DIY Rodent-proof Food Bag

[Sweetfancymoses]

I've lost my share of food to pine squirrels and chipmunks over the years. I don't want to go the barrel, bucket, bear vault route and find the Ursack bags too small and costly. I've heard that people use bags made out of car airbag material. Has anyone tried it and does it work?

 

[Guest]

I've lost my share of food to pine squirrels and chipmunks over the years. I don't want to go the barrel, bucket, bear vault route and find the Ursack bags too small and costly. I've heard that people use bags made out of car airbag material. Has anyone tried it and does it work?

I think rodent nibblage comes down to several preventative factors, the first of which being how odor tight the container. I can’t see a way to make airbag (or dry bag) material sealed truly odor proof.

Any soft side container that can be gnawed through is of questionable security at best.

A second factor is how habituated the resident squirrel and chipmunk population is to container = food. Even an odor free hard shell may merit chewing investigation in a habituated site.

A third factor is how nibble-able an edge even a hard sided container presents. Again, chewable soft sides fail. This was just the attraction of residual odor from a clean pressure cooker



Or worse, where is the lunch I packed.



Friend Willie tried hanging small dry bags from the tammie branches.



This is the expression you have when finding that rodents have eaten $100 worth of dry bags.



Don’t be like Willie.

For hard sided containers we used 3 and 5 gallon gasket sealed buckets for a few years and I accumulated a collection of chewed up lids. Those freebie lab-chemical buckets, while leak-proof, had a raised lip of lid above the gasket that was apparently ideal for the jaw opening of squirrels and chipmunks. The rodentia never actually gained access, but they could quickly destroy a lid, leaving me with a snowfall of plastic debris to clean up and a no longer waterproof container.

The bear vaults and Ursacks I have seen are both pricey and too small for my needs.

For a single cost-effective hard shell food container I know of nothing as useful as a blue barrel. I like the 30L solo for volume and weight, but for long trips or group meals the 60L is surprisingly not that much taller or wider.

I have yet to experience rodents chewing at either a 30L or 60L barrels. I think the lid shape and edges provide no gnaw-able squirrel or chipmunk edges.

Has anyone here had a rodent chew into a blue barrel?

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Has anyone here had a rodent chew into a blue barrel?

No but I have heard of racoons opening them! May of course be an "urban myth"

You can buy stainless steel cloth, not sure how you would secure the seams and opening though and it would probably cost you more than an Ursack. They do make a version for specifically for rodents that is a bit cheaper.

 

[red langford]

Bring a cat.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

No Title

Bring a cat.

I like it.

Actually, we have a ferocious tomcat who would just love to have a go at a piney but he would probably freak out if I tried to teach this old cat new canoe tricks.

Found a deployed air bag at the local junk yard yesterday but was a little disappointed when I had no problem cutting it out of the dashboard with regular scissors. An internet search found 50" wide Kevlar cloth, but I would have to buy 2 yards to the tune of about $80.

 

[red langford]

What about using a different kind of barrier instead of a physical one. Try a bag of cat hair in a cheesecloth pouch. Or maybe cayenne pepper?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

......... I have heard of racoons opening them! May of course be an "urban myth"

I have suspected that the reason mice and squirrels can't chew them is because they can't climb up the sides. Maybe racoons can knock the barrels over?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

What about using a different kind of barrier instead of a physical one. Try a bag of cat hair in a cheesecloth pouch. Or maybe cayenne pepper?

Haven't tried it, but iI've read of the use of mothballs to keep rodents out of the underside of vehicles parked at the trailhead. Also used to keep (or drive) skunks from under porches.

 

[red langford]

Mothballs are ineffective for skunks.

 

[Guest]

I've lost my share of food to pine squirrels and chipmunks over the years. I don't want to go the barrel, bucket, bear vault route and find the Ursack bags too small and costly. I've heard that people use bags made out of car airbag material. Has anyone tried it and does it work?

I gotta ask, what is your objection to the ubiquitously tried and true blue barrel?

I tried a lot of alternative food containers before getting a barrel and nothing else proved to work as well or as conveniently.

The best downsized alternative I found are Curtec wide mouth drums, freebie ex-lab chemical containers, so the price was right.

http://www.curtec.com/en/products/drums/wide-neck-drums/detail/wide-neck-drums-10-litres

We have a couple of the 10 litre CurTec drums and they are leakproof and so far un-nibbled. The barrel shape is more packing friendly than a gasketed \_/ bucket and they stack nicely inside an old internal frame backpack.

I’d love to find a disused 20L wide mouth CurTec drum.

Of course there are always ex pickle and olive barrels, especially if you can find a local freebie source.

Mothballs are ineffective for skunks.

Did you ever smell moth balls?
How did you get the tiny little legs apart?

Bwahahahaha.

 

[red langford]

Did you ever smell moth balls?
How did you get the tiny little legs apart?

Bwahahahaha.

The skunks held their legs apart.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

I gotta ask, what is your objection to the ubiquitously tried and true blue barrel?

A blue barrel is just too big for us. We single portage with two #4 Duluth packs. Last year we used a 3 gal bucket with gamma seal which was just big enough for 5 nights' worth of food. I didn't like the way it rode inside the pack with the sharp edges and all. I guess a Curtec or a Vittles' Vault (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/ite...730&catid=1107) are a little smoother around the edges. I'd really like to go soft sided, if possible.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

It looks like there are two options for bags made from stainless steel mesh; the Outsak and the Grubpack, both companies have websites.

The other option to try, if you are hanging your food how about putting a wide cone of plastic or aluminum on top of the bag, making it harder for rodents to climb directly down the line on to the bag. I seem to recall a similar thing used to stop squirrels from getting to a bird feeder.

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

It looks like there are two options ... .

Perfect! The large size of either brand would be just right. Thank you for the links.

Here is another manufacturer: http://www.armoredoutdoorgear.com/

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

No Title



Eat your hearts out, Chip 'n' Dale!

(I don't know why the picture is not right side up.)

 

[lowangle al]

Bring a cat.

I used to take my cat camping and I never had a problem with mice, never had a problem without him either. Racoons are a different story though. The cat liked the camping and he tolerated being in the boat except for the time a guy on a horse was coming up the road and I'm sure he never heard a horse before but it knew something very large was heading our way and fast. I got a good laugh watching him go from one end of the other trying to hide.

 

[sailsman63]

making it harder for rodents to climb directly down the line on to the bag. I seem to recall a similar thing used to stop squirrels from getting to a bird feeder.

In the medium to long term, it doesn't work for bird feeders. If your'e in a spot where the rodents have never run across it before, it might hold for a couple of days. They'll eventually figure out stuff like a perfectly timed flip that kicks your bag around just as they fall past....

 

[Canotrouge]

What about bags like the Ursack... https://www.ursack.com

If they are tough enough for bear they should work for rodents....

 

[Shearwater]

Terrific thread. Thanks everyone.
I just ordered a black medium grubpack with zipper. I'm used to using a 20L or 30L barrel but my heart is now working at less than 50% efficiency so weight is a big issue for me. This should allow a nice drop in weight and easier portaging.

My wife just bought me an Inreach SE as she now worries too much. Something else to learn and play with after supper.

Looking forward to my September birthday solo outing.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

What about bags like the Ursack... https://www.ursack.com

If they are tough enough for bear they should work for rodents....

Apparently not. According to ursack rodent teeth are much sharper. It's probably a bit like puppy teeth that are incredibly sharp and seem to be able to chew through anything.