Camping/Overlanding Gear and Packing Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[1world1love]

Pretty much any trailhead parking in the Sierras will be vulnerable to bears destroying your car. Many have storage lockers but some don’t.

Having said that, I think the problem is overstated sometimes. Anywhere in the national Parks, anywhere near major tourist areas, like anywhere around Tahoe or Gatlinburg, etc. clearly there are places that a bear would rip your door off just to get a single, three month old French fry from under your seat.

But reasonable precautions should suffice in most places. If there are bear lockers - use them without exception. If not, try to store any food in an airtight cooler out of sight. Remove any leftover food, wrappers, bags, etc.

Use common sense. If you are setting up camp and see paw prints or bear scat, consider your options and how you can prepare.

Hanging is fine but I have seen a black bear kamikaze from a branch 20ft up onto a hanging pack below. Unless there is a dedicated food pole I would not assume that this is always safe. It is better than nothing though.

And it goes without saying I hope, but never, under any circumstances should you allow food or scented items into your sleeping area. Even if there are no bears, there is almost no place on earth without rodents who will not hesitate to eat through your tent, Oz or otherwise.

 

[TeCKis300]

Pretty much any trailhead parking in the Sierras will be vulnerable to bears destroying your car. Many have storage lockers but some don’t.

Having said that, I think the problem is overstated sometimes. Anywhere in the national Parks, anywhere near major tourist areas, like anywhere around Tahoe or Gatlinburg, etc. clearly there are places that a bear would rip your door off just to get a single, three month old French fry from under your seat.

But reasonable precautions should suffice in most places. If there are bear lockers - use them without exception. If not, try to store any food in an airtight cooler out of sight. Remove any leftover food, wrappers, bags, etc.

Use common sense. If you are setting up camp and see paw prints or bear scat, consider your options and how you can prepare.

Hanging is fine but I have seen a black bear kamikaze from a branch 20ft up onto a hanging pack below. Unless there is a dedicated food pole I would not assume that this is always safe. It is better than nothing though.

And it goes without saying I hope, but never, under any circumstances should you allow food or scented items into your sleeping area. Even if there are no bears, there is almost no place on earth without rodents who will not hesitate to eat through your tent, Oz or otherwise.

Just to make this real. In my younger days camping with my parents, they left a single whole orange hanging out in the back seat in Yosemite. All those pictures of peeled back door frames in the ranger station - yup, one of them might of been my parents car.

 

[wiseinvestor]

Pretty much common sense but.... Longer camps = More chance of weather. More solar charged stuff (lights, fans.) More Hygiene planning for persons and camp. Much more meal planning. And just having backups makes sense on longer trips (if you bring 1 fishing pole... double it.) 2nd the recommendation on the Wolf pack boxes. They force you to minimize and are easily secured during travel. ARB drawer bags are great for kitchen stuff. 5 gallon propane tanks go a long way.

 

[RandyDaytona]

FWIW.. This is what I use as a lantern/trouble light (normally around the garage) USB rechargeable and well mostly used working on cars.. stream light flip mate (magnetic base, hook, etc)

Amazon product ASIN B084SWJQKV
I also have one of these but normally use the streamlight - this one is great too Nitecore LR60 Amazon product ASIN B099NVJ3HN
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-BIGBOY-Folding-Landscaping-356-36/dp/B0014CA3JQ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2BWNB61WUB8S5&keywords=silky+saw&qid=1686018501&s=hi&sprefix=silky+saw,tools,120&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOUVVWjg3WUdNVjJBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDYxOTI5MzU1RjMyQks5NU1ZSyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjY3NjEwM1VaSE5WN1ZDVzIyMyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I have the same lantern. It’s awesome. I also have A Streamlight headlamp and a larger hand-held SL light. The headlamp and handheld use the same batteries, and they can be charged in a two-battery cradle or individually, via USB.

 

[RandyDaytona]

I saw mention of a GPS in one post, but no one mentioned a compass. I’m probably dating myself, but having a compass (and preferably a map) and knowing how to use them are Outdoors 101, in my mind.

