Odor proof bags?

[Yogidog]

I believe ttese could be used in back country? If they fail u all won't have to deal with me anymore! Does it seem reasonable? I'd rather not have container in back of truck but can do if necessary. No experience with this thanks

 

[Yogidog]

Worker here is saying he has seen many bears but able to chase them off with noise, mountain lions worry him more as they are quiet and sneaky he says he saw one. He says his friend was sleeping in his van with food in there at local campground and they were pawing at vehicle. He seemed like a reasonable type person, not alarmist. Will read up, this is why it is important to ask if not from area

 

[Almost There]

Not sure from your posts if you're trying to stop odors from trash/bucket pottie or food odors from attracting bears!

The 'odor proof bags' google search turns up more small baggies for odor proofing cannabis than anything else but those are small...too small for much except what they were designed for...

And some of the reviews say that they don't work well enough to keep canine sniffing dogs away so they sure won't work for bears!!

For bear country, IIWM and I was in the van, I'd just keep a really clean campsite and make sure that food is out of sight. This means NOT throwing dish water on the ground, putting away all food at all times and not leaving even a speck of garbage around including putting cans and leftover food in a fire pit...all no no's. Bears in heavily tourist areas learn what a cooler looks like and WILL tear open a car door when they spot one so it's not only go to be put away, it's got to be out of sight.

Unless a bear is habituated, they are more afraid of you than you are of them!

I do take special bear precautions if I'm out on a canoe/hiking trip. Then we hang our food bags but we're all using dehydrated foods at that point and don't have a full kitchen to worry about. I do own a BearVault for the times I want to go solo cause I throw worse than a girl....

if you're trying to cut down on garbage odor, there's a couple of solutions - to cut down on the amount of garbage, get rid of any excess packaging in the parking lot of the grocery store if you must buy things that have multiple packages. Burn any cardboard packaging in the fire as well as paper towels, tissue etc. Crush any cans that can be crushed. Pack the garbage in tight and be a good neighbor, if anyone is going to town, share the trash detail.

If it's bucket pottie odors, well that's where I start preaching about the separating toilets....

 

[TrainChaser]

The best bags to use are MYLAR FOOD STORAGE BAGS, the ones that the preparedness people use. Get the heavy-duty mylar that is 5 to 7 mils thick. The bags come in different sizes. For food storage, they can be sealed with a regular (clothes) iron, but for everyday use, the opening can be folded a few times and taped. The mylar is an oxygen barrier, so it should keep odors confined.

Here is one well-known place to buy them, but there are others. This one also shows the different sizes available, from pint to 6 gallons. When you look around, be sure to keep on eye on the bag thickness as well as the price. You probably won't be buying a lot of them, so get the ones heavy enough to keep the bears away. https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/...storage-equipment/mylar-bags-for-food-storage

Edit: The bags may come with moisture absorber packets (or not), but these are mainly used for long-term storage. I can't see a need for them for "bear avoidance".

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

I think the easiest-to -obtain odor "resistant" bags, reasonably priced are the plastic bags used for oven coking, i.e. Reynold's Oven Bag.

 

[Yogidog]

Not sure from your posts if you're trying to stop odors from trash/bucket pottie or food odors from attracting bears!

The 'odor proof bags' google search turns up more small baggies for odor proofing cannabis than anything else but those are small...too small for much except what they were designed for...

And some of the reviews say that they don't work well enough to keep canine sniffing dogs away so they sure won't work for bears!!

For bear country, IIWM and I was in the van, I'd just keep a really clean campsite and make sure that food is out of sight. This means NOT throwing dish water on the ground, putting away all food at all times and not leaving even a speck of garbage around including putting cans and leftover food in a fire pit...all no no's. Bears in heavily tourist areas learn what a cooler looks like and WILL tear open a car door when they spot one so it's not only go to be put away, it's got to be out of sight.

Unless a bear is habituated, they are more afraid of you than you are of them!

