proper food storage is crucial when
you're backpacking not only to protect
you and your food but also to protect
the animals here's the deal on food
handling in the backcountry so when we
talk about food storage we often think
of berries getting into our food but
it's not just berries you need to worry
about animals foxes and other critters
can get into your food and if they
become reliant on human food then
they're likely to become aggressive and
they have to be killed since you are
sharing their habitat it's important
that we're respectful of the wildlife
check the regulations forever you're
going backpacking because certain
popular areas are going to have their
own form of food storage so they want
you to use and that could be bear boxes
or lockers or it could be some sort of
established hanging option if where
you're going doesn't have something like
that then you'll need to find your own
way to store your food and the two main
things that I'm going to talk about
today are bare canisters and sacks or
hanging your food and remember when we
talk about storing food it's not just
food it's anything that smells so that
could be toothpaste or sunscreen or
things like that alright first we're
gonna talk about canisters so we're
gonna go away from camp regardless of
how you choose to store your food you'll
need to be at least a hundred feet away
from your camp this is so that if
animals are attracted to where you're
storing your food they're not then in
turn attracted to you back at camp this
is a bear canister this is probably the
easiest and most effective way for
storing your food but it's also a bulky
and heavy option the way it'll work is
you'll put your food and smelly things
inside seal it up and then bears and
other animals won't be able to open it
to get to it these aren't waterproof and
they aren't shatterproof so store them
away from cliffs or water also when you
store it you don't want to put it
against a rock like this one behind me
because an animal can pick it up and try
and smash it you'll store it upside down
like this so that no animals can chew
through the lid it's coming a bunch of
different sizes and styles if you're
going to a place that requires a bear
canister as many do you can also look
and see if you're able to rent them this
is a bear proof bag which is very
similar to how it works to a canister
the main downside of a bear proof bag is
that animals can crush your food they
are a lot lighter but if you don't use
them properly they can crush your food
and a lot of parks still won't allow you
to use these as a food storage option
so if you decide to do the bear hang
what you'll need our trees that are at
least 20 feet apart and then about a
hundred feet of cord a small bag of
rocks and a carabiner and of course your
food bag we didn't make you watch this
but this took me a really long time
while a bear hang is a pretty
lightweight option and in the past was
something that we used really commonly
there are a lot better options now with
canisters and with bear proof bags so
what I've done is I've tied one end of
my cord to one of the lower branches on
this tree and then the other end of that
bag of rocks and I've tossed that bag of
rocks over a branch here that's 15 feet
high and then taking that same bag of
rocks over to here and tossed it over a
branch here and then from these two
trees I've about guesstimated once I
pull on that cord and hoist the bag up
where the middle will be and then I'm
going to hoist up this bag of food to
get it off the ground
I've hung some pretty bad bear bags in
the past and it's important to do this
correctly because if you don't hang your
food bag high enough animals can still
get to it and you can even hang it in a
spot where it's easier for them to get
to so it's good and moist up and see
so once you have your bear bag hanging
up there you need it to be at least five
feet away from either trunk of the trees
and at least fifteen feet off the ground
animals can climb up trees and then jump
out to your food bag that isn't far
enough away from a tree and obviously if
you hang it too close to the ground it's
just gonna be right at their eye level
so now that I have that at a good spot
I'm gonna go and tie it off if you
choose to use a bear hang it's a good
idea to practice before you get out on
trail that way you're not doing it for
the first time after a long day of
hiking we at REI recommend using a bear
canister or a bear proof bag and I is a
backpacker I think it's the better
option check regulations forever you're
going out certain areas are gonna have
their own guidelines for how to store
your food and talk to a ranger if you
want oh and for more videos be sure to
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to go backpack in bear country check out
this video here I'm gonna go for a swim