As a retired game warden, I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors in places where a cell phone is useless. And like any electronic gadget, a GPS can *become* useless, so I always have a backup. I have a basic plastic compass and a military lensatic compass. I even use the small watch-band compasses. Yes, your watch can interfere with them, but historically, they're been useful enough to me for finding the dead wolf that is “somewhere in the NW corner” of a given land area. They’re certainly handy for knowing that before you wandered off after your dog/to take a picture/to answer the call of nature and subsequently got turned around, your truck was somewhere east of you,

Not that this has happened to me personally. It’s just what others have stated.

 

[Rockyonekc]

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Moab. It was our first trip in the LX. We are Chiefs season ticket holders so my setup is a blend between tailgating and camping. I built a small frame out of extruded 2020 aluminum. It holds a folding table that slides out and can be used as a shelf above the tailgate. Underneath are cheap waterproof bins from Menards. A Gazelle T4 and EZup go on top of a carpeted deck on top of the aluminum frame. It worked pretty well. I brought our propane fire pit but we didn’t need it since it was warm in the evenings.

 

[Otapnam]

If you ever plan on getting a battery powered fridge or have other power needs and are looking into a power bank, I would look into at least 700-800w capacity. I started off with a 500w but I kept running into battery anxiety in high heat, as well as in weather where theres too much cloud cover for solar recharge.

 

[coleAK]

Good stuff.

Do you have a recommendation on how to handle food gear that may still have odors? Specifically, cooktops or griddle stoves that surely still has bacon and food smells after cleaning, as they a risk to keep in a car? In a camper?

When I’m way out in the back country I suspend the cooking equipment (backpacking gear). When I’m not as far out I store my large cook top (camp chef 3 burner) in a Yakima box on the roof or chained up under my LX.

 

[LX Cruiser]

When I’m way out in the back country I suspend the cooking equipment (backpacking gear). When I’m not as far out I store my large cook top (camp chef 3 burner) in a Yakima box on the roof or chained up under my LX.

Deep in bear country while car camping, we usually only eat Backpacker’s Pantry, Mountain House, Ready Wise, Peak Refuel. The only cooking is really rehydrating with boiling water.

Anything that has any kind of food or fragrant odor gets hung by our Mountain Laurel Designs 975-lb-test line that I mentioned in my previous post.

I have literally hung all 5 of my family’s packs from that single line. Only tents, headlamps, bear spray, bear spray plan B (wink wink) and sleeping bags/pads on the ground with us. It was such a pain getting it up in the air. But it held all night long.

 

[MCtree]

If you ever plan on getting a battery powered fridge or have other power needs and are looking into a power bank, I would look into at least 700-800w capacity. I started off with a 500w but I kept running into battery anxiety in high heat, as well as in weather where theres too much cloud cover for solar recharge.

Can you say what size and brand fridge?
And for how long it the 800w will power your fridge?

 

[MCtree]

When I’m way out in the back country I suspend the cooking equipment (backpacking gear). When I’m not as far out I store my large cook top (camp chef 3 burner) in a Yakima box on the roof or chained up under my LX.

Cole,
If a bear can peel open a vehicle, couldn’t they do the same to a Yakima?

I have a Yakima but was considering an alubox because of the discussions on this thread.


All,
Yeti coolers are supposedly bear proof (if padlocked.). Anybody trust that?

Ps. Sorry OP, since this is somewhat a hijack of your thread.

 

[UPR LC]

Cole,
If a bear can peel open a vehicle, couldn’t they do the same to a Yakima?

I have a Yakima but was considering an alubox because of the discussions on this thread.


All,
Yeti coolers are supposedly bear proof (if padlocked.). Anybody trust that?

Ps. Sorry OP, since this is somewhat a hijack of your thread.

I have an RTIC, similar to Yeti. I don't see a bear breaking into that cooler. Those things are stout.

 

[Otapnam]

Can you say what size and brand fridge?
And for how long it the 800w will power your fridge?

I have a cheap bougerv 55qt fridge. 800w will probably get you 48-72 hours easy That's also without running the car or solar charging in ~70 degree weather.

