I know nothing about barrels and want current and direct advice from the rest of you pros.
- What are the best barrels on the market?
- Best Value?
- Is 30L big enough? or should I go with a 60L?
+ odds are I will eventually want both. I go on 6 man trips, and 2 man trips.
- Do Barrel harnesses hold both 30L & 60L barrels? or will I need 2 harnesses?

Cliff Jacobson on Bears
2:19

I don't do the barrels so I can't comment on that, but I use an alternative that you may or may not be interested.

Ursack is a bag that is bear proof. Internally I have all the food split into 3 OPSak's for breakfast, lunch, and supper, these bags are watertight and smell proof. I've tested it with my dogs and even if it's full of food so long as it's closed they ignore it.
You can get a Aluminum Liner to the bag cannot be crushed, which I did get but have never actually used.

I just close it up and tie it around a base of a tree, it's been on many trips into bear country and never had a problem. I often travel light and during the day the bag can be rolled up and the food dispersed into corners of packs so an additional pack isn't needed. Plus as the week goes on you save a ton of room, as the rations shrink so does the size of what you're carrying.

Anyways just another option, I know there are several happy customers of the Ursack on this site. I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, but packing it is honestly completely dependent on what you like to eat and how much. I'm not a big dehydrated food guy, I like nice meals while in my favorite places but I also don't bring the entire kitchen.

I love my blue barrels. We switched several years ago and have had a bear walk thru camp, sniff a blue barrel and move on. (its on youtube, bear walks thru camp by Beardownable) We use 30 liter barrels. It gives you more flexibility. If its a two man trip we just take one of them. If its a 6 man, then we take both. We have a harness that just holds a 30 liter one. However they do make a pack that would hold two at one time, which I would really like. Carrying just one at a time they are kinda light.

They do take a little getting used to in the organizing aspect. I like to put a softsided cooler in the bottom. Then I pack each meal in a bag and stack them in backwards order. I pack all drinks, snacks and other loose things around the sides. They make a bag with a handle that fits in. We only have one of these, and it works very well to keep all our small kitchen stuff together (butter, salt, pepper, some drinks and snacks etc) At some point I would like to have several of these, so I could pack each one and then stack them so it would be easier to get to the cooler when needed.

I cant think of anything else, but ask any questions as I'm sure I forgot some important stuff.

Like beardown, I love my barrel. I got the 30 because I rented a 60 for a 6man trip and found that it was a beast early in the trip. I use a combination of the barrel and a soft cooler which I carry separately for a 4man trip. For 2 the cooler goes into the barrel per bd. Here is the twist...For groups of 4 or more, I stash them both. The cooler goes into a lined plastic tub which I put into trash liner. Then I place them in the woods on opposite sides of camp. So far so good. The cooler is a risk for sure but I figure that if I loose the cooler food I still have enough in the barrel to make it through. Eventually I plan to purchase another barrel to be carried separately.
Some day, some bears are going to figure the barrels out and then I will have to find another way. In the meanwhile I am saving the time, energy and frustration of hanging.

I use a 10 gallon and a 12 gallon blue barrel. They fit inside a military duffle bag with shoulder straps. I use either the 10 or 12 on two person trips, 12 holds food, pots pans etc for two people easily. I use them both on trips with more than two. Extra space in duffle bags allow other things to be carried as well.

Key thing to remember is keeping the barrels and carriers clean no odors to prevent the attraction of animals. I just leave them setting in camp and have never had an issue with anything bothering them. But again I keep everything in plastic bags, no food or any scent on the barrels.

Ordered mine through US Plastics relatively cheap, and duffle bags were around $20 apiece.

That is what works for me in regard to barrels.

Bruce

My experience with barrels has been very positive. For me the size of the barrels depends on 1) size of the group; 2) duration of the trip; and 3) what kind of food, dehydrated, fresh or a combination of both. My group of 4 to 5 have used a 60 liter blue barrel for a 5 day trip and it was sufficient for a combination of fresh and dehydrated items. For 1 to 2 people, I use either one or two Garcia Containers for trips less than one week.

If you go with the larger Blue Barrels, I would recommend a harness. Much more carry friendly for the heavier load. The smaller Garcia or Bear Vaults can be carried comfortably in a portage pack. I have not used the Bear Vaults but the reviews here are very positive.

Hope this helps Chris. Good luck with your search.

