We all know that food tastes better in the outdoors, especially after a long day of hiking, fishing, exploring and other outdoor activities. Still, you don’t have to settle for burgers, canned chili or roasted hot dogs, there are plenty of delicious meals you can cook on a campsite. Cooking outdoors, away from your kitchen is challenging for most people, but with little preparation and planning, following some tips and tricks, anyone can be a Camp Master Chef.

Planning is an obvious first step, but it cannot be overemphasized. You don’t want to end up in the middle of nowhere and realize you have forgotten something essential as a lighter or matches. You should also have a backup plan for what to do if the weather is not what you’ve hoped for. If it’s too rainy to build a fire, and you’ve only brought raw meat, better have a propane stove and perhaps a tarp to shield it.

In any case it is a good idea to bring some no-cook meals and snacks, like trail mix, granola bar or anything than does not require cooking or refrigeration. You never know what can strike you on your outdoor adventure.

The best thing you can do is to make a long list of everything you need to buy and/or pack (even the little things like the salt and pepper grinder) and check it, re-check it, and then cross the things off as you pack them in the car or your backpack.

For enjoying in tasty meals at campsite you don’t need to bring your kitchen with you, and you really don’t need a ton of expensive gear. All you need is a few basic pieces of camp cooking equipment. It comes down to three essentials.

The amount of cookware you’ll bring again depends on the type of camping you’ll do. If your car is parked close to the campsite, then by all means, bring the heavy, cast-iron cookware. It’s very durable and reliable. Together with pie iron and a Dutch oven, this trio basically covers all your cooking needs and plans.

You must not forget about the utensils either. We wholeheartedly recommend buying a dedicated camping kitchen utensils set that is stored separately. You don’t want to rifle through your kitchen drawers right before a trip, as this is the best way to forget something important. Here are few things to consider: silverware (forks, knives, spoons), tongs, spatula, ladle, wooden spoons, can and bottle/wine opener, flat metal skewers, box grater, and a cutting board.

To cook you need heat, and heat in the outdoors comes from fire. Wood fire is a classic way of cooking at the campsite, which requires some caution, of course. We won’t go into the details about building a camp fire, but make sure that flame suits whatever meal you choose to make. Making a stew calls for a smaller flame, while a quick boiling requires a large one. If you intend to broil or fry, then laying the cookware on the hot coal should be enough.

Cooking on a stove or a grill is easier than on the open fire, as you can regulate the flame. Lighting it up is also way easier, but make sure not to forget to pack matches. For grilling on the propane grill you done even need cookware.

Which food you’ll bring depends on whether you are car camping or backpacking. The easiest option by far is dehydrated food, that is a breeze to cook, and surprisingly tasty. If you are able to be close to your vehicle there is no limit when it comes to what you can eat while outdoors. You can bring any food you like, just make sure fresh and perishable items are kept cool. You can chop the ingredients and prep side dishes like rice to streamline the cooking process at the campsite. You can also marinate meats or freeze them to keep them fresh for longer. For extended trips, canned food really comes in handy to provide flavor and variation to your camping meals.

When it comes to drinks , water is the most important, and you should have plenty of it to keep everyone hydrated. If you are car camping you can bring a cooler with ice to keep drinks cold. Have in mind though that ice melts quickly, and since you probably won’t be able to bring your nugget ice machine with you, don’t expect having ice cold cocktails every day. Tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are also great options to have on hand, especially in cooler weather.

The first things that comes to mind when you think about cooking at camp is roasting foods over open fire. But even if you can’t demonstrate your advanced cooking techniques like ‘sous vide’ or ‘brain-marie’, there are plenty of ways you can prepare delicious meals at campsite.

Propane stoves and gas grills are simple to use and do not require much explanation. There are plenty of excellent ones to choose from, from lightweight backpacking stoves to compact camp grills. There is no superior option, you should pick the one that fits your needs.

Do not use a stove in a closed area, such as a tent, a propane stove should be only used in the open, away from camp fire or any other heat source. Everything else is more or less just like a stove in your kitchen.

