My solo food pack

[Robin]

I'm not a fan of blue barrels, never could get used to them. For years I carry a nylon bag with two nylon inner bags that I stuffed in one of my larger Duluth packs.
One bag had dinner, the other breakfast and snacks for lunch.

Recently, I downsized a bit and only carry one large Duluth pack for gear, and I have gone to a smaller Duluth Day Pack (http://duluthpack.com/outdoor-gear/...acks-backpacks/standard-daypack-backpack.html) for my food pack
I have had this Day pack for over 25 years, I used it as an overnight bag at work for 15 years and it's been rebuilt once at the Duluth factory. Mine came new with leather straps, a leather bottom and leather pocket up front. The zipper is tough as nails.



I use 2 Seattlesports medium sized waterproof bags 11"x22" when flat, that I bought from Sierra Trading Post. When these bags are 3/4's full, they fit inside perfectly.



On a portage, I can carry the pack on my chest and the larger pack on my back. This method is frowned upon by some, but I'm over 6' tall and I get a good view of the trail and hazards even with the pack on my chest.



I can carry my small pot with small dinner plate and spoon/fork inside on top of the food bags and my "littl'bug stove inside across the back. It's been a real nice setup, I carry all my breakfast/lunch in the blue bag and dinner stuff in the red.
Granted I eat some pretty boring meals on the trail, but I prefer it that way. Less time cooking, more time canoeing. I had more than enough food for my recent 8 day trip although I did eat some fish I caught along the way.




I sometimes hang the pack at sights where I can find a nice branch, but other times I just walk the shoreline and place the bag under a bush. I would consider it as smell proof as a barrel, but a small critter could chew thru it.
That front pocket carries a water bottle and a water bottle filled with adult beverage, plus I squeeze an old plastic "salad dressing" bottle filled with cooking oil.
My cold handle frying pan goes on the top of the larger Duluth pack.




Best of all, it fit's nicely into the canoe, half of the bag fits under the bow seat to help with the trim and when the trip wains down, I have it all the way under.

 

[Seeker]

I like it! If I have a lot of portages, I just cram it all into a single stuff sack, but if not, I like the idea of a separate pack... I have one I could use, but this past trip (Low's), I used a wannagan/box. The sorting of food into meal-bags works well for me also, though my system's a little different... I too consider myself a "boring" eater... there is comfort in simplicity. This past trip I used 4 different colored plastic shopping bags, but stuff sacks would definitely work.

Bacon and oatmeal in one bag (daily breakfast)
Cheese, meat, bagels, and raisins (daily lunch) in another
Dehydrated meal packs (mostly Hawkvittles) in a third (dinner)
Fourth bag for snacks and drink mixes.

I also like how you can move the food bag around in your canoe... this is pretty important, especially when there's wind, so you can ballast correctly to help compensate for it. When I have the box, it kinda has to sit in the middle, and I end up ballasting with a water bag, or logs/rocks.

 

[red langford]

What is it about the barrels that don't work for you.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I could never see Robin using a barrel. Perhaps a wanigan but not something PLASTIC!

 

[Sturgeon]

I do the same thing: one bag for breakfast and snacks, another for dinners. I put them in odourproof ziplocs in two Ursacks, that in turn go in a light pack that I wear on my front when portaging. Good system!
For a short trip, just one Ursack.
I like the colour-coding of your system. I'm forced to figure out which white Ursack is the dirtiest.

 

[Robin]

What is it about the barrels that don't work for you.

Well, I carry a wood canvas canoe across the portages cause I like the look and feel of the canoe. Weight is not an issue come 7pm and I'm paddling down some quiet bay in some remote Canadian lake empty after a day of fighting headwinds and rain.
I use a $45 beavertail paddle cause it fits my hands well, I could easily afford a better paddle, I have had some but I can't remember what ever happened to them.
I use Duluth Packs cause I like their look in the canoe, their feel on my back across the portage, and the enjoyment I get mid winter oiling the leather next to my wood stove.
Around my campsite, a Blue Barrel just wouldn't feel right, laying in my canoe it wouldn't fit. Just my way of tripping and nothing against those who prefer them.

 

[red langford]

Well, that is a far better answer then I could have ever expected.

I have a Woods pack, similar to your American Duluth Pack and the kids call cruel and unusual punishment, but I do like the look and feel. Especially when they are carrying it.

