Camping - Backpacking with Motorcycle

[rotomotor]

quick question, how do you campers handle storing food when all you have is side bags? I'm going to a State Park tomorrow to hike in a little over a mile to a backpacking campsite. It isn't bear country but I don't want small critters eating holes in my gear either. I don't think that the campground has food storage boxes on site. Do I hang a bag from a tree? Make a circle of bungee sticks? How do you handle food storage when traveling on a motorcycle? I will call the campground in the morning to see what they recommend, but I would like to get some feedback from camper folk here too.

Thanks!
 

[LOKi]

Do not store food on your bike in bear country! Bears will tip over the bike and break the boxes to get at it. Not to mention attracting said bears to your camp site. Hang it from a tree a ways from your camp site or something. As for riding with your food without a top box....not to sure about that. Cooler strapped to the seat, or rack? Get a soft side cooler and use it as a back rest.

[Bumblebee]

Food goes in a bag in a tree. Backpacking or when I'm somewhere remote like that where it would take a couple days or especially when it takes weeks to get out, it goes up in two bags in two separate trees - both bags individually contain enough food supplies to get out of the wilderness. The more air tight the container is, the less likely you'll have problems.

When I say food up in a tree, I mean up in the empty air between two trees, not along the trunk or a few feet out a branch. Remember that bears, mountain lions and such climb trees. I always put a couple size 1/16" aluminum disks about the size of a pie plate on the line to keep squirrels from accessing the bag. Squirrels are the biggest food supply pests out there.

If there are no decent height trees around, get creative on hiding places and plan on being as air tight as possible. For ground level, put it at least 500+ feet away from camp.

Don't set camp where animals frequent. Never put food near your camp. Never cook near camp. Never keep food in your tent even if it's sealed. Wash food smell off your hands after eating. Never keep the clothes you're wearing while cooking near camp.


Don't worry about it too much though. Most of the time, nothing will make any serious attempt at your food supply...most of the time....

[Moedad]

Bear canister. Protects food from other critters too. Hanging from a tree is cheaper, as long as you have trees.



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[imnotamonster]

Never keep the clothes you're wearing while cooking near camp.

Hmm, Cooking naked in the woods does sound interesting

[ts103706]

If you don't actually have to carry it on your back, a bear canister is definitely the way to go.  Do many people here go backpacking often?

[Bumblebee]

If you don't actually have to carry it on your back, a bear canister is definitely the way to go.

IMHO, a 12x8 container, while effective for it's own purpose, is a huge restriction on quantity of food carried by backpack. Too rigid, too large, weighs way too much.

Do many people here go backpacking often?

Don't know about many people (heck, most people I know won't go at all) however I've been doing it regularly for a couple centuries now. Mostly solo. No problem with the wildlife. People are the big annoyance however they're easily avoided after the first 2 miles.

[mwallette]

Hmm, Cooking naked in the woods does sound interesting

Depends upon whom you are camping with 

Bear canister...

I know people up here in Alaska swear by those things, although I've never used one.  Can you bungie one of those to the back of your bike or would it need to be inside a bag?  As I understand it, the idea behind the bear canisters is that they are too smooth for a bear to  tear open, which makes me wonder if bungies would also slip off while riding.

[Moedad]

IMHO, a 12x8 container, while effective for it's own purpose, is a huge restriction on quantity of food carried by backpack. Too rigid, too large, weighs way too much.

All these things are true. Backpackers in some areas of the Sierra Nevada are required to use them. Alas, where have our liberties gone? You can rent them if you don't have your own.

[Custom82Hawk]

just get a couple of strong ratchet tie downs and hang your bike in the tree :D protect the food and the bike lol

[mwallette]

just get a couple of strong ratchet tie downs and hang your bike in the tree :D protect the food and the bike lol

It's a matter or priorities!  If a bear gets into your tent, camping gear, etc.  -- no problem.  Food -- maybe a bit of a problem.  The bike...

[Bumblebee]

All these things are true. Backpackers in some areas of the Sierra Nevada are required to use them. Alas, where have our liberties gone? You can rent them if you don't have your own.

I still carry a gill net and am not beyond using it if needed. More than once I've put a bullet in the water to catch fish. Oopsie.

Good judgement, not laws, will keep you safe.

[Moedad]

Good judgement, not laws, will keep you safe.

FWIW, I've always been a tree hanger. Haven't had to use a bear canister (yet). I've also had my food hung properly and had the bears get it anyway. I've never felt that my safety was threatened by bears, one way or the other.

[Custom82Hawk]

hence why i mentioned the ratchet tie downs :D if your bike falls and crushes the bear, it's not hunting, the bear commited suicide :D

[LOKi]

If your going to be in bear country get yourself some bear spray.

As for hanging your food. Bears are clever little bastards. Ever deal with raccoons? Also clever bastards. Also bears. Bears have the same ingenuity but 10x the power. They will figure out how to lower your food bag from a tree. They just cut through the line and it drops right down to them. Some say use brown rope but I don't think the bears care what color it is. That nose tells them "There's food up in dar tree and...sniff sniff...ah here's the rope". CHOMP "See kids that's how you get these handy things down".

