The Truth About Cooking In The Open! Yes, You Do Attract Animals

Sevelx | February 15, 2016 | Fires, Food, Survival

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You always know when your neighbours are having a grill, right? That delicious smell of roasted onion seems to carry for miles. So how do you go about cooking when you’ve bugged out, OPSEC is a concern, and you don’t want to attract attention from any of the nasties out there?

Sadly, there’s no foolproof way to mask the smell of food.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, trying to sell you something, or are just reciting anecdotal evidence they believed at face value. Of course, there’s some things that are just plain idiotic, like eating your meals in your tent, in the middle of bear country. That’s just asking for trouble.

Here’s how to keep your risks at a minimum when you’re in the wild:

Make a ‘food camp’

Smells can never be completely masked, and if you’re in a hostile area, or there’s big animals like bears, mountain lions or even coyotes around, it makes sense to do your meals in a separate camp. As a rule of thumb I like this to be at least a 10 minute walk from my base camp, with some vantage points along the way so I don’t walk into an ambush come breakfast time. …………

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Store it properly

Pretty much every camping store has bear-proof food canisters, and they’re a necessity when you’re in some parts of the United States. What many people fail to realize is that while a bear may not be able to get into it, the smell of the food does linger on the canister, especially if you just finished cooking. This means it will attract attention…………..

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Change your clothes

Once you’ve finished your meal, change your clothes, and leave anything that smells like food well away from your camp. Ever smell your wife’s hair after a barbeque? That’s what I’m talking about, and animals can pick up on these lingering smells very easily. Best not to risk it, so change your clothes, and if you can, take a quick dip in a stream to eliminate any odors on yourself if you’re in a particularly dangerous area. ………..

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