On a camp stove you can use a pot or a pan. You can boil pasta, make stews, soups, and you can fry anything in an iron skillet. A large stove makes it easier to fit everything you need to feed a large group, but if you’re sticking with smaller pots and pans and have fewer people to feed, a small stove may be just right. A basic stove will have room for a big frying pan and a small saucepan on its double burners.

For cooking over fire it is important to choose the right type of wood. Hard woods like white oak, hickory or cherry are long lasting and can burn for a long time, and also infuse great flavor to the food you are cooking. There are several ways to cook food over open fire. First, you can boil it, you just need the right type of dish to cook the food in. Another way is frying, which allows you to make delicious meals, but you absolutely have to make sure not to put the pan filled with oil on an open flame, as it will catch fire. The right time to fry food is when the fire starts to die down and it is close to getting to just embers. The arguably most delicious way to cook food over fire is grilling. This is also better done over the coals or directly on them. It does not matter whether it’s charcoal or wood, the important part is that the heat is more consistent and there is no smoke. Get your fire going at least an hour before cooking to allow plenty of time for flames to die down and coals to get hot. Also, keep in mind cooking on a campfire takes longer than it does in your kitchen at home.

A Dutch oven is one of the most versatile pieces of camp cooking equipment you can own. Sauté, steam, boil, fry, and bake – if you can imagine it, you can probably make it in a Dutch oven. To cook with Dutch oven you can use either charcoal or wood embers, but you can also use it elevated over live fire. It can be used as a pot, a skillet and as an oven, as its name implies.

Aluminum foil is a must-have for any camping trip: it takes up very little room, it is inexpensive and you can toss vegetables, meat or fish in foil packets, season it with any seasoning you like and place them on hot coals for cooking. Make sure that you do use a thicker kind, and large pieces, enough to completely wrap the food. Best of all, aluminum foil is easy to clean up, just throw it away.

Buddy burner is a type of heat source for camping made out of a tin can, candle stubs and cardboard. It is a fun project that boy scouts have been doing for years, and it can replace the propane stove just fine to boil water, cook soup or make noodles. Here is a video that explains how you can make a buddy burner yourself:

In addition to all of the advice above, here is a list of helpful tips to make your campsite cooking easier and more enjoyable:

• Use a cooler to keep things cool, not to cool things down. You can freeze water in bottles to keep the cooler chilled, and you will also have drinking water when it’s thawed.
• Set up a dedicated kitchen area, but make sure it’s far enough from the tent. Delicious smells and leftovers can attract wildlife.
• If you plan to cook over a live fire read up on rules governing wood gathering in the place you’re going, as well as any burn restrictions. If you are in doubt about whether you’ll find a source of kindling at your site, you can pack firewood.
• Clean after you’re done. Cleaning cookware and food preparation surfaces after you are done cooking you keep the nature clean and make sure that you don’t attract any wild animals.
• A pot scraper or brush is great to have on hand for cleaning your cast iron pan (once it’s cooled) or your pot making cleaning quick and easy.
• Do not be afraid to experiment a little. Each and every one of us has our special taste and recipes, and being in the wild does not need to stop you from trying them.

The Leave no Trace principles were made out of necessity. Millions of campers and hikers visit the great outdoors every year, and leave millions upon millions of footprints in nature. Therein lies the problem; trillions of footprints also damage the great outdoors if we’re careless or reckless. That’s why every hiker, camper or any nature lover should honor the 7 principles.

In short, Leave No Trace is easy to understand. Leave no trace, like you were a ghost that’s going on a hike and enjoying the sights, the solitude and the beauty of nature. Don’t leave any trash behind, bother any animals, annoy your fellow hikers or get in trouble that requires having Mountain Rescue or some other authority come evacuate you. Live and let life, and minimize your footprint on the trail as much as you can.

1. Plan Ahead & Prepare

The first principle tells us to prepare before we go hiking. It’s pretty self-explanatory, always have the right gear, the right load and the right mindset before going on a hike. You should ask your fellow experienced hikers and campers what you need to bring along, read blogs and forums and gather information about all the latest news on your trail.