I don't have a good solution yet but I'm working on one. I'm going to see about getting a connection plate or something from givi so I can make my own box that latches to their system. Then just weld up a lockable box that I can set away from camp.

[mwallette]

...They just cut through the line and it drops right down to them. Some say use brown rope but I don't think the bears care what color it is. That nose tells them "There's food up in dar tree and...sniff sniff...ah here's the rope". CHOMP "See kids that's how you get these handy things down".

How are you hanging your food?  In 20 years of camping in Alaska -- it's *all* bear country up here -- I've yet to have a bear get into the food that I've hung from a tree (knocks on wood).  Even though I've seen plenty of bears while hiking, I've always been lucky with my food.  I just find a branch that is skinny enough and long enough that a bear can't walk out to it from the tree (since black bears can climb trees).  Then hang the food at least 10 or 12 feet up so a six to eight foot bear can't reach it.  As long as you don't anchor the other end of the rope directly (or nearly so) under the food, and as long as your rope doesn't smell like food itself, the bear won't track down the anchor side of the rope and chomp it...at least in my experience.

However, I definitely second the recommendation for bear spray...and I also back that up with a Mossberg 12-gauge whenever possible.  Fortunately, I've never had to use either one, though :)

[LOKi]

Roommate has had problems with bears figuring out the hanging food thing. Repeatedly in the North East mountains. Being diabetic he just started carrying bear spray and keeping the food with him in the tent. If his food gets taken by a bear while two or three days out on a hike then he is screwed. Better in his case to chance it with the bear trying to get in his tent. Death by bear vs death by low blood sugar. At least you can spray the bear in the face with pepper spray.

Even if that is just the North East I still need a bear proof solution for no tree areas. Like the North Slope. How are the bears on the North Slope? Are there that many? I was hoping there wouldn't be so many with the lack of trees and being well inside the arctic circle. I have some time. Not planning on this trip until possibly 2011.   

[Laminar]

Bears have the same ingenuity but 10x the power.

I'd say that's a gross underestimation.

[Custom82Hawk]

just buy your own trained bear to guard your food.  get you a sidecar for the bike to haul the bear in, and make sure you carry a heavy duty tow chain to chain your bear up as there are probably leash laws in the campgrounds....

[LOKi]

Bears have the same ingenuity but 10x the power.

I'd say that's a gross underestimation.

What part the power or ingenuity? Because coons are strong as hell, they just lack the mass behind it.

[LOKi]

just buy your own trained bear to guard your food.  get you a sidecar for the bike to haul the bear in, and make sure you carry a heavy duty tow chain to chain your bear up as there are probably leash laws in the campgrounds....

OH OH. Teach the bear to ride so you can take a break and sleep in the hack. Leash laws? Who the hell is going to argue with you? 

[Bumblebee]

Ever deal with raccoons? Also clever bastards.

You're not kidding. I could tell stories about raccoons getting into creatureproofed things on the farm. I'm convinced they could get into a completely welded shut 2 inch thick steel box if they wanted to...without any indication of breaking and entering.

[mwallette]

Roommate has had problems with bears figuring out the hanging food thing. Repeatedly in the North East mountains. Being diabetic he just started carrying bear spray and keeping the food with him in the tent. If his food gets taken by a bear while two or three days out on a hike then he is screwed. Better in his case to chance it with the bear trying to get in his tent. Death by bear vs death by low blood sugar. At least you can spray the bear in the face with pepper spray.

Even if that is just the North East I still need a bear proof solution for no tree areas. Like the North Slope. How are the bears on the North Slope? Are there that many? I was hoping there wouldn't be so many with the lack of trees and being well inside the arctic circle. I have some time. Not planning on this trip until possibly 2011.   

I guess your bears are smarter than the bears where I live 

As for the North Slope...I've never made it farther north than Fairbanks, so I really don't know if there are black or brown bears that far north.  I'd guess not, but that's just a guess.  However, if you go far enough (i.e., coastal regions) you'll run into polar bears.  I don't know if they are as smart as brown or black bears, but they definitely are bigger...

[LuminousPube]

reading this Im glad I live in hte UK the only thing i worry about stealing my food are my camping mates.

We get smaller critters like hedghogs and foxes maybe badgers but all them are stopped the general noise of people.

But I would think that sensibly hanging food from a tree would be the safest bet

[Bumblebee]

reading this Im glad I live in hte UK the only thing i worry about stealing my food are my camping mates.

Precautionary comments aside, I've been camping for over 40 years (mostly solo trips) around critters ranging from ants to grizzly bears and mountain lions and have yet to have a single problem. 99% of any risk while camping (food or personal) is within the first two miles of the trailhead where people are. Beyond that point, you and your food is safe with minimal effort if you use just a little judgement.