Bear can smell this?

[skinnbones]

I plan to tent the entire trail. No shelters. I'm not going to carry a stove. SO, if I keep my pack inside my tent, food bag inside my pack, why is this not safe in active bear areas? There is no cooked food smell to linger and I have a pack layer and then a tent layer. A bear can still smell this?

[ekeverette]

I kept my food with me in my tent my entire hike, never had a problem....

[Sarcasm the elf]

Yes, a bear can smell that... But that doesn't mean it will bother you... (Someone will be by in a minute to refute this statement, but I'm confident in making it)

The only species of bear that inhabits the A.T. is the Black Bear and unless an individual bear has learned to associate people with food, they are naturally afraid and will avoid humans. Unless you are in an area that is known to have bears that are habituated to relying on humans for food (Southern Georgia, the Smoke Mountains, and a few other places) I wouldn't worry about it too much. But do keep your food attended to at all times, many animals, especially rodents will ransack your foodbag the moment that you step away from it.

[Lone Wolf]

well all i can say is i've spent hundreds of nites in a tent on the AT since 1986 and i cook and always keep everything in my tent and never had a problem with any kind of animal. i must be doing something right. but you're gonna hear different from the experts

[The Ace]

With the three responses above, you have gotten the very best, true, and accurate responses you could possibly get. Suggest you close this thread before it starts getting messed up.

[HooKooDooKu]

As I understand it, even if your food is in ziplock bags, a bear can still smell it. So the fact you have it in a bag in a backpack in a tent is meaningless.

But it's not only bears you will have to worry about. Other animals will try to get to your food and keeping it in your tent might mean that you wake up one morning with a hole in your tent/pack/bag... but then again you might not.

[RockDoc]

Correct.
I'll just add that since 1971 I've spent hundreds of nights under a tarp or tent, with food, on the AT. No problems. This includes a lot of cooking right outside the entrance, then eating in the tent and keeping all the food in the tent.
I wouldn't do it in grizzly habitat out west, or if there is known problem bear activity.
There is some risk, but I think it is very small.

[Meriadoc]

Yep bears can smell it. (Think about how you can smell the food in the supermarket aisles - particularly the cereal aisle. That stuff is encased in plastic but is quite easy to smell. And bears smell faint odors far better than humans.)
If a bear has associated humans with food, this is bad.
If a bear has not associated humans with food (the vast majority of the AT), this isn't really a problem. (I have heard the argument that it teaches bears to associate humans with food, but I'm not entirely convinced by that argument.)

[HikerMom58]

Yep bears can smell it. (Think about how you can smell the food in the supermarket aisles - particularly the cereal aisle. That stuff is encased in plastic but is quite easy to smell. And bears smell faint odors far better than humans.)
If a bear has associated humans with food, this is bad.
If a bear has not associated humans with food (the vast majority of the AT), this isn't really a problem. (I have heard the argument that it teaches bears to associate humans with food, but I'm not entirely convinced by that argument.)

+1....... what he said!

[Marta]

Never had a bear problem, but a mouse gnawed into the tent next to mine near Carter Gap Shelter once. There was a lot of shouting and the mouse damaged some of the girl's food.

Seriously--keep a clean camp (don't leave dirty cooking pots and food strewn around), and pay attention to reports of problem bears. If you get to an area where there are reports of bears stealing food and/or packs, hike on for a few more miles.

[Big Dawg]

I sleep with my food. Never a problem.

[colorado_rob]

well all i can say is i've spent hundreds of nites in a tent on the AT since 1986 and i cook and always keep everything in my tent and never had a problem with any kind of animal. i must be doing something right. but you're gonna hear different from the experts

When I read a post like this, I have to ask myself: WHY have I bothered to wear my seatbelt for the 40 years I've been driving a car? Never once needed it.

Here is a good article by someone who has actually been around:

http://andrewskurka.com/2011/food-pr...-bear-country/

Will you be OK simply sleeping with your food on the AT? Almost assuredly, yes. Do you want to learn proper bear discipline and do it right, assuming you will eventually branch out and hike in other areas? Why not start on your AT hike and go ahead and wear your seatbelt? Those Bear cables that are in many areas along the trail exist for a reason, don't they? Or are they frivolous and the officials and naturalists that put them there don't know what they are doing?

[Coffee]

I decided to order a couple of opsaks for testing since Skurka has written good things about odor resistant bags.

[Don H]

A bear's sense of smell is 300 times greater than ours, they can smell almost any food in any container. Even an odor resistant bag has residue from you handling it that they can smell.