I do take special bear precautions if I'm out on a canoe/hiking trip. Then we hang our food bags but we're all using dehydrated foods at that point and don't have a full kitchen to worry about. I do own a BearVault for the times I want to go solo cause I throw worse than a girl....

if you're trying to cut down on garbage odor, there's a couple of solutions - to cut down on the amount of garbage, get rid of any excess packaging in the parking lot of the grocery store if you must buy things that have multiple packages. Burn any cardboard packaging in the fire as well as paper towels, tissue etc. Crush any cans that can be crushed. Pack the garbage in tight and be a good neighbor, if anyone is going to town, share the trash detail.

If it's bucket pottie odors, well that's where I start preaching about the separating toilets....

Awesome, thank u so much I needed to know all this but bears and mountain lions, no weed hehe!

 

[Yogidog]

The best bags to use are MYLAR FOOD STORAGE BAGS, the ones that the preparedness people use.  Get the heavy-duty mylar that is 5 to 7 mils thick.  The bags come in different sizes.  For food storage, they can be sealed with a regular (clothes) iron, but for everyday use, the opening can be folded a few times and taped.  The mylar is an oxygen barrier, so it should keep odors confined.

Here is one well-known place to buy them, but there are others.  This one also shows the different sizes available, from pint to 6 gallons.  When you look around, be sure to keep on eye on the bag thickness as well as the price.  You probably won't be buying a lot of them, so get the ones heavy enough to keep the bears away.  https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/...storage-equipment/mylar-bags-for-food-storage

Edit:  The bags may come with moisture absorber packets (or not), but these are mainly used for long-term storage.  I can't see a  need for them for "bear avoidance".

U are awesome thank u! Don't want to wing it like I often do with big nature out here!

 

[Yogidog]

I think the easiest-to -obtain odor "resistant" bags, reasonably priced are the plastic bags used for oven coking, i.e. Reynold's Oven Bag.

II often go easier to obtain route thanks! Then have to often go the other route

 

[TrainChaser]

Looking through my Cheap & Free Camping book, I am shocked at the number of campgrounds that now have bear boxes and warnings about marauding bears! I used to camp in some of those places in a TENT!

BTW, I don't think those oven bags are suitable -- I've used them for cooking chickens and pot roast, and I could smell the meat. I think they're just to keep the inside of the oven cleaner (and you don't have to soak and scrub the pan).

I was just looking at REI's website, and they are selling special plastic bags designed to be bear-proof (odor-wise): http://loksak.com/civilian/mobile-civilian/#product_opsak
Maybe this would be better than mylar.

 

[ccbreder]

There is no plastic bag that will keep a bear from smelling food. No plastic bag!

 

[Almost There]

Looking through my Cheap & Free Camping book, I am shocked at the number of campgrounds that now have bear boxes and warnings about marauding bears!  I used to camp in some of those places in a TENT!

BTW, I don't think those oven bags are suitable -- I've used them for cooking chickens and pot roast, and I could smell the meat.  I think they're just to keep the inside of the oven cleaner (and you don't have to soak and scrub the pan).

I was just looking at REI's website, and they are selling special plastic bags designed to be bear-proof (odor-wise):  http://loksak.com/civilian/mobile-civilian/#product_opsak
Maybe this would be better than mylar.

The bear boxes are for the people who are sleeping in tents! Mainly because some people think it's okay to leave the cooler on the ground outside and the food box sitting on the backseat of their car in plain view of the bears instead of locked in their trunk. They also throw dish water in the bushes and drain the spaghetti pot on the ground...sigh!! Don't get me started....

Loksaks are good but they are really meant for when you're going interior and using them inside a dry bag on a bear line. They are not meant for bear proofing on their own. And yes, they'd be better than mylar for odors but if you're looking for tough and light just to store trash in then mylar might be useful.

 

[TrainChaser]

"The bear boxes are for the people who are sleeping in tents!"

They're for ALL people camping in the area.  

If you think bears don't get into closed vehicles, you are badly mistaken.  Bears that live around humans learn to associate people with food. People who are careless with their food promote the problem.

A park ranger once explained to a group of us that bears have several times the scenting abilities of a bloodhound.  They can literally smell grilling meat or cooking food from miles away.  That attracts them to the general area, and then they start searching specifically.  If you leave a window open a crack, they insert their claws into the crack and pull the window out.  If you roll the windows up completely, they push the windows inward and as they crawl inside, the window folds right down, almost like fabric.

