the 1L per day volume limit. Fwiw, the vid I just watched with the boy listed the 7L container as a 4-5 day per person container, to which I said BS. (I realize that calorie to weight ratio can have you chasing "lighter" foods but that is largely misunderstood. You can look up the vid "how heavy is your food". ) Whatchya takin'? |
|
Obviously you have never been on a fly in Dall sheep hunt in Alaska.
Every ounce counts. And you don’t get your bucket |
|
7l of butter. Or olive oil, whichever.
That's 57000 calories, more than enough for a week or more. Bonus, if I kill any meat I can fry the shit out of it and preserve it in the butter or oil. |
|
I don't get it ?
You are carrying a bucket backpacking for 7 days Just haul the food up a tree in a scent proof pack |
|
Fresh food for the first two days, mountain house and shelf stable stuff for the rest.
|
|
One or two protein bars, and when you get dropped off track the bear down and steal his kill.
This is the way. Oh...please take video. |
|
|
|
Get rid of the bucket, that’s stupid.
https://ursack.com/ I use a ursack. It’s easy and convenient. That or use the PCT method with a bag of some sort. 550 cord, a carabiner, and your sleeping bag stuff sack is all you need. |
|
|
|
|
Two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.
|
|
|
|
Quoted: I don't get it ? You are carrying a bucket backpacking for 7 days Just haul the food up a tree in a scent proof pack View Quote A lightweight bag is a more efficient container. An actual 'bear proof' container is just extra weight. Over two pounds for the BearVault (I'm guessing that's the one the OP is referring to). You're better off spending those two pounds on something else. Plus, a bag is much easier to pack oddly shaped stuff into. A rigid bucket means wasted space, unless you're going bulk. Pemmican? Sure, it will keep you alive, but after 7 days you're going to be dreaming of a nice juicy steak - or at least a bowl of Ramen. |
|
|
That canister's going to fill up faster than you think. 7 days means some forethought. You're going to be packing that thing down with a fist.
I usually eat instant oatmeal, freeze-dried coffee, and Emergen-C for breakfast. "Bars" for lunch -- Clif bar, Luna bar, PRO bar, that kind of thing. Pay attention to the calories and protein you get. Dinner is always freeze-dried food. I want to eat and then relax. Electrolyte powder. For 7 days, I'd bring a packet of freeze-dried hamburger patties for when I wanted the extra protein. |
|
|
Fuck I hate using a bear vault.
I repackage my freeze dried meals into quart freezer bags. I take one or two of the empty pouches to reheat in. Eta: some national parks, like Grand Teton, require a bear canister. Can’t hang food there. |
|
Quoted: Get rid of the bucket, that’s stupid. https://ursack.com/ I use a ursack. It’s easy and convenient. That or use the PCT method with a bag of some sort. 550 cord, a carabiner, and your sleeping bag stuff sack is all you need. View Quote And even then, with a soft sided pack, there are plenty of places where it simply can't be secured, and a bear can run off with it, whereas the bear can only kick around the hard sided container, unable to pick it up and make off with it. |
|
Quoted: A number of National Parks will require hard sided containers for hikers. Climbers can get exemptions for soft sided bags like the Ursak, but there's an expectation of being well above treeline. And even then, with a soft sided pack, there are plenty of places where it simply can't be secured, and a bear can run off with it, whereas the bear can only kick around the hard sided container, unable to pick it up and make off with it. View Quote Interesting didn't know that. |
|
Quoted: Get rid of the bucket, that’s stupid. https://ursack.com/ I use a ursack. It’s easy and convenient. That or use the PCT method with a bag of some sort. 550 cord, a carabiner, and your sleeping bag stuff sack is all you need. View Quote Looked at the ursack. Still limited on volume. Save about 1.5 pounds. Not universally recognized. Some places don't have trees. Hell, we struggled to find a damn horizontal limb 12 ft off the ground in Red River Gorge KY one night. |
|
Quoted: Requirement. It isnt about saving your food. It is about idiots not teaching the bears that people are a source of food. View Quote For all of the stupid shit on this forum about this that and the other caliber for bears, proper food security is the single most important thing we can do to mitigate the risk from bears. |
|
Quoted: A number of National Parks will require hard sided containers for hikers. Climbers can get exemptions for soft sided bags like the Ursak, but there's an expectation of being well above treeline. And even then, with a soft sided pack, there are plenty of places where it simply can't be secured, and a bear can run off with it, whereas the bear can only kick around the hard sided container, unable to pick it up and make off with it. View Quote Interesting. I don’t hang out much in National Parks, just NF/BLM. One person shits everyone wears diapers I guess. |
|
Quoted: Two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. View Quote At my age, I don't know if I'm up for that good of a time, still. |
|
|
|
Quoted: Fresh food for the first two days, mountain house and shelf stable stuff for the rest. View Quote Spoken like someone who doesn’t go backpacking much. Not trying to offend, but fresh food (raw meat, fresh vegetables/fruits) is very heavy, and most freeze dried foods are shit for calories per weight. They are poor choices when trying to maximize calories per weight and volume. |
|
Quoted: That canister's going to fill up faster than you think. 7 days means some forethought. You're going to be packing that thing down with a fist. I usually eat instant oatmeal, freeze-dried coffee, and Emergen-C for breakfast. "Bars" for lunch -- Clif bar, Luna bar, PRO bar, that kind of thing. Pay attention to the calories and protein you get. Dinner is always freeze-dried food. I want to eat and then relax. Electrolyte powder. For 7 days, I'd bring a packet of freeze-dried hamburger patties for when I wanted the extra protein. View Quote I saw a documentary about some underwater cave explorers. They were gonna be down there for like 2 weeks, so volume and weight were huge. They took MH meals out of the package. Ground them up and pressed them into a puck. Pretty small for each meal, surprisingly so. I'm sure it'd get real old, real fast. |
|
If you backpack in Yellowstone or The Tetons they require a bear proof vault to be shown at check in before you pick up your permit. Anywhere else just stick to hanging it. It has to be on a pre approved list. Guessing they get a lot of backpackers that would show up and eat in their tent and such.
