opinion: campervan w/fridge at trailhead

[sparky]

We boondock in our RV frequently. We have left it for the day with no bear problems ever. Even accidently leaving the grill out overnight with the grease and cooking smells has not produced any bear problems. Raccoon, raven, and rodent, yes, never bear.
On one RV forum I read the claim bears do not like the smell of some adhesive or material used in RV manufacture. I cannot verify the veracity of that claim, but RVs do not seem to have the same attraction to bears as cars do.

I have heard this in passing several times, which is why I made the thread. I was hoping for more posts like yours.

thanks for your input dave

[Wandering Daisy]

If you plan to leave your camper-van at the trailhead while backpacking, you have to keep the power running to the refrigerator. Do you have a means to do this and for how long? Or are you going to use the refrigerator simply as a substitute bear box for food that does not actually need refrigeration? Although expensive, I think you can buy bear-proof panniers that horse packers use. You can also buy electric netting "fences" to wrap around your coolers. NOLS uses these and they are solar powered. Not sure what Sierra regulations are regarding electric fences. No refrigeration, but to keep out bears.

Over the years I have collected three bear cannisters that I no longer use backpacking. These have become car-camping food storage. I simply do not use food that requires refrigeration. I place them in the shade outside my car- often just under the front fender when it can remain in the shade.

[sparky]

WD, thanks for the response!

No I would not leave any food in the van for a backpacking trip in a ref or a cooler. I just stow whatever extra food in the trailhead bearbox for that

The question is leaving food in a fridge, in the van, out of sight, in bear habitat during the day while day hiking. Right now my plan is to just swap it out for a regular cooler when im in the sierra that I can put in our campsite bear box like i have always done. We spend a lot of time in the desert, so right now planning of using the fridge just for that (or possibly dayhiking in the sierra if i can get the courage to)

Our dayhiking trips, I am sure many of you would laugh at our food. I will toss a frozen water bottle in my pack with cheese fruit and veggies I want cold and wrap it all up in my down parka. I can keep water bottles frozen at the bottom of a cooler of ice for up to a week for portable refrigeration. Would be nice to eliminate ice from that whole equation but I am not convinced my van wont get broken into yet.

I do read things on the internet but I dont know where these people are going, or if they go as much as we do, or are gone for 8+ hours at a time like we typically do

but IDK like someone said above, it will work until it doesnt. But I have read on the internet someone saying a ranger in yosemite told them "hard sided vans and RVs dont get broken into" which I find hard to believe. My friends cabin in mammoth gets broken into by bears, so I have a hard time believing they would leave a van or RV alone

[Wandering Daisy]

Perhaps the Yosemite bears just have easier targets than camper-vans. I suspect that the fact that you cannot easily see into a camper-van helps. I am sure the FS and NPS keep track of their "problem bears". You may just ask them. I wonder if those fancy expensive Yetti coolers are sealed more like a refrigerator than the cheap ones you pick up at the grocery store.

[John Harper]

I wonder if those fancy expensive Yeti coolers are sealed more like a refrigerator than the cheap ones you pick up at the grocery store.

Yes they are, but expensive and heavy too. I think that's one of the main features, airtight seal. I'm adding some weather-strip tape to a new model Igloo cooler I got at Walmart last year, the 50 quart Yeti is just too damned heavy once you get it full of food and ice.

John

[austex]

I saw a video of a bear on top of a hardside trailer trying to get into an open skylight/vent at Eastfork Campground at Rock Creek Lake.... I hope it was unoccupied at the time

[erutan]

I saw someone with food laying in the parking lot under their car in LLV a few years ago - I'm surprised there's no issues with rodents etc.

My partner and I live in our van for the summer and remote work between hikes, so not having any food in at all in between trips isn't very feasible (and we cook meals in there regularly). I find it hard to believe that hundreds of cooked meals doesn't leave more of a scent than food inside of a semi-sealed refrigerator - that said I put all the spices, open food, etc in bear lockers and anything not canned in the fridge or an airtight 60L dry sack. With ~5KWH of LiFePo4 batteries and 300W of solar keeping a low power draw 12v fridge running indefinitely is pretty easy.

I always wondered about campground hosts in their RVs at campgrounds with bear issues, but apparently they're fine. Had a sedan window punched out due to an empty backpack left in the rear set of the G loop in Tuolumne decades ago, so it's baffling.

There was a bear in Yosemite Valley that kept breaking into a certain model of car after getting a lot of food from a previous one, so there's definitely a visual aspect (which is why you aren't allowed to store empty ice chests in plain view etc).

[erutan]

Would you consider a fridge in a campervan not visible from the outside parked all day at a trailhead safe?

Quoting because mentions seem to be broken.

We noticed this summer that in revelstoke due to grizzly activity:

"To ensure the safety of bears and people, Snowforest Campground is currently restricted to hard-sided camping units only.
Hard-side camping means a truck-camper, motorhome, or recreational vehicle completely without soft sides. Tents and soft-sided campers (i.e. “pop up” tent trailers) will not be permitted until further notice. Camper vehicles such as VW buses and pickup trucks with small canvas pop-ups are allowed as long as the canvas is not exposed."

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/revels ... ay/camping

Likewise Yosemite (which doesn't allow Ursacks even, which is probably a good idea since the company has backpedaled and now lists them as bear resistant and proof for only one hour) states that

"You may store food inside your RV if it is made entirely of solid, non-pliable material (i.e., it has no cloth pop-outs). When away from your RV, food must be out of sight and windows and roof vents must be completely closed."

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

If Yosemite, which is pretty conservative about food storage and protective of its bears says it's ok, then it's probably ok. I'd assume that NPS & Parks Canada have more data than random people on the internet.

[OldMomHiker]

It's not just about the bears. Rodents can squeeze into your vehicle too. I use bear lockers even if there probably aren't any bears around (like the east side trailheads at 4500').

I often hike with a bear canister even in areas around the country that don't require them, just to protect my food against rodents.

[Enigmagic]

I wonder if those fancy expensive Yetti coolers are sealed more like a refrigerator than the cheap ones you pick up at the grocery store.

a few years back (2018) I made the mistake of locking such a heavy expensive cooler up near a trailhead with problem bears. full of beer and some baklava. one of the locals caught wind of our treasure and came to check it out… seals be damned. he chewed off the handles and clasps, and proceeded to throw the chained and locked cooler around the truck bed for a while before giving up and heading off, but not before leaving a huge scat pile next to our tent. we camped at a walk in campground a ways from the parking lot so I have to suspect he could smell who owned the truck and expressed his displeasure accordingly..

a couple years later I had a face to face run in with a bear at the same trailhead. does he remember me and the baklava so vividly?

yes. definitely.

I bought replacement parts for the cooler. and some new underwear.