Get a 5 gallon plastic pail with a tight fitting lid

Bury it - GPS it.. done.

Ha, ha!

Old Ranger-Define old geezer. I'm over 60 and the friend with whom I will hike is over 70. We are not exactly spring chickens and can claim "menopausal memory" (or lack of) AND advancing years... Talk about a double whammy!

CamperMom

I have used one gallon metal paint cans in the Grand Canyon, but only for one night and there are NO bears there. Works great.

I have used a five gallon plastic paint can here in Colorado. In my opinion it is too big for a bear to bite into and thoses lids go on tight. Leave a screw driver with the bucket so that you can get into it.

I like to put luxuries into the can of things that are too heavy to carry like pudding cups, canned fruit and canned beans. It also is good for things that would get crushed in a pack like Twinkies.

Food volume always surprises me. I can get breakfast, trail snacks and dinner in three quart bags with room to spare, but there is only 20 quarts in a five gallon can. Add a few treats, extra batteries, stove fuel, hand sanitizer, etc. and it is only about a weeks worth of food for one person.

I can get my gear in a 40L pack pretty easy, but when you add a weeks food then I use a 60L pack. Maybe a weeks food is about 20 quarts.

I have three nights and four days food setting in my staging area right now. It fits pretty well into a two and a half gallon plastic bag that will go inside the Rat Sack.

I came across an abandoned camp in the Canadian Rockies that had been using five gallon buckets for food storage and it looks like the bears had no problems getting into those, If you are using a bucket you would need to burry it and even then no guarantees.

Yes, when you have opened and closed them a few times they are not secure. The first time you seal them they are very secure.

I believe they are airtight when sealed the first time.

NOT good for long term camp storage, but are good for a one time use cache.

In re: five gallon plastic paint buckets as bearproof caches.

All a bear would have to do to pop one open would be to sit on it, or bounce on it hard with its forepaws and its weight behind them. Your only hope would be to odorproof one and bury it, or else just trust to luck.

Depending on the level of bear activity and how human-tolerant the bears are, trusting to luck could be either a fairly good strategy or a hopeless one.

Aimless,I agree a bear would take less than a couple of minutes getting into even a factory sealed Five gallon pail or paint can. I do think perhaps with care to avoid oders and perhaps Burying?? You might be ok. I beleive in Murphys Law, what can and could happen does? I think a pail or bucket is askin for trouble? Good Luck!

Remember the "gamma seals" that were sold to seal 5 gallon buckets? I wonder how that would work. Expecially with the food and "smellables" in Aloksaks?

CM

Where are you going that is such a "high vandalism area"? Unless your really attached to this place I would say find somewhere less traveled where you do not have to worry about such things

Sections of the Appalachian Trail seem to attract vandals to the parking areas. If you look on-line, you will see warnings for GA, TN, VA, PA, probably more. AT enthusiasts keep on trekking, but they look for safer places for their cars and maybe rides to the trailhead.

CM