Desolation Wilderness - Store backpack in tent overnight?

fixit_fiona

We are going backpacking in Desolation Wilderness for the first time. It's black bear country. We will be using bear canisters to store all food and other scented items away from our tent, and make sure there's never direct contact between the items and the backpack. I read that if we store our backpack outside the tent, rodents may get curious and chew on straps or make holes in our gear. And storing the gear in the tent is a no-go for the...

Originally asked by Mike on Stack Exchange (outdoors) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

I would not be worried about black bears, essentially a non-threat with the proper use of a bear cannister. You are right to be worried about rodents. We did a two night trip there this spring and the cork handles of our hiking poles got chewed up because we left them on the ground a few feet from the tent. I've always had good luck keeping my pack under the rain cover but outside the mesh tent. Never had rodents get into my pack that way, but then again we are fairly careful to not get crumbs in the pack by keeping waste in zip lock bags and/or in the bear canister. The way I see it, I'd rather rodents try to chew my backpack than my tent, but that's a personal decision I suppose.

Full answer by John Huff: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/28465 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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