Unfortunately, campers and hikers that overpack will often throw their excess gear away. Some campers will discard their extra gear on the trail, harming wildlife and nature. You can find chests full of unnecessary camp supplies at most camp grounds.

You should travel through an area like a ghost. Do not damage anything along the way, do not go out of your way to push a rotten tree down or trample plant life. Do not feed the wildlife, or otherwise agitate it. Remember, you should be a lone wandering ghost through the trail.

If possible, always use the trail. Some hikes involve going off-trail, and you should still try to step on as little grass and other vegetation as you can. Most hikes have pre-made trails that are easy to see and to follow.

You should camp on a durable surface, or in a popular campsite as to minimize your effect on nature and soil erosion. You shouldn’t camp wherever you feel like camping; you might harm the wildlife. Camp about 200 feet away from water because wildlife won’t have to avoid you to get to the water.

3. Dispose of Waste Properly

Improper waste disposal is a huge problem in the wild. There are no garbage men or landfills that will take your trash for you, and misplacing your garbage ruins the pristine nature for the next batch of campers. Carry an extra trash bag and collect waste along the hike, if you can. It’s a noble act that keeps nature pristine.

Depending on the location, you should dig cat holes to bury human waste. You can generally use biodegradable toilet paper. Some locations force you to pack up the waste and carry it out. Read more about it here.

Food waste is a big problem because it attracts wildlife. Carefully pack up your food waste and dispose of it back home.

4. Leave What You Find

This one is pretty self-explanatory; don’t take anything to bring back home, don’t damage anything.

We all love souvenirs, but nature’s souvenirs should stay where they are. Take pictures, they’ll surely last longer in the Cloud. Everything has a place in nature, a rock, a pinecone (Conifer cone) or a stump is something’s home. Quick warning, centipedes and other bugs live in pinecones.

A bunch of leaves is something’s lunch, and a bunch of twigs you wanted to use in a campfire were material for a bird’s nest. Don’t touch, but do take photos.

Secondary, please do no harm. It’s romantic to carve your initials in a tree, but not here. There are millions of hikers, and if every one of them carved an initial in a nearby tree, you wouldn’t have any trees left near the campsite. If everyone picked a flower, there would be no flowers left. Photograph, don’t touch.

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

Know the rules of your hiking ground. Some are okay with you building a campfire at a designated campsite, others are not. Some are okay with you using a small propane cooking stove, others don’t allow it. Some camping sites ban fire completely, and you’ll be eating no-cook meals there.

Campfires are “expensive”. You need to gather wood and tend to the fire to keep it going, and a campfire is a very inefficient way to boil water. They’re a good tradition, and staring at a fire has a deeply primal calming effect, but we should respect nature and minimize our trace.

If you do want to start a campfire, please consult the authorities and buy local wood; bringing wood from your home state or city introduces a lot of “unwanted passengers” to your camping ground. You could bring viruses, bacteria or parasites that will be a huge problem in your camping ground, and you won’t even know it.

It’s much quicker and safer to just use a backpacking stove, and use quality sleeping bags and a quality tent that will last for years for warmth.

6. Respect Wildlife

Wild animals are nothing like domestic animals. They’re scared of humans and don’t really want to socialize. Animals that like humans have spent several generations in the company of humans (pidgeons, dogs, cows, cats, deer from Nara Park) aren’t afraid of us and are friendly.

Wild animals are scared and could hurt us out of fear (most bear attacks are due to the bear being surprised or afraid we’ll hurt her cubs). Do not approach wildlife, observe it from a distance. We know that zoom makes photos look bad, but please use it and stay away from wild life.

Don’t camp near water; animals need to drink water and you camping there doesn’t allow that. Most animals will “respect” your territory and go thirsty for a while, and some might choose to “disrespect” you and come too close anyway. They’re scared and on edge, and if you scare them they might attack out of fear.

