Does anyone keep their liquor in their tent at night or do you put it in the bear bag? BTW, I'm hiking in Harriman Park in NY, so not a huge bear problem, at least that I'm aware of.

I thought about getting a small allosak (sp?) to keep it in. I kept some scotch in a plastic bottle in my tent last fall and was paranoid all night.

Leslie, just leave it out. They will not mess with it. I have left my bottle of scotch out in Yosemite and SEKI which are notorius for bears and have never had a problem.

Bears, as I recall, like a fine port, preferably with dead bugs floating in it. ;-D

Seriously, you're safe having booze in the tent. It tastes and smells pretty awful to animals, except the human one. of course. Most species know poison when they smell it.

If you feel unsafe with whiskey, try Everclear. It'll kill the danged bear, and you won't have to worry about it ever again.

Hey, Doug, did you bag that fine single malt that you brought along on our aborted AT hike?

Now, beer, on the other hand . . .

Stargazer

Great! I'm gonna go stock up on the single malt!

> Seriously, you're safe having booze in the tent. It tastes and smells pretty awful to animals, except the human one. of course. Most species know poison when they smell it.

I could have sworn I saw a video of hammered squirrel eating fermented pumpkin (internet videos must be true!). I also remember finding ants on the alcohol table the morning after a college party.

I recommend you drink the whiskey and bear bag it's container.

acronym 5/23/2010 8:18 PM

"Hey, Doug, did you bag that fine single malt that you brought along on our aborted AT hike?"

I did. I always bag the container (usually isn't any scotch left....)

Seems to me that you are recommending leaving the flask in the tent and hoisting the imbiber. Rough Old Country Justice.These are offerings for Thunder God.

Wow, I never worried about the booze attracting bears. Thanks alot, now I'm worried about it :)

It seems to me that some spirits have quite a bit of sugar in them like Southern Comfort for example. It is reasonable to expect a bear to be curoius enough to seek out a sweet odor.

Hmmm, youtube footage of a drunk bear anyone......

Also as a weight savings strategy I have packed Everclear. I figured that is was half the weight of normal booze being twice the proof and could be used as stove fuel.

My experience was that I made drinks too strong because I mixed it like one would Vodka, at half the proof. And Everclear yeilds a most unpleasant hangover.

I advise avoiding Everclear as a beverage unless your common sence remains in tact after one drink, unlike mine.

I've seen excellent footage of deer eating rotting apples year after year from the same spot for the apparent purpose of getting drunk once a year. The deer were literally stumbling drunk.

Discover channel?

Jack

There's big difference between rotting fruit and distilled liquor.

If there are sugars in the fermented substance (wines, beers, rotting fruits and grains, sweetened liquors) it will be attractive to animals.

Whiskey, vodka, etc, have no sugar left (or so little as to make no difference), and thus have little attraction to sugar loving critters.

An exception might be made for an animal who has been adapted to drinking alcohol, such as a goat recently staring on YouTube!

Hey Stephen! I prefer old goat, thank you very much!

Oh, wait, different video. Never mind.....

Good to know whiskey is ok outside the bear can. I have always put it in.

Being a LEGAL medical marijuana patient, I always bring some on hikes just in case ;-). I also put this in the can at night. Is it safe to just leave the marijuana/hashish in the tent at night? Anyone have any experience either way?