There have been ia few rare ncidences where bears have torn into tents of people on or near the AT looking for food.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...cked-by-a-bear

Most bears fear humans and will run when they smell you. Along most of the trail they are hunted (not on the trail but in nearby areas) and have learned that humans are to be avoided. If you see a bear while hiking consider yourself lucky. However bears in the National Parks (GSMNP, SNP) have learned that humans are a food source. People feeding bears, leaving food out, and garbage cans have taught those bears that when there's people around, there's food.

When I'm in a park I hang food, other than that I keep it in my tent. I would not keep food in a shelter because of mice.

Most people do not hang food sufficiently to keep a determined bear out of it unless it's on a bear pole or bag line.

[garlic08]

When I read a post like this, I have to ask myself: WHY have I bothered to wear my seatbelt for the 40 years I've been driving a car? Never once needed it.

Here is a good article by someone who has actually been around:

http://andrewskurka.com/2011/food-pr...-bear-country/

Will you be OK simply sleeping with your food on the AT? Almost assuredly, yes. Do you want to learn proper bear discipline and do it right, assuming you will eventually branch out and hike in other areas? Why not start on your AT hike and go ahead and wear your seatbelt? Those Bear cables that are in many areas along the trail exist for a reason, don't they? Or are they frivolous and the officials and naturalists that put them there don't know what they are doing?

+1 on this. And here's a quote from Skurka's article, applicable to most of the AT:

"In areas with a low risk of bear incidents, and/or an area where no other food-protection technique is practical (e.g. a tree-less alpine area), I will sleep with my food. In bear language, this technique is interpreted as, “Hey Bear. This is MY food. And you’ll have to fight me for it.” Obviously I wouldn't stand a fighting chance against a bear but they hopefully decide that there are easier rewards elsewhere."

I find it relatively easy to throw a line over a tree branch, a two-minute chore usually (after plenty of practice). I do this more for mice than bear, especially if I'm going to be leaving my campsite for more than a few minutes during the evening. I think mice have caused more problems than bear on the trails. The worst damage I've had has been caused by ravens and, absolutely the worst, an ermine, which destroyed my pack to get to my food in a few minutes while I was getting water. I never leave my food unattended on the ground any more. It's not worth the risk for such a simple task, like buckling the seat belt.

[Pedaling Fool]

Another idiot here that keeps his food in his tent

I don't agree with the seatbelt analogy. Although, it does sound good, but that's the problem with analogies; you can make them sound good, but that doesn't mean they are accurate.

[HooKooDooKu]

When I read a post like this, I have to ask myself: WHY have I bothered to wear my seatbelt for the 40 years I've been driving a car? Never once needed it.

Here is a good article by someone who has actually been around:

http://andrewskurka.com/2011/food-pr...-bear-country/

Will you be OK simply sleeping with your food on the AT? Almost assuredly, yes. Do you want to learn proper bear discipline and do it right, assuming you will eventually branch out and hike in other areas? Why not start on your AT hike and go ahead and wear your seatbelt? Those Bear cables that are in many areas along the trail exist for a reason, don't they? Or are they frivolous and the officials and naturalists that put them there don't know what they are doing?

When camp sites/shelters in GSMNP are temporarily closed "due to Bear Activity", I'm pretty sure it's really "due to humans not keeping food from bears".

[Pedaling Fool]

When camp sites/shelters in GSMNP are temporarily closed "due to Bear Activity", I'm pretty sure it's really "due to humans not keeping food from bears".

I agree, that's true. And North Georgia is a good example of that when tons of people are hanging food out for the bears; unlike food in your tent, the trees don't scare the bears away from your food.

[SouthMark]

Another idiot here that keeps his food in his tent

I don't agree with the seatbelt analogy. Although, it does sound good, but that's the problem with analogies; you can make them sound good, but that doesn't mean they are accurate.

Ditto.....

[Lone Wolf]

When I read a post like this, I have to ask myself: WHY have I bothered to wear my seatbelt for the 40 years I've been driving a car? Never once needed it.

Here is a good article by someone who has actually been around:

http://andrewskurka.com/2011/food-pr...-bear-country/

Will you be OK simply sleeping with your food on the AT? Almost assuredly, yes. Do you want to learn proper bear discipline and do it right, assuming you will eventually branch out and hike in other areas? Why not start on your AT hike and go ahead and wear your seatbelt? Those Bear cables that are in many areas along the trail exist for a reason, don't they? Or are they frivolous and the officials and naturalists that put them there don't know what they are doing?

i have a lot more experience on the AT than skurka