Be mindful of your waste, and your garbage and food waste, as animals will be drawn to it. Wildlife is curious, and will enter your territory to scavenge for food. This close proximity could lead to you getting attacked.

Respect the wildlife, and try to interact with them as little as possible. Use bear canisters for your food and food waste to stay safe.

7. Be Considerate of Others

Like any other human interaction, the Golden Rule applies. “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you” (Matthew 7:12), is a nice way of putting it. This is a very simple rule that tells you how to behave among other people.

Now, there’s one caveat, and that some things that don’t bother you bother other people a lot, and you shouldn’t bother them. Maybe you’re a dog-lover and you relish the opportunity to meet a dog owner in the trail and pet their dog, and you don’t mind the barks and the excitement. Maybe you have a portable bluetooth speaker and you play loud music for you and your friends, and you don’t mind the music that other play with their friends. Maybe you don’t mind the loud buzzing a camera drone makes.

But some people do mind, and they’re very annoyed by it. Try to be polite and considerate, as we’re all in this together, and enjoy nature and it’s natural feelings of solitude and privacy. Try to keep to yourself when you’re among other hikers, and be courteous. Say hello and don’t try too hard to make friends, many people are solo hikers that enjoy the silence. It’s about loving your fellow hiker and giving an effort to make their hike as pleasurable as it can be.

Yield to bikes and horses on the trail because they’re bigger and take more space. Use natural colored gear if you’re going to a popular camping spot.

Conclusion

The Seven Principles of Leave no Trace were made to keep nature natural. Spread the word, and kindly inform hikers that go astray. Be the kind ghost on the trail, and leave the great outdoors great for your grandchildren too.

Hiking in the rain has a special place in our heart; the nature is more lively and beautiful when raindrops cover everything. Don’t get us wrong, hiking in the rain is less safe than waiting it out in a shelter, but there’s a kind of magic in being out there and not getting (as) wet. And we’ll teach you how to stay dry and still go an extra mile in the rain.

2. Pack Cover

Your backpack most likely isn’t completely waterproof, and it’ll collect rainwater on its seams and slowly get wet. A waterproof pack cover will keep your pack completely dry. If you’re caught out in the open, or you’d rather DIY a cover, you can use a trusty trash bag to cover your pack.

3. Dry Sack

Don’t forget to keep your essentials and your electronics dry using a dry sack. Ziplocks aren’t waterproof enough and are prone to ripping and tearing inside your pack.

4. Waterproof Boots and Gaiters

A good pair of waterproof hiking boots and quality, high gaiters will keep your feet dry. Dry feet are happy feet, and you’ll avoid blisters this way. Be sure to pack any blister-care items in your first aid kit in the case your feet do get wet.

5. Proper clothes

A good waterproof jacket is a no-brainer. Go with synthetic materials like Gore-Tex or polyester, or even wool. Cotton gets drenched easily and holds water. This water cools you down and can give you hypothermia at worst, or a nasty cold. Synthetic materials work even when they’re wet, and they’re quicker to dry. Top notch outdoor clothing manufacturers clearly state if their clothing items are waterproof or not.

6. Pack extra socks

Finding dry socks in a dry bag if your feet are wet is one of the best feelings in the world. Pack a few pairs of extra socks, because you’ll need to leave your wet socks to dry.

7. Try not to get your gear wet

Try to keep your backpack, yourself and your feet as dry as possible. Drying something takes quite a while, especially if you can’t build a campfire on the trail. Don’t fidget with your backpack and its cover, and don’t fidget with your gaiters. Put them on properly and keep hiking. Only take the backpack cover if you really have to.

General Hiking in the Rain Tips

We’ll leave you with a couple more tips for rainy day hiking, as most beginners don’t know them. Please keep an eye on yourself while you’re hiking in the rain.

1. Stay aware of how you feel

Hiking in the rain can fill us up with a special kind of excitement and adrenaline. This clouds our judgment and makes us a bit too optimistic about how dry we are, how cold we are, and how we feel. You can easily forget to eat or re-hydrate in the rain, and that leads to headaches and a bad mood.

