Yes I have read a lot of the links. I also read "The Backpacker's Field Manual" by Rick Curtis. I have pitched my tent in my yard and put our pads and sleeping bags in there and don't feel like there will be enough room to also put the packs in there. I want to leave them outside the tent but inside the rainfly, but I didn't know if there was a better way. Also my footprint for my REI half dome 2 doesn't extend to the rainfly, just directly under the tent. I was worried that the bags would get wet from rain, dew, or condensation.

I live in North Carolina and plan to visit the mountains in NC and Tn if that helps any.

As I stated in my first post I plan to get the bearvault canister this weekend. I also plan to keep all food and smelly things inside and put it about 70-100 steps away from our tent. Should I be keeping our stove, pot, and sporks in the canister as well? We will only be boiling water.

Again thanks for any help. And sorry about the wall of text.