i'm starting to plow thru my Kamp Korner to look over gear for
the spring canoe trip--in doing so i pulled out my old food bags
and took a few shots.might be some good do's and don'ts in here.

i'll start with my vintage 1969 Army pack frame..i used this
when i was tripping around Algonquin Park in Southern Ontario.



a Army duffle bag was strapped on and filled with canned food,
bread,box's of rice--the bag in the photo is a newer one i just
set out for the photo..note the ledge on the bottom of the pack
board--this was made to carry five gallon jerry cans of gas--


the duffle bag was attached with four quick release straps--i could
only find two for the photo--this worked out fairly well for
twenty-something guys who did not know any better..the canvas
back on the board kept the edges of the cans and boxes off our
backs and the duffle held a ton of food..we cooked over a fire
or a Sterno stove with my old Scout cook kit..


leaping ahead into the 1980's and i'm now living in Minnesota
with quite a few St Croix River trips under my belt and a job
that gives me a payed vacation--so it's up to the BWCA for the
first time and once again it's surplus Army gear..this time the
food was carryed in this water proof pack built heavy to hold
a back-pack radio..a PC-10?? if i recall..


with a roll-down and fold-over flap and a heavy rubber top that
buckled down tight i did not put everthing in plastic bags or
line the bag with a big plastic bag..and that worked..it's
%100 WP..



the shoulder straps left something to be desired..narrow and
without any padding..i think this pack was just made to carry
a field radio from a landing craft to the beach..i carryed a
radio a few times and we never saw a bag like that to protect
it..so anyway--that was good for just one trip..next time around
i went back to the sort of pack baskets we used in Scouts in
Up State New York in the 50's-60's..
i say sort of,because i pick up a trapping basket with a lure
pouch on the back--the basket fit into a Army duffle bag like
it was made for it--and--check this out--

the carrying case/cook kit for my Peak One stove fit right
in the lure pouch--i could get it out for lunch breaks or tea
boil-ups without having to open the main pack--that nasty soot
coated pot is from the 1980's when i was cooking over a fire
every chance i got to save stove fuel--the kit on the left is
one i use now and never cook over a open fire with it..

> ---this is the first basket/bag i made in the 80's--i used my
old duffle bag that did not have shoulder straps so i had to
make up some along with the webbing to hold them to the pack.

one "little" problem with this idea..


the basket could not take the beating that gear gets on the canoe
trail--heaving in and out of the boat..crawling under dead-fall,
all took it's toll and after about five trips it was retired
and i made that first one you saw with the new duffel bag with
the shoulder straps--it also has a small snap pouch on the outside
that is ment to carry you travel papers--that works great for
matches and fire lighters...well what next???

a real food pack--i got this from Duluth Pack and had those
hanging straps added to take the strain off the shoulder straps
when the bag was hung for the nite--this was a fine chow bag but
somewhat small as i had a Baker Tent style shelter and a good
size cook kit to get into it..so last but not least--


this is what i have been using for the last 10-15?? years..
Duluth Pack custom made this for me to fit a 24 inch pack basket.
this was long before they had pack baskets--i bought mine from
the same trapping supply house that i got the ones with the lure
pouch from..i had Duluth pack add those two long straps to hold
the cross flap together and inner pouch against my back that
holds my camp chair--i only used the basket inside for a few
years and dumped it to save weight...
well thats the long and short of it--or the big and small--

You seem to like the all in one kitchen pack concept. I've been thinking like that and realized it's gonna get hard on the back as I get older.

canoedog

Thanks for showing those pictures. I love looking at other guys stuff and I love the way you were willing to sort of red/green it to make use of what you had. The last pack that you say you are using lately doesn't appear any bigger than the one it replaced and smaller than the original army duffels. Perhaps the pics are deceiving? Since you aren't using a basket anymore does the food go straight into the pack or do you use some other kind of container?

I am also interested in that Baker tent you said you had. Still use it? I love those things, or at least I love the way they look. I've never slept in one.

Traveler

Traveler--the present grub bag is 24 inches high--20 across and
10 deep--i added the shoulder pads from Duluth pack to the straps
and that makes it much better on the carrys--for two guys on a
two week trip it starts out at about 50 pounds and that includes
a couple bottles of stove fuel and a full tank on the Peak stove.
solo is not much less at around 45--about 3/4th is the food and the
cook kit and shelter the other 1/4th--the food is in three bags--
i use the long narrow plastic bags made for sleeping bags--
one for each meal with big letters in felt pen to mark them--
DINNER--so on..in each of those the parts of the meal go into zip
locks--as an example--for the biscuits i'll have two gallon zip
locks holding two quart zip locks holding sandwich size zips with
the biscuit mix for one serving..it's alot of bags but they have
no weight--before i went to bags i tryed plastic bottles with
everthing in bulk but they took up too much room--

so the system works out well for me..i hit camp and open the
grub bag and the shelter is just inside the flap inside the
first of two liner bags--if its raining i can get the shelter
up without exposing the food to the rain..the cook kit is
next and then one of the main meal bags--dinner most of the
time..the other two stay in the bag untill breakfast when i
make that meal and sort out the lunch items that are carryed
in the boat bag--then the food bag is sealed up untill the
next camp..

this is the Baker tent i made to replace an older one..
i never sleep in it but just use it as a "living room/kitchen.
the tent is close in this camp but i try to get the tent away
from the shelter if there is space back in the woods..

Very cool seeing all the old stuff. I started out in the 80's with a heavy duffel bag then went to dry bags stuffed inside a backpack. Now I use the food carrying st=ytem of stu's from the BWJ. Yeah, all that advertizing paid off!

It's a very comfortable pack and I'll use the insulated box if basecamping or just a dry bag inside if on a solo.

Very cool, thanks for taking the time to post all the photos.