If you feel cold, you should warm up, not “brave the elements”. You should give in to Mother Nature, and respect her authority. There’s absolutely no fun in getting sick on a hike, or after a hike. You might even get seriously sick or have hypothermia, which is a very serious and potentially deadly issue.

2. The trail is slippery

Remember that the trail is slippery, and that you may fall. Be very careful on and uphill and downhill parts of the trail, as a slip there could injure you. Even if you don’t injure yourself, you just fell into the wet mud. Respect Mother Nature and take your time, it’s natural that hiking in the rain will take twice or thrice the time you’d normally take on the trail. Your safety is the most important part of the rainy day hike.

4. Be ready to be late

A rainy day hike takes twice or thrice as long to cross, as you will be slower. You should be ready to camp it out, and to take your time getting to your destination. If there’s phone coverage, call your family and friends and tell them you’ll be late.

3. Beware of lightning

Thunder and lightning are scary when you’re inside, and extremely scare when you’re outside. Lightning generally strikes at the highest points, so it’s advised that you get off the hill/mountain, and camp it out as low as you can. You can guesstimate how far a lightning struck from you by counting the seconds until the sound of thunder reaches you.

One second means that a lightning bolt struck within 1200 feet from you, which is a very bad sign. If the time between the lightning and the thunder is 10 seconds or more (which means that the lightning struck 2 miles away from you), you’re generally safe unless the storm comes over your location.

You should know where you’re starting from and where you’ll end up; and all the campsites in between where you might meet other hikers. You should also know how long the path is and how difficult it is; if you’re in trouble, left stranded or exhausted there’s a very small chance you’ll meet anyone along the way, so be sure to stay safe.

2. Tell someone where you’re going and when you’re coming home/to a hotel

You should let someone know where and when you’ll start, and where and when you’ll be home. Cell phones don’t always work in the wild, and if you’re not at your finish line the person that’s expecting you can contact the authorities to come to your rescue. Most of the time, nothing happens on the trail and millions of hikers have absolutely no trouble on the trail (except blisters and sunburns).

3. Know your limits

Go on an easier hike you already know if you’re a solo hiking beginner; don’t just jump into the hardest part of solo hiking where you might get hurt, lost, frustrated or anything else that might happen.

Know when to give up and return to camp if your gear or your body fails; it’s much better to retreat and come back to conquer the trail another day than to get hurt.

4. Anticipate possible hazards and forecast

Solo hikers should bring a bit more gear than group hikers; all the gear you’ll need will be on your shoulders alone. Check out our backpacking gear checklist and modify it to your liking; maybe you’re hiking in the desert and you don’t need the rain jacket.

If you’re hiking in the mountains, you should expect both snow and rain depending on the season. If you’re hiking in a forest, anticipate that it might rain.

5. Don’t challenge nature

Nature seems timid and static to most people; it’s just a bunch of trees, rocks and small animals, right? Nature is all that and a lot more. If you’re hiking in a group, crossing a stream can get you wet but won’t end up ruining your hike. Jumping creeks is a fun activity with friends, and a very unwise one when you’re alone. Avoid wildlife at all costs. Even if an accident happens (it’s highly unlikely), you have an entire group of people with first aid kits and ways to call mountain rescue to save you.

If you’re solo hiking, a slippery stream might really ruin your trip, or a daring jump might leave you caked in wet, soggy mud that will drain your body heat like nothing else you experienced. An allergic reaction or some other medical emergency becomes a very serious life threatening issue, and you should err on the side of caution every time. A satellite phone or PLB (personal locator beacon) are very important pieces of gear.

You’d do well to avoid any contact with wild life. Not wanting to connect with humans is what keeps wildlife, wild, and we should keep it that way. Mice and squirrels that learn to associate humans with food will be a pest in the future. Bears that learn that humans bring food with them get reallocated at best, or shot by rangers at worst. Staying safe should be everyone’s priority, and even if the wildlife seems like it wants to interact with you, it’s much better if you admire it from afar.