I use a 60L blue barrel on two men trips and organize it using 3 Cooke Custom Sewing barrel bags, of three different colors. One bag holds meals, one holds all the snacks, coffee, etc, and one holds all the kitchen utensils. In addition, anything that has or would be considered to hold food type smells goes in the barrel. This includes toothpaste, soaps, shaving stuff, etc. The cooking kit, the stove, all water bottles, containers, filters, camp sink, collapsible bucket and fuel also go in there.

I haul the barrel using a Cooke Custom Sewing Barrel Pack. Very comfortable.

Fits nicely in the canoe

quote pamonster: "I don't do the barrels so I can't comment on that, but I use an alternative that you may or may not be interested.


Ursack is a bag that is bear proof. Internally I have all the food split into 3 OPSak's for breakfast, lunch, and supper, these bags are watertight and smell proof. I've tested it with my dogs and even if it's full of food so long as it's closed they ignore it.
You can get a Aluminum Liner to the bag cannot be crushed, which I did get but have never actually used.


I just close it up and tie it around a base of a tree, it's been on many trips into bear country and never had a problem. I often travel light and during the day the bag can be rolled up and the food dispersed into corners of packs so an additional pack isn't needed. Plus as the week goes on you save a ton of room, as the rations shrink so does the size of what you're carrying.


Anyways just another option, I know there are several happy customers of the Ursack on this site. I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, but packing it is honestly completely dependent on what you like to eat and how much. I'm not a big dehydrated food guy, I like nice meals while in my favorite places but I also don't bring the entire kitchen. "

What he said...

I have two 30L barrels that I use. I usually only take one for two people. I have a small round cooler that fits down in it, along with a small round pack with a zippered lid and handle that looks like the ones you pay a lot of $$ for. I also found a thing with pockets to it similar to the ones that are made for the barrels too. I modified it and made covers/lids that Velcro shut. I've had no problems with the barrels. They work great and you can use them as a seat or small table.

quote pamonster: "I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, "

amazing, someone here that eats less than me.

quote kanoes: "

quote pamonster: "I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, "

amazing, someone here that eats less than me."

I dehydrate my own food and can easily fit 7 days of food for 2 people into one Ursack ... and we eat very well.

quote kanoes: "

quote pamonster: "I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, "

amazing, someone here that eats less than me."

:)
I am banking a little on catching some fish, no fish = lots of beef jerky or tuna packets

quote OBX2Kayak: "

quote kanoes: "

quote pamonster: "I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, "

amazing, someone here that eats less than me."

I dehydrate my own food and can easily fit 7 days of foo for 2 people into one Ursack ... and we eat very well."

I just got one this fall with that in mind! I'd love to hear what recipes you're using.

quote OBX2Kayak: "
I dehydrate my own food and can easily fit 7 days of foo for 2 people into one Ursack ... and we eat very well."

Are you cooking meals and then dehydrating them? We mix up our own meals from freeze dried and dehydrated ingredients and don't get anywhere near 14 person-days into one Ursack. I think our meals have lots of empty space in them. We could vacuum seal harder but then things might turn into powder.

So, I wonder if a different approach produces less volume.

BTW, I've also used a blue barrel on one trip when we had 9 people for 8 days. Mostly I thought that the 60 liter barrel was too heavy and uncomfortable. We also didn't have it organized well enough and digging through is a pain. Maybe the new CCS harness would make it feel better and organizers would be key in my mind.

Some people use Bear Vaults instead of the blue barrels. Bear Vaults are more expensive, smaller, and can be awkward to use compared to the blue barrels. BUT, they are truly bear proof whereas the blue barrels are not. They can be used for backpacking. They will fit in almost any pack. Because they are smaller, they can be more convenient to carry around. (There’s an argument that blue barrels are bear proof enough, and that given enough time a bear will get into a Bear Vault - that’s maybe half true...).

It is harder to fit food for a week into the Bears Vaults, because they are so much smaller than the blue barrels. The trick to using the smaller Bear Vaults efficiently is to avoid plastic and paper food packaging as much as possible. With a Bear Vault, you want to repack all your food in thin flexible plastic bags like ziplocs or bread bags, and remove all the extra air from the new bags when you repack. The plastic bags will conform to the sides of the Bear Vault, and to each other, so there won’t be any wasted space inside the Bear Vault. For comparison, if you individually pack each meal in a seal a meal, you'll end up with these rounded hard shapes that when packed together leave a lot of wasted space in-between packages.

Sorry, best pictures I had. Bear Vault packed (sort of) the right way.






Bear Vaults packed the wrong way, food not repackaged.