I do bring a barrel and Oostrom harness and I like the practicality of it. Can't tell there is a barrel on your back with that harness either.

Thank you

 

[Robin]

Your Welcome, and I'm a big fan of the Woods pack also, I just spent all my $$$ on Duluths before I learned of Woods.

Your rig, the barrel and the Ostrom harness is practical and popular, I can understand why.

My whole system from the canoe I paddle to the food I eat is pretty much a solo effort, not many folks like to trip with me more than a few times. It is all good.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Your Welcome, and I'm a big fan of the Woods pack also, I just spent all my $$$ on Duluths before I learned of Woods.

Your rig, the barrel and the Ostrom harness is practical and popular, I can understand why.

My whole system from the canoe I paddle to the food I eat is pretty much a solo effort, not many folks like to trip with me more than a few times. It is all good.

Huh? You cook good fish!

 

[red langford]

Last year I was about to head out on a trip I planned with my son and the day before we left the FD meals I ordered from MEC still had not arrived. Was over 2 weeks since I ordered them. I live at the end of the road and there are few options (for most things). But a call here led me to another call and then from somebody I barely knew came a case of military MRE's.

Heavy? Yes. Tasty? Not so much. Convenient? Like nothing I have ever experienced.

So since then I have been trying to create my own, healthier, tastier custom MRE's. Then each one goes in it's own vacuum bag and bob's yer uncle.

Most items can be boughten in bulk and tailor made to suit our needs.

Used Larabar instead of sugar filled energy bars
Used homemade hard tack made with whole wheat flour and no preservatives
I even have a whole wheat pancake, just add water mix that is made from scratch.
Everything I can from scratch, preservative free whole foods.

I am still refining the system but am finding it works well.

 

[Robin]

Did you stomach and regularity agree with the changes?

I wonder about diet changes and what it will do to me. I never eat Bannock at home and wonder if I started eating it at lunch for a week I might get some discomfort. I have never heard reports of such, and I'm pretty easy to please around the dinner table, so I probably could try it.

I find jerky too hard on the teeth and not worth the effort needed to chew it so much.
Maybe if I had some cold beer with it, it would be ok, but that's not happening.
I use store bought "just add water" pancakes, pretty good with just maple syrup.

I brought some expensive Granola cereal once and broke a tooth at the Leano Lake parking lot in WCPP just before a 12 day trip. (found out it's better to let it soak and not rush when eating Granola)

 

[Waterdog]

I find jerky too hard on the teeth and not worth the effort needed to chew it so much.
Maybe if I had some cold beer with it, it would be ok, but that's not happening.

Soon Robin, Soon we will be able to pack in our beers to wash down dinner.

http://www.patsbcb.com/beer-concentrate

I use a 30L barrel but no longer use a barrel harness. I slip the barrel inside a Frost River Isle Royal pack and my PFD proves to be excellent padding when I carry it. There's still room for odds and ends in the pack and in the exterior pockets.

Barry

 

[red langford]

The change in diet was to rid myself of the spare tire I grew when I quit smoking 13 or 14 years ago. There were some simple yet fundamental changes that worked incredibly well and as far as regularity and stomach issues goes, I feel it made everything better. Less hunger, no more hay-fever like symptoms, increased energy levels. The benefits were numerous. It was easy to make the changes at home but on the trail was another story. The old standbys were no longer viable. I lost 35 pounds and 2 pant sizes. Then I went away to work for a year, living in a work camp and it all went out the window eating camp food (yech). Gained everything back. Now I am back at home and back on track.

The principal changes were
No added sugar in any foods, this took a while for my taste buds to adjust but they did.
No white. Whole grains are the key. Whole Wheat Flour, Brown Whole Grain Rice, Whole Grain Oats, Yams instead of Potatoes
No 4 legged proteins..now this one I admit is tough. I have Deer, Moose and Bear in my freezer, so limited my intake to one meal a week
No food 3 hours before bed

Oddly enough some of these principals are things that should be tuned into adventurers and wilderness travellers. I essentially eat less and get more from what I eat. Eat less means carrying less. Fewer hunger attacks means more time for travel and less time needed for eating.Eating that chocolate bar at lunch will mean 2 o'clock hunger pangs and you get the sugar crash.

Sorry completely off topic.

Back to the topic, the Blue Barrel works well as a table when cooking when no "cooking rock" is available.