How to reduce wildlife encounters

1. Give any animals a lot of space

If you encounter an animal on the hiking trail, avoid coming close to it. Wild animals are unpredictable, unlike our domesticated dogs and cats at home that we can pet on the street.

A deer, a rabbit or a beaver that looks like it’s friendly might be very frightened and ready to attack you in self-defense; don’t approach it. Treat any animal you meet as if you’d treat a snake or a skunk; don’t get any closer and go around it slowly.

2. Try to notice animals while you walk

Don’t let your mind and your attention wander and focus on where you’re stepping and keep your eyes ahead, especially when you’re hiking with friends. Don’t wear headphones and be mindful. Most scared animals will make noises to try to scare you off before they attack out of desperation. Use a sturdy walking stick or trekking pole to hit any rocks and stumps you’re going over to scare off any snakes or other creatures hiding there.

2. Make some noise

Humans are taller, heavier and noisier than 99% of the animals you’ll meet on the trail, and all other wildlife is scared of us. While we do not want to harm any wildlife, we should be mindful that most animals will actively avoid us. But making noise and having loud conversations with friends or singing along will potentially warn any animal that you’re coming and that they can move to a quieter place.

3. Avoid hiking at dusk or dawn

Most animals are crepuscular, like rabbits and bears; that’s a $5 word that means most active at dusk and dawn. Most animals sleep during the day and the night; some animals sleep up to 16 hours per day. If you hike during the day, you won’t meet many animals along your way because they’re asleep in their small nests. An animal that’s surprised and woken up might attack you, so be sure to make some noise while you’re walking along.

4. Know the wildlife of the area you’re hiking

If you’re hiking in bear country, you should better know it. Potential dangerous animals you can meet on the trail are cougars, coyotes, wolves, bears, snakes, skunks, badgers and moose; you should know what to do if you meet these animals. Most of the time, you’ll both ignore each other and move away, but you should err on the safe side.

5. Keep your camp extra clean

Animals are curious and hungry, and if you keep your camp very clean, cook away from your camp and properly store your food, your trash, your hunting knife, your cookware and your other hygiene products like wet wipes.

Use a bear container to store your food in; the bear container is not only bear-rated, but it also keeps mice and other rodents away from your tent. Wildlife doesn’t respect ownership, and mice and raccoons will happily eat through your tent and other gear to get your food or your trash. Don’t underestimate how fast a mouse will eat through your tent, your backpack and your sack, and keep your camp safe.

A clean tent is a happy tent for a happy camper; and there’s no worse feeling than getting your tent out of the garage, unpacking it and figuring out that mildew and mold started growing on it. You can clean a moldy tent, but it’ll take a while and set back your starting date by a day at least. So keep your tent clean.

3. Clean your tent poles

Use the same soap-y lukewarm water solution to rinse your tent poles. Dry the tent poles with a regular soft cloth rag. Dry them thoroughly, because steel poles may corrode or stay gritty, and plastic poles might get limestone spots on them.

4. Clean your zippers

You should clean your zippers; sand and dirt makes the metal or plastic teeth wear out. If you don’t regularly clean your zippers, you’ll eventually ruin the teeth and you’ll be stuck with a stuck zipper. You can brush the zipper with an old toothbrush and the soap-y lukewarm water.

5. Check for damages

While you’re cleaning your tent, check for any damages, tears, nicks and cuts. You might have holes that little mice tore through that you never noticed, or your tent might suddenly tear due to UV damage it took over the years.

It’s better that you know your tent is damaged or unusable while you’re cleaning it in your driveway rather than finding out in the campsite, away from home.

You’ll also accidentally check your tent’s waterproof qualities; if it leaks water now, you’ll know it. If your tent is no longer waterproof, refresh the waterproof coating.

6. Store your tent safely

After the tent is 100% dry (make sure it is!) you can store it in a dry, cool place in your garage/house/apartment. Loosely roll up the tent and cover it with a cloth. This lets the fabric breathe and dry off.