You can carry awkward shaped items inside a Bear Vault by putting them in between layers of plastic bags filled with more conformal items like pancake mix, etc. You can also leave awkward or frozen items out of the Bear Vault in a separate smaller bag, and then hang that smaller bag or cooler.

I like to use the smaller sized Bear Vault BV450. It’s actually a better height for using as a chair (you wouldn’t think so), and it is shallower and so easier to dig around in. I pack in the produce bags from the grocery store, or bread bags, and avoid ziplocs where I can, and then don’t use any bag tie – this allows the air to escape the bag when packing. I also bought some of these re-usable fine mesh bags for nuts and M&M’s which allow all air to escape when packing.

In theory, if you ate rice only, at 700 calories per cup you could get about 12-16 person-days of food packed into the larger Bear Vault, and 7-10 person-days days out of the smaller Bear Vault. In practice, you won’t fit so much into the Bear Vault, but if you use the Bear Vault in combination with a smaller bag or cooler for hanging awkward items, you can easily come close. (But if you are very determined, or eat very light, you can actually get close to 20 person days out of the bigger Bear Vault...)

The advantage of a Bear Vault over an Ursack is that if you backpack out west I believe the Bear Vault is approved everywhere, and the Ursack has some limitations. But the bigger deal is that the Bear Vault protects your food so your tortillas don't get mushed, and you can use significantly less packaging and not worry about your food spilling all over. But the Ursack has obvious advantages over a Bear Vault as well.

The OP question has so many variables. Are treed areas the only places you will canoe in the foreseeable future? And how long are your trips now?

I got a 60 liter barrel when our two man trips started exceeding 10 days. Also the trips started going north of the Boundary Waters where jackpine and black spruce are spindly without sturdy side branches for hanging. Stash in woods was the only way to go.

For solo trips 30 liters does fine for me for two weeks. So you can plan on 15 liters per man-week for needed capacity.

One of the advantages of barrel over sack is your food is less apt to be reduced to crumbs simply due to bouncing around loading and unloading. Its just better protected.

I started with a Black Feather Harness but got an Ostrom since the comfort for me was worth the price. There are several harnesses around there. Its not comfy to portage a barrel by handles.

And another benefit..table. If you ever gravel bar camp...so handy.

We use 30L - up to 4 of them depending on the number of people and length of trip.




I have altered a standard Kondos #3 pack-by taking it in a little to fit the barrels. We use our sleeping pads inside the pack on the back of the barrel for padding. For me, each barrel can hold about 40-45 individual meals. So, 2 people for 20 meals or 9 people for 5 meals - depending on how much and how intense the minimalist packing.

YC had a good point - I also use the barrels as a table. I do cover them with a plastic "tarp" so they don't get as many food smells if I am cooking on it- then the cover goes in the barrel for storage.



The barrel is under the brown and green cover. - I am sitting on one and cooking on one.

island campsite across from Basswood falls - 2013 trip with grandkids

All of the advice you have received from everyone should help you to make a decision on what will work for you. I will just add that I have used the Granite Gear flatbed harness and found it to work quite well and it is suppose to work for both a 30l or 60l barrel. I used it with a 60l myself, so I can't vouch for how or if it does work with a 30l but it is advertised to work with both.

2 blue 30L barrels for me. I've seen the evidence that proves that they're not "bear proof" but I've never had problems and probably won't change until I do. We carry ours on a frame we welded out of aluminum and attached to and army surplus Alice Pack. We use a soft sided cooler in one with dry ice and that keeps stuff frozen for a long time. I also like that anything small that you want to be 100% waterproof can be thrown in the barrels.

Thanks All for the great advice. Please answer this specific question..

What is the best BLUE barrel on the market?
Where do I buy it?

Please provide link.
Thanks

The sturdiest blue barrel I know of is made by Mauser.
Mauser

In my neck of the wood they are waste from the pharmaceutical industry and both recyclers (20$) and outdoor boutique (30$) sell them cheap.

rutabaga sells harmony barrels.

I bought mine in Canada. Recreational Barrel works is the maker. MEC was the retailer.

Harmony barrels look like RBI is their supplier.

You can google Rutabga canoe barrels all by yourself. Or go to Canoecopia and try for yourself.

