A couple of recent posts in the "Gear" section (Cooke custom food pack thread) mentioned tripping with fresh meat.

Refrigeration considerations aside, I'd suggest that this might not be such a good idea, at least not in bear country.

Some years ago I was backpacking in Banff NP, and had set up my tent in a shared backcountry site. Another couple had decided to bring in frozen steaks, and used their high density foam sleeping pads to keep the meat cold on the trek in. (This was a long time ago, before thermarests).

After they had finished their dinner, a black bear wandered into camp. He decided the foam pads (in the tent by this time) smelled good enough to eat, so he flattened and ripped open the tent, and started munching away. 

Fortunately for the hikers, it was a black bear, and the tent was unoccupied at the time. Unfortunately for the bear, it had to be destroyed.

But the bottom line is that anything used to pack fresh meat in will pick up odors, and bears are attracted to the smell of fresh meat, even if extremely well sealed by human standards. 

Edited by user Monday, April 9, 2018 2:48:28 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

My wife (TippyCanoe) and I proudly rate ourselves very high on the "bear-anoia" scale. We eat almost exclusively rehydrated chow with maybe the addition of some summer sausage or Babybel. She writes a fair piece about her meal strategy in her trip reports. We put everything -- pots, pans, and stove included -- in our barrels and park them under a small tarp way back in the woods. About the last thing I'd ever want (aside from a Vikings SB win) is the life of some poor bear on my conscience. Not to mention, replacing gear is expensive!

Edited by user Thursday, April 12, 2018 12:49:42 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Originally Posted by: Gavia

Before you trust your dry bag to be odor-proof, check it out with a dog.

A few years ago I sealed a package of beef jerky in a plastic bag, put it in a dry bag, closed the dry bag securely, and put it on the kitchen floor.  My dog (an Australian Shepherd) was *very* interested in it.

I put the same package in a Bear Vault with the lid slightly ajar.  My dog tried to get into it.  When I closed the lid completely he walked past it as though it was nothing at all.

Bear in mind that a dog's sense of smell is nothing compared to a bear's.

Originally Posted by: eagle98mn

Wow. That would be mighty terrifying to witness! Good reminder. I have a dry bag that I use only as a food pack for exactly this reason. I don't want my food bag to transfer any odors back to any other gear.

Good example of the crazy sensitivity of some animal noses Gavia.

I wasn't very clear in my post. I don't rely upon the dry bag to be scent-proof at all. In fact, I always assumed it would absorb scents similar to the foam pads in Joe's story. For that reason, this particular dry bag is only used as a bear bag. It is never used to transport other items, nor is it kept in the tent - just in case it smells like food. The bag itself is hung up in a tree, 10-12' high, 6' out, away from the tents, etc.

So the point of my original comment was simply that I make sure to never re-purpose my bear bag for another use, just to ensure Joe's sleep-pad incident isn't repeated with my bear bag. Once a bear-bag, only a bear-bag.

Thanks for the concern Gavia. I'd hate to be doing something unsafe and have people unwilling to point it out!