Here's a govt article on dealing with bears:  https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

PLEASE, don't get complacent about bears, ever!

 

[Almost There]

"The bear boxes are for the people who are sleeping in tents!"

They're for ALL people camping in the area.  

If you think bears don't get into closed vehicles, you are badly mistaken.  Bears that live around humans learn to associate people with food.  People who are careless with their food promote the problem.  

A park ranger once explained to a group of us that bears have several times the scenting abilities of a bloodhound.  They can literally smell grilling meat or cooking food from miles away.  That attracts them to the general area, and then they start searching specifically.  If you leave a window open a crack, they insert their claws into the crack and pull the window out.  If you roll the windows up completely, they push the windows inward and as they crawl inside, the window folds right down, almost like fabric.

Here's a govt article on dealing with bears:  https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

PLEASE, don't get complacent about bears, ever!

Trust me, I'm not complacent about bears!! I have lived in bear country for almost a decade now. We've had them wandering the streets of the village I live in.

BUT, the thing to remember is that the vast majority of bear problems (not all, but most) occur where there is the heaviest concentration of campers...like the organized campgrounds where the highest percentage of campers go.... The bears are attracted to the area BECAUSE so many of the campers ignore the posted rules and/or are careless about bear safety.

The best rule of thumb is DON'T go where the crowd is going!! You'll be much safer out on the dispersed camping areas than in a high use campground.

The link you provided is from Yosemite where they get an estimated 4,000,000 visitors per year - yes that's 4 million. That is precisely one of the high usage areas that I'm talking about.

Also - from that link, their instructions for bear storage for RV's which would include a van that's been converted:

Food may be stored out of sight in hard-sided trailers and RVs, as long as windows, doors, and vents are closed when you're not there. Food may not be stored in pop-up or tent trailers, or other soft-sided campers.

 

[TrainChaser]

I've been going through my Cheap/Free Campgrounds book, looking at the states I would like to visit, and marking the ones that provide drinking water, and there is campground after campground after campground, many of them in remote areas, that warn about nuisance bears, some to the point where they close them down periodically to discourage the bears. This book only lists campgrounds that charge $12 or less. All the National Parks and most of the State Parks are not listed because most of their fees are much higher. Yosemite, for example, charges a $30 entrance fee plus about $26/day campsite fee.

It doesn't take a lot of people to set up a bear problem -- it just takes a few lazy idiots who park for a few days and then leave all their smelly trash behind. Bears range over many miles looking for food, and they're smart enough to keep looking where they found it before. And as lazy and self-serving as many Americans are, there will always be another bunch of fools who will reinforce a bear's expectations with more trash.

Anyone who thinks that they will never have bear trouble tends to be stunned by Lady Luck's wicked sense of humor. Some people simply have to learn things the hard way. Personally, I think you have the greatest rig I've ever seen, with a lot of thought and money put into it, and I would hate to hear that it was demolished by a bear, or that you were injured due to your complacency.

 

[Almost There]

Anyone who thinks that they will never have bear trouble tends to be stunned by Lady Luck's wicked sense of humor.  Some people simply have to learn things the hard way.  Personally, I think you have the greatest rig I've ever seen, with a lot of thought and money put into it, and I would hate to hear that it was demolished by a bear, or that you were injured due to your complacency.

Thank you for the compliment on the van...I like it too! It did have a lot of thought put in to it but not nearly as much money as you would think. It's hard to figure a true cost because a lot of it had to be done here in Canada at our insane prices. but it was way less than 10 Grand total including the vehicle.

Don't ever think that I'm complacent about my safety - both from humans and from wildlife because I'm not!

I've spent enormous amounts of time educating myself about the true risks involved. Do I carry bear spray when I'm hiking in the wilderness...you bet I do...it's right there on my backpack. I also always carry an emergency whistle at all times even out for my morning walk. Do I give moose a wide berth in the river on a canoe trip...heck yes, I give them a wide berth all the time! Do I drive with 4 eyes peeled for all the wildlife on the side of the highway up here...yes definitely. I also don't drive through parts of any large city...hell, I try to avoid ALL large cities.

