Camping Coolers & Food Storage
Image by manning999 via Flickr
. . . Keeping It Chilled On a Camping Trip
Camping coolers & food storage is an important part of organizing your camping trip. There are lots of things to take into consideration after all . . . how much beer cooling space are you willing to donate to food for a kick-off. I mean, you need a cold beer after a hot day enjoying yourself in the wilderness,but then again, a nice juicy griddled steak would be pretty awesome too. It’s such a difficult compromise to figure out.
Camping Coolers
Coolers are great not just for camping trips, but also for picnics, a day at the beach or a road trip, they simply keep your food chilled for longer (up to around 5 days) meaning that it stays fresh for longer too. A camping cooler full of food (and beer) gets pretty heavy, so some bright spark thought of putting wheels onto some of them . . . great idea as long as you’re not trying to negotiate too much bumpy terrain.
Cooler bags are pretty good too, they’re insulated and lined, they won’t keep your food cool for as long as a cool box will but are still great for stopping your sandwiches from over-heating on a hike.
Food Storage for Camping and Hiking
Food storage reaches a whole new level when you’re camping or hiking in bear country . . . bears will and do invite themselves along for dinner if they get the chance, so it’s up to you to make sure that it doesn’t happen. A large number of locations have now made it mandatory for all campers and hikers to store food inside a bear vault (which, incidentally, can make a rather handy camp-site seat too).
Bears are fast learners, and after only one snack will associate humans with food which really is the beginning of the end for these fascinating creatures. Incidentally, one particular bear with an even higher IQ has actually figured out how to open BearVault food containers, so they are no longer suitable for use in his territory . . . the Marcy Dam area in the Adirondacks. He certainly is “smarter than the average bear Booboo”.
Hiking or Camping food must never be stored inside the tent when you’re in bear country, even if you have a BearVault you still need to store it a minimum of 100 yards downwind, and if you can find a shaded spot it will help to keep the contents of it nice and cool.