Do not store your tent in the carry sack, as it’ll crumple up the tent and trap any moisture inside. Most people just stuff it in the carry sack and leave it somewhere, and this often leads to a moldy tent.

Fully assemble the tent poles before you store them if you have the space for it.

How to Repair a Tent

You can do a couple of home repairs on your tent. Tents are hardy and durable gear that can pretty much take anything you throw at them. The only certified tent killer is UV exposure, and after several years in the sun, the tent’s polyester fabric will become brittle and torn easily.

Repairing tears and holes:

1. Clean the area around the tear with medical alcohol
2. Cut a piece of repair tape that completely covers the tear and the 1”-1.5” are around the tear.
3. Apply the piece of repair tape to the tent
4. If the tent’s structural integrity is at risk (a tear near a pole), patch it from the inside too.
5. Most patches take a day to dry, so try not to pack your tent. This isn’t easy to do on the trail, but it’s very easy to do in your home.

Repairing leaks:

Sometimes, the waterproof solution gets washed off or simply gets too old to function properly, and your tent will start leaking. Most of the time, the seams and their seam tape are the first to go, so you should inspect them in-between hikes.

1. Gently remove the flayed damaged seam tape; you’re not supposed to remove big parts of the seam tape, just the obviously damaged ones. We need a clean seam to properly apply the new seam sealer.
2. Clean the seam with a rag and rubbing alcohol
3. Apply the seam sealer. Be sure to use the right seam sealer, as not tents use the same water-coating protection. Consult the manufacturer.
4. Allow it to dry for several hours.

Take good care of your tent, and it’ll take good care of you. Most tears smaller than two inches are easy to fix and you don’t have to replace your tent. In the case of UV damage or big tears, you should buy a new tent.

Bears are smart, curious and tenacious animals that are always on the hunt for food. We’re lucky that they’re naturally afraid of us and generally leave us alone, and avoid human camps. But a hungry, curious bear gets courageous enough to try and steal our food or our trash, and we should know to store our food (and our trash) properly and minimize any possible bear encounters in the wild.

There are a lot of problems when a bear becomes so bold to steal food from campsites; the bear learns that we’re scared of him, and the bear learns that we have a lot of very tasty food.

Any bear contact should be reported to the park ranger, and they might relocate the bear to a more secluded part of the country where he won’t come in contact with humans. If a bear is aggressive or doesn’t fear humans, it will most likely be shot.

To keep the bear population healthy and to interfere with the wildlife as little as possible, you should learn how to keep your food and your trash safe.

How good are bears at stealing your food?

Bears are smart

Don’t underestimate bears’ intellect. Hang-sacks are a thing of the past, as bears are crafty enough to take them down. Remember, a bear is smarter than an average dog, and they’ve learned how to take food suspended by 2 counter balancing bags by letting their cubs climb the tree and cut the ropes.

Bears are even known to throw bear canisters off cliffs in hopes that it’ll break and that they’ll get the food inside. But today’s bear canisters are made out of especially thick and hard plastic that can take an unprecedented amount of abuse.

The bear’s sense of smell

A bear’s sense of smell is about as good as a bloodhound’s sense of smell. They can smell strong scents up to 20 miles away. Compared to them, humans can smell up to a few yards, unless the smell is extremely strong. This is why bear spray is so effective, and why you will never trick a bear’s sense of smell unless you use an air tight container.

4. Flip and mark

Flip the canister upside down and mark it. Bears are smart, but they still didn’t figure out how to twist the lid off. Lower their chances by flipping the canister upside down for the night.

5. Open only when necessary

Don’t puncture food bags until you’re ready to eat them. This lets the odor out, and if you forget a bag of food in your backpack a curious animal will try its best to get it.

6. Store in a safe place

Don’t leave your canister next to a cliff edge. Bears might try to open the canister by dropping it from a height, or some other animal might accidentally roll it off a cliff.

7. Trust the product

Bear Canisters are almost 100% Bear-Proof. Since 1991, there have been less and less food-related bear incidents due to bear canister usage. Bears have also learned not to try to open them, as it wastes their time.