screw the cap, its those shorts!!! 1982 thats for sure! (yes, we all looked that goofy in 1982, nothing personal)

To those who take their food in... If it works for you fine.

To those looking for advice... I agree with djb that following standard practice is probably the best thing to do.

FWIW, I have been hanging my food when camping in locations where I expect critters for my whole life (I am 60) and only once did critters get into my food when it was hung. That was probably mice or some other small rodent.

I have had raccoons get into our food once when we left the panniers on the bikes. I have also multiple times had raccoons unzip the pocket on my pannier and pull out stuff even though there was no food in it. It seems to always be the same pannier and the same pocket so it must smell good. I guess I really should wash that pannier to try to get rid of the smell. About half the time they have zipped it back up when they were done!

I'll admit it. I had a very similar pair of shorts in '82.

Watching people trying to hang food while in camp is one of the highlights of camping......It brings tear of joy to my eyes just thinking about...

hear hear. its no debate.

All of you have left out that most pervasive of critters in the deep south, the dreaded Fire Ant. Stepped out of the tent one night into a shoe full. The bite marks on my foot were still there a month later. Just make sure you don't pitch the tent on or near a bed of these devils, or leave a pizza slice in your pannier, no matter where. The up side: they have eaten most of the ticks in the South.

Raccoons are the biggest problem in designated camp grounds as they are use to foraging successfully there. And, they CAN unzip a pannier.

Hanging food in a cheap plastic bag has, in my case, attracted a flock of ravens who dive bomed it until the food spilled out.

There may be a few black bears wandering around parts of the ST, but they are generally harmless, as are the thousands of alligators along the coast, as long as you don't camp next to a swamp or pond.

In the movie True Grit, Rooster Cogburn always ringed his tent with a rope to keep the snakes away. I hear moth balls work too.

The Ravens in Joshua Tree NP will peck holes in any water containers you leave out. Rather than spill water pecking a hole in the bottom, they'll start at the top of a bottle and work their way down. There's no water in the park either, so if they get all of your water, you've got to drive out of the park to get more. Critters... gotta love 'em.

Couldn't you just put the whole moth in the bag and hang it up???

I've used bear boxes where available, and never had any problems. For that matter, never had problems where we were supposed to hang food, but didn't.

While hiking, though, I learned the hard way (a whole bag of fresh gorp!) to avoid the rats in the hiking shelters. Hikers in the Smokies had the answer: take the nylon rope you're going to hang the food (or pack) with, and tie a knot about a foot above the bag. Take as clean a can as you can find, poke a hole in the bottom, run the rope through that hole (bottom side up), and hang the bag. Even though it's clear to two-legged mammals they could simply jump down onto the bag, the mice and rats would creep down, hit that can, and, fearful of a fall, go look for food somewhere else.

interesting...Im willing to try that one day, but going from the ingenuity of squirrels and bird feeders...I dunnooooo

When bike touring I usually don't properly hang food because I am in established campgrounds and usually less than a day travel from the next grocery store. I use a dry bag to store my food and when practical I hang it from a tree branch to keep it away from mice, etc. I also don't have that much food with me when bike touring, maybe two to three days at most. That said, I have not toured in grizzly country yet so I may change my procedure next trip when I will be.

Canoeing where I have a week (or more) of food in black bear country and I am several days from the grocery store, I am much more careful to hang it properly.


I get a line over a tall branch, a long tent pole helps to get the line in place because I am terrible at throwing a line with any accuracy. Then I use a couple caribiners, a couple rescue pulleys and a second line to hoist the food bag (35 liter PVC coated nylon) up and to one side away from the tree trunk. The white garbage bag in the photo actually holds a cooking pot with our eggs and other fragile foods so it is packed better than it looks, it is not just a bunch of loose stuff in a garbage bag.


There can be a lot of troublesome critters, but some of them are rather photogenic too.