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Took me 4 years to realize I was packing my bear canister totally backward
Was on a trip in the Smokies last month when a ranger walked by my camp and asked why my canister was upside down. I'd been putting the heavy stuff at the bottom and light stuff on top, which made it impossible to Tetris anything in. He showed me that if you put the big lumpy items in first and then wedge the dense stuff on top, you can fit like 30% more food in an BV450. Now I feel like an idiot for all those years of struggling to close the lid.
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henryt185d ago
Saw a video where a guy fit a whole extra day's worth of food that way.
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nelson.wren5d ago
The thing nobody talks about is how this "expert packing" changes your center of gravity on the trail, making you more stable on uneven ground. Henryt18 might have seen a video about fitting extra food, but that weight distribution trick is what saves your knees on a long descent. It's not just about cramming stuff in, it's about where that extra weight sits on your frame.
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Oh man, tell me about it. I spent a whole season convinced I was some kind of gear genius cramming stuff in there. Turns out I was just doing a really expensive stress test on the lid latch every night. Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing how much better it works when you follow the one simple rule the ranger just casually dropped on you.
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