I plan on a month long hike but like to tent out.
Should I get a tent large enough to store my bag at night or should I simply secure it to a tree.
I figure if I leave it out in the open, a critter will drag it away.
64
Backpack storage - tent or outside?
system
#2
Dragging your spoon down a chipmonk hole is one thing, been there. Packs aren’t very tasty, but mice do chew holes in the if you leave food in pockets. I usually have mine in the tent under my feet for insulation in the winter and some altitude to keep them from swelling and throbbing after long mileage days. If your tent is small but has a vestibule you can leave it out. Hang it off a lower tree branch. In drier warm weather we just lean it against a tree right outside with the pack cover over it. Easy to grab if it rains or you need something.
Bushwhack
system
#3
Some people like to bring their pack inside with them. Others feel comfortable leaving the pack outside at night. If you want your pack inside, that usually means a bigger tent, which in turn means a heavier tent.
In any event, I’d always advocate taking your food out of the pack at night, and opening up all zippers. If outside, just put your rain cover over the pack and you shouldn’t have any problems. Lean it up against a nearby tree.
Peaks
system
#4
Storing your pack inside your tent does not require a bigger, heavier tent. In keeping with the “2 uses for everything” theory, your pack doubles as a sleeping pad. Use a 1/2 or 3/4 length sleeping pad for your upper body, then use your pack for your lower body. By stuffing all your extra gear and food inside your pack (which is under your feet as you sleep), you’ve just created a way to elevate your feet overnight. Sleeping with your feet elevated will make your legs feel much better the next day.
Animals like salty things – like pack straps and hiking pole handles/straps. I keep everything inside my tent with me. No critters have ever chewed on my stuff.
yogi
yogi
system
#5
I used a heavy duty garbage bag to line the inside of my pack. During the summer months we kept our packs outside of the tent. we would remove all food and hang it in a tree then put both packs in the bag. This helped cut down on moisture and if it rained it kept things pretty dry. I’m a big advocate of lining your pack, especially if you have to ford flooded streams as we did in Maine. The bag was light weight and had many uses. The best bag is a trash compactor bag (You could buy single ones last year at the outfitter in Hot Springs). We didn’t have one rodent get in our packs for the entire length of the AT last year.
Bluelight
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#6
I tie my pack to a tree with a short piece of rope via the haul loop at the top of the pack, snap the waist belt around the tree, hang by boots on top of the pack, and secure the pack cover over it all. All food and smellies are hung high in a bear bag. Most serious problem I’ve ever had was a mouse built a nest in a boot one night.
diok
system
#7
yogi said it best. I also use my pack as a place to elevate my feet. Even in a shelter. You do not need a larger tent to put a pack under your feet. I feel more secure with everything I have inside my tent. I also take my poles inside with me, be careful I have put a couple of holes in my screen window.
Bilko
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#8
My one person tent was too crowded with the pack inside so I used to leave my pack outside covered by a garbage bag. This worked out just fine!
david burville
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#9
We left our packs outside with no problems. We did the garbage bag over pack also. Our tent was so small it was like two gerbils in a sock. If I had room I might have tried keeping them inside.
I remember two hikers at Trey Mt. in GA that left their packs out with food in them. The next morning when we stopped to get water (about 10am) they were sitting and looking at their packs. Zip locks and summer sauage rappers were everywhere. I asked what the problem was and they said, “we have two skunks sleeping in our packs!” We never saw those two guys again. I don’t know if they were section hikers or thru-hikers. All I know is, I bet they never leave the packs out with food in them again!!
Papa Smurf