|
|
Quoted:
View Quote Search “freezer bag cooking” for the above. Add some “Chicken of the Sea” pouches. |
|
Can I shoot and eat the bear?
7 liters isn't a lot when you are working that hard, you are likely going to need to unpackage freeze dried food and put it in thin bags to make it fit. |
|
Quoted: Fuck I hate using a bear vault. I repackage my freeze dried meals into quart freezer bags. I take one or two of the empty pouches to reheat in. Eta: some national parks, like Grand Teton, require a bear canister. Can’t hang food there. View Quote I guess this is pretty common. The mountain house chicken and rice cans were easy to get cheap ($20 at one point) and season to taste. Then you can shake off a lot of the excess salt with a strainer before putting them in bags. I’ve heard of bears pushing bear vaults off cliffs and breaking them open https://andrewskurka.com/bear-canister-failures/ |
|
|
|
Quoted: If you backpack in Yellowstone or The Tetons they require a bear proof vault to be shown at check in before you pick up your permit. Anywhere else just stick to hanging it. It has to be on a pre approved list. Guessing they get a lot of backpackers that would show up and eat in their tent and such. View Quote That's sad. I've spent decades backpacking on the east coast with no requirements. |
|
I'm 140lbs. My food typically clocks in at 1.0 pounds per day. And that's as-packed in a Ursak.
The Ursak is, indeed formidable. I've had marmots and pikas chew on the sack all night long, in vain. But, let me tell you, there were a lot of minutes during the course of those nights where I wish I had a hard sided container, so they couldn't chew on it at all. But, then again, hard sided containers really suck when volume is critical, and I can't think of too many times where volume isn't critical. But, then again, a good night sleep without some Nihilist ferret chewing on a soft sided sack would be nice, too. There's no free lunch. |
|
Personally I would go with the Counter Assault or the bigger BearVault (both around 9-10 liter). The smaller 7 liter BV would be too small for me for 7 days. (Yeah, you could fill it with pemmican or some kind of boring goop, but why?)
The Counter Assault will actually hold enough food for a normal-large size dude for a week. If you're gonna go with Mountain House or Backcountry Pantry for your main meal, then be sure to supplement it with some extra calories. Peanut butter in heavy duty ziplocks is a good space filler for the voids in the can. I'd also go with nuts and other small stuff in bags. Yeah the can is gonna weigh 3.5 lbs or so, but sounds like you're stuck with the weight of a hard can anyways. |
|
Quoted: That's sad. I've spent decades backpacking on the east coast with no requirements. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: If you backpack in Yellowstone or The Tetons they require a bear proof vault to be shown at check in before you pick up your permit. Anywhere else just stick to hanging it. It has to be on a pre approved list. Guessing they get a lot of backpackers that would show up and eat in their tent and such. That's sad. I've spent decades backpacking on the east coast with no requirements. |
|
|
|
Nice thing about canister is you can use it as a stool or small table. And yes, they are required in several National Parks
Edit for spelling |
|
|
Quoted: I'm 140lbs. My food typically clocks in at 1.0 pounds per day. And that's as-packed in a Ursak. The Ursak is, indeed formidable. I've had marmots and pikas chew on the sack all night long, in vain. But, let me tell you, there were a lot of minutes during the course of those nights where I wish I had a hard sided container, so they couldn't chew on it at all. But, then again, hard sided containers really suck when volume is critical, and I can't think of too many times where volume isn't critical. But, then again, a good night sleep without some Nihilist ferret chewing on a soft sided sack would be nice, too. There's no free lunch. View Quote I have a friend who carries this in a smaller spray bottle and swears by it. He got into serious rodent proofing after a mouse ate the gaskets out of his drysuit on the first night of a multiday class IV-V whitewater trip. https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mint-Peppermint-Rodent-Repellent/dp/B07HYP6D5C |
|
Day 1, bucket of KFC
Day 2, leftover biscuits and semi congealed coleslaw Day 3, chew on tendons from bones, slurp honey packets Day 4, boil bones for chicken soup Day 5, boil bones more and eat soft bones and marrow Day 6, starve Day 7, leave. Out of KFC. |
|
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.