Being in the wilderness has its charms. Peace, quiet and time to think about and reflect on some things are what keep us sane. Most of us do not have the commodity of being able to go camping, hiking or any other wilderness visit, but those that do have a lot of great stories to tell.
Being out in the forest means that you get to connect with nature and yourself. You have a lot of time available that you can use to think, plan and reflect on some things you have done so far. This is what gives you the ability to become a better self. Nature has always been a sort of blowoff valve for everyone and this is why we love it so much and why we all get out there as soon as we have some time on our hands.
Let’s go camping
Going camping and enjoying the wild means you got to do some preparations. Today’s humans would not last long on their own in the wild and this is why we have to prepare for almost anything, just in case. You need water, supplies, food, something to make a fire, a place to sleep and so much more. Thanks to modern technologies most of those things now can be packed in a small pouch and brought with you on a camping trip but as far as food is considered it still comes in bulky packaging that needs to be sorted and stashed so you do not attract wildlife.
Today we are talking about wildlife and food and we will tell you how to protect your food from bears and other animals if you plan on going somewhere soon. We all know that wild animals have a great sense of smell, it is what keeps them alive. Bears in particular have a keen sense of smell that travels a long way, so if you plan on going camping and if you would like to bring your food maybe consider a bear canister from bearvault.com before you set off.
Now for the dilemma you all have been waiting to be answered – can bears smell your food if it’s canned, vacuum packed or dry frozen?!
How to pack your food for camping ?
When it comes to food and wild animals you can be sure that they can smell nearly anything. We did some digging around and found a magnificent piece of data. It appears that bears have such a great sense of smell that is nearly 7 times better than what a bloodhound has. We all know bloodhounds are the best types of dogs if you are on a hunt or if you need to locate someone by the smell they left or a piece of clothes they have. Well, bears have them beat by 7 times better sense of smell and when you add everything up the bear has a 14,000x better sense of smell than humans do. This is a piece of data that left us speechless and wondering if you can hide your food from the bears at all?!
There are some tips and tricks from seasoned hikers, campers and hunters that will tell you all about using things like bear canisters, bags, vacuums and other things so you don’t leave any trace around or completely cover your tracks from the wildlife around you. Since the topic of the day are bears and vacuum-packed food, we will focus on that.
Vacuum-packed food is somewhat viable but it all depends on the type of vacuum seal, bag, the machine you use and other little things. Some vacuum bags are better than others and some vacuum sealers are better with all types of bags while others are not so much. The thing you need to know here is that there is a 50-50 chance that you will do everything correctly and you will leave no smells around. What happens if you make a mistake? Well, you will have some company around waiting for you to go to sleep and then pillage your supplies or maybe worse. To avoid this, we suggest two things – vacuum-sealed everything and use the bear canisters that have proved to be good over and over again.
There are some rules when it comes to camping and food in the camp and they say to walk at least 200 feet or 70 big steps from your tent when you prepare food to throw them off from your rest area. Everything from your toiletries to the kitchen wear should be packed in Ziplock bags and vacuum sealed and then packed in the bear canisters. This is the way you prevent your food and other things you came in contact with, to draw in unwanted guests in or around the place you are camping.
Another piece of advice is that you walk another 200 feet or 70 big steps from your cooking area and store your food there. all of this walking around is preventative and will make a huge difference when camping. You will make sure you sleep in a safe place, you cook and clean safely and that, your food is safely away from you, whether it gives off any smells or doesn’t. to make it tougher for the animals to get to your containers you can stash your canisters in tight places and put additional things on them or you can try to hang them somewhere a bit higher. This will ward off some of the animals but since bears are good climbers, we wouldn’t call this a 100% bear-proof stash.
All of this maybe sounds a bit silly but you have to consider your safety as well as the safety of the animals around you. most of them will not be aggressive and will not create any issues but when they smell or taste food for the first time in this way they might be inclined to come searching for more and if there are other smells you left around, be sure that they will lead straight to you. this is why all of those sent repellents hunters use and all of these vacuum and Ziplock bags come into place, but to make everything as odourless as possible combine all of that with bear canisters and you will be safe and sound.