What I am is not fearful of something that is not likely to ever be a problem given my knowledge of wildlife. I don't let it stop me from enjoying time in the wilderness

The other thing I go out of my way to do is to not try to instill fear in people who already are living a life of fear. I instead try to allay fears with some good educational information.

In both this thread and the thread titled "Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My" there has been a great deal of fear mongering that is totally unnecessary IMO.

 

[Treknik]

I've used these bags for years while backpacking and camping. More sturdy than plastic zip bags and the presumed odor barrier is just added insurance.
http://loksak.com/civilian/opsak/

 

[Adepastino]

I am really worried about bears and mountain lions coming into my camp. At this point, I'm not sure I even want to chance it by going North in just a van. If we do, I don't plan on cooking. I'll just bring a really good, very well insulated cooler and things I can prepare, rather than cook. Sandwiches always go over well. Fresh fruit and veggies that you can eat raw. It's also healthier. Not sure what to do now about the camp sites. I don't think I want to camp in the really far out spots. I just don't feel safe. Any tips?

 

[Almost There]

I am really worried about bears and mountain lions coming into my camp. At this point, I'm not sure I even want to chance it by going North in just a van. If we do, I don't plan on cooking. I'll just bring a really good, very well insulated cooler and things I can prepare, rather than cook. Sandwiches always go over well. Fresh fruit and veggies that you can eat raw. It's also healthier. Not sure what to do now about the camp sites. I don't think I want to camp in the really far out spots. I just don't feel safe. Any tips?

Yes, educate yourself extensively about the actual risks involved. (Hint - a whole lot less risk than a lot of fear mongers will tell you about).

Oh, and while cooking smells do carry further than non cooking smells...food products in general and right down to deodorant and toothpaste all have to be stored correctly while in bear country.

And until you feel safe in 'really far out spots', you are correct in feeling that you might want to stay in 'not so far out spots'....that's not for your safety so much as it is for your peace of mind and your ability to sleep at night!

Oh, and lit leaves the far out spots for the rest of us.... :angel:

 

[TrainChaser]

Don't get so scared about bears that it paralyzes you.  I've camped for many years, and have only seen two bears.  Both of them went for the garbage cans and completely ignored me.  

When people warn you about bears, it's not to scare you, it's just to educate you.  The more you know about a possible problem, the better you are prepared to deal with it.  

It was kind of scary when you first learned to drive; now you do it without thinking about it.

When an experienced gun handler teaches you about guns, he tells you not to put your finger on the trigger until you're actually going to pull it (prevents accidental discharge).  You don't walk over rough ground, looking for a deer, with your finger on the trigger -- that's how you shoot your buddy when you stumble.

When you live in earthquake country and a quake hits, you've learned to take close, immediate shelter, like under a desk or in a corner.  

When you learn how lightning acts, you know not to park on a hill, stand out in the open to watch it, or hold a golf club in the air like a lightning rod.

When you live in a house and cook, you learn to put the leftover food away in the refrigerator after the meal to prevent food poisoning.

You've been learning and protecting yourself from many dangers throughout your life, and bears aren't any different.  Just keep doing it.  Consider certain scenarios that you might come across; then think about how best to prevent them, and then the best way to deal with them if something happens.  If something does happen, you've got something filed away in your brain to deal with it, instead of no ideas whatsoever.

A woman in Yosemite was frying bacon for breakfast in major bear country.  A shout went up that a bear was coming into camp.  The woman saw it coming toward her, so she started backing up, still holding the frying pan full of bacon.  Finally a man's voice rang out:  "SET THE FRYING PAN DOWN!"  The bear didn't care about the woman, just the bacon.  Try not to overlook the obvious.

After all, there are a LOT of dummies out there, already begging for trouble.  The bears will probably head for them first, and by the time they're passing you, they've got full tummies and are just looking for a nice place to sleep.

 

[anewbiewannabe]

^^^LOL@full tummies. Too true that unlike other arenas that go without mention here---it's about education, not fear-mongering. As one with memory issues I know that things like muscle memory, where something is automatic for a person because of practice, are what can make a big difference in a situation. I'm grateful that about everything I need was stored in my long-term memory before I developed short-term memory issues. Granted, all the useful car stuff got crowded out over the years.