My wife and I also tired of hanging packs. We had one bad experience with a problem bear in the Quetico and purchased four Garcia bear proof barrels. Our trips are five night six day canoe trips. We can not get our food for the trip in the four barrels. We keep the first lunch and supper in a regular pack and can get the rest of the food in the four barrels. We do not use freeze dried foods but foods that can be purchased in grocery stores. It certainly is worth the expense not to worry about hanging packs or bears getting the food. We just place the barrels away from camp in a position that they can not be rolled down hill into the lake. The barrels are carried in a regular Duluth Pack.

A couple of others have mentioned these CCS Barrel Bags. These were a great help to reduce the organizing problem in the barrels, that before was a huge nightmare.

quote halvorsonchristopher1: "Thanks All for the great advice. Please answer this specific question..


What is the best BLUE barrel on the market?
Where do I buy it?


Please provide link.
Thanks "

IN the MSP metro are - Midwest Mountaineering or Northwest Canoe are both good sources for both barrels, packs or harnesses. Rutabaga in Madison is also good.

I use the BEAR VAULTS, I carry two for myself on 7-10 day solos. I repackage all my food before putting them in a bear vault as that does allow for tighter packing. I EAT WELL! I do NOT find them awkward. I pack two Large Bear Vaults inside a CCS RuckSack Sidewase.

I love em...and the CCS pack
Here are a couple pictures

SunCatcher

Packed in this Pack.

halvorsonchristopher1 you had a similar post following this one in for sale/wanted looking for blue barrels and a harness. Some one had responded with a few for sale. I wanted to contact the seller to see what all he had, but now I can't find the post anywhere. has the post been removed?

Thanks in advance!
Sabers

Bear Vault guy here too. Had 18 days worth in three vaults. Pretty worry free. Biggest concern is rodents imo. So whether Ursack, Bar Vault, or barrels you've got that covered. I just like the idea a bear would have a tougher time getting into the bear vault than the barrel.







Don't have good vault pictures. But there is three in that green pack and they carry very nicely in there.

We use a 'US Plastics 60L Open Head Drum' because we had one lying around. Good seal, cheaper AND flat sides as opposed to round. It doesn't roll across your spine or need chalked/packed in the canoe. We use it on a Kondos 60L harness that was on sale. It works for us pretty well. As mostly basecampers; the duffles would be even less cost and portage well too, I suppose.
When just 2 of us go, it is left behind as we have a zip 6 gal.
Army water can insulater/pack on a 'Paragon Harness". Another story...

We have no 30 litre set-up. The 60 is good for 4+ persons and we have a mix of frozen fresh and Dehydrated stuff. The harness fits plenty well enough and the somewhat square design leaves a flat surface against your back while portaging. Nice seat/mini table too.

The BEST ?????....Scent-free means a lot even though it is not bear PROOF. It sure helps to stage/pack it in order of use as much as possible. We put the stove,cookset, and fresh bread on top. Frozen meat next, with perishables in a sack next and so on...... CCS or someone makes some neat colored organizer pouches for round barrels that look handy.

Like mentioned above.....much depends on your group size, tripping style, and type(s) of food carried.

quote overthehill: " We use a 'US Plastics 60L Open Head Drum' because we had one lying around. Good seal, cheaper AND flat sides as opposed to round. It doesn't roll across your spine or need chalked/packed in the canoe. We use it on a Kondos 60L harness that was on sale. It works for us pretty well. As mostly basecampers; the duffles would be even less cost and portage well too, I suppose.
When just 2 of us go, it is left behind as we have a zip 6 gal.
Army water can insulater/pack on a 'Paragon Harness". Another story...


We have no 30 litre set-up. The 60 is good for 4+ persons and we have a mix of frozen fresh and Dehydrated stuff. The harness fits plenty well enough and the somewhat square design leaves a flat surface against your back while portaging. Nice seat/mini table too.


The BEST ?????....Scent-free means a lot even though it is not bear PROOF. It sure helps to stage/pack it in order of use as much as possible. We put the stove,cookset, and fresh bread on top. Frozen meat next, with perishables in a sack next and so on...... CCS or someone makes some neat colored organizer pouches for round barrels that look handy.


Like mentioned above.....much depends on your group size, tripping style, and type(s) of food carried. "

Yep....and here is a video of my US Plastics "vittles vault" system.

Vittles Vault

Later,

Geo

quote OBX2Kayak: "

quote kanoes: "

quote pamonster: "I've fit 7 days of food for 2 people in 1 Ursack, "

amazing, someone here that eats less than me."

I dehydrate my own food and can easily fit 7 days of food for 2 people into one Ursack ... and we eat very well."

Do you dehydrate the Ursack too? That is not much food for 42 meals.