I liked the fridge route since you don't waste room with ice or thick cooler walls like the yetis/rtic. It's actually close to the advertised size

 

[grinchy]

Just watched Yeti's old bear video. You'll need to padlock that cooler.

 

[coleAK]

Can you say what size and brand fridge?
And for how long it the 800w will power your fridge?

I have a 95L dometic that I run one side fridge the other side freezer. My 1kwh lionenergy will run it for ~2 days. I have 500w of solar that will recharge the battery in 2-3 hrs or I can plug into the 110 in the back of my LX to recharge it in 3-4 hrs.

 

[coleAK]

Cole,
If a bear can peel open a vehicle, couldn’t they do the same to a Yakima?

I have a Yakima but was considering an alubox because of the discussions on this thread.


All,
Yeti coolers are supposedly bear proof (if padlocked.). Anybody trust that?

Ps. Sorry OP, since this is somewhat a hijack of your thread.

I clean my cook top and griddle very well. Also for the most part bears are lazy and summer in Alaska there is plenty of food around. Yes big brownies can be 8-10’ tall but most campground nuisance bears are young and on the small end (200-300 lbs) so on the roof is way up there for them. I’ve had bears walk all around my truck and never consider climbing on top, Knock on wood.

Worst case I’ve always figured a broken open box is way less of an inconvenience than a pulled out window/door.

Full summer in AK is a little different than other places. The big bears tent to concentrate where the salmon runs are then move up country for ripe berry picking. It’s not 100% but you know where you are more likely to encounter them and I avoid those places. The exception is when we do our late summer caribou hunt, we set up electric fences, pack a 45/70, lock everything in steel or suspend it.

The roto molded coolers are fairly bear resistant (like you said with a lock but I just can’t get onboard with yeti and crew. They are just so insanely heavy. My 165 qt Igloo marine coolers weigh as much as a 65 qt roto. And I regularly keep ice frozen in the igloo for 3-5 days when fishing.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I have a 95L dometic that I run one side fridge the other side freezer. My 1kwh lionenergy will run it for ~2 days. I have 500w of solar that will recharge the battery in 2-3 hrs or I can plug into the 110 in the back of my LX to recharge it in 3-4 hrs.

View attachment 3345397

BRAVO! I agonized over whether I should have bought the 95L vs the 75L Dometic. The 75L has worked great for us as it's just me and the missus. My 75L uses about 50 WHr/Hr on average so I get about the same time as you on my Yeti 1500X. I might get a little more than 2 days but it would be a nail-biter as I would have to run the Yeti 1500X to zero which is not recommended.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Question for the bear experts. Although I am no stranger to bears or bear country I have wondered if frozen food in one of these coolers will lessen their ability to scent food. Actually, with bears it may not matter. I've seen them try to get into cars & trucks when there is absolutely nothing there because they're just curious opportunists. To a bear car/cabin=food.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Question for the bear experts. Although I am no stranger to bears or bear country I have wondered if frozen food in one of these coolers will lessen their ability to scent food. Actually, with bears it may not matter. I've seen them try to get into cars & trucks when there is absolutely nothing there because they're just curious opportunists. To a bear car/cabin=food.

Lessen? Maybe, but remember that bears can find frozen dead s***, no problem. So I don't think it's effective mitigation.

 

[Artie]

All this bear talk… perfect timing for me and the family sleeping in our camper in Wyoming for 3 weeks… the refrigerator is under my bed and my kids sleep next to the pantry. Thankfully my wife’s snoring sounds like an angry grizzly so there’s a chance any wondering bear will think we’ve already been hit.

Real talk. We’ve camped in bear country before and it’s impossible for us to hang food given our set up. We could hang some but not all. We cook down wind but our shower is outdoor so we use the least scented soap we can find.

We’re in a hard side camper and our plan has always been that if a bear does show up I’ll mace out a window and the wife and kids will air horn and scream bloody murder. We tell ourselves this should suffice and we’ll relocate the next day.

We live and camp in black bear territory and I feel comfortable around them having had encounters several times. Browns and grizzlies are foreign to me and might as well be the land version of Jaws.