The Ratsack Food Storage Bag is a rodent-proof, lightweight, flexible, stainless-steel mesh bag that protects your food and smellables during camping and backpacking trips. It’s not bear-proof, but it is rodent- and small-mammal-proof, making it ideal for use in primitive cabins, trail shelters, and lean-tos, and for storing food in campsite bear boxes, which are regularly raided by mice, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and rats. If bears are present, you can hang the Ratsack like a bear bag with a carabiner, but its primary purpose is to protect your food from small mammals (sometimes called mini-bears), even when it’s not hung out of their reach, like in a bear box.

Specs at a Glance

• Materials: Stainless-steel mesh
• Sizes
  • XS: 427 cubic inches (7L), weighing 4 oz
  • S: 1,200 cubic inches (19.5L) weighing 8 oz (actual weight 8.9 oz, measured)
  • M: 1,800 cubic inches (29.5L), weighing 10 oz
  • L: 2,500 cubic inches weighing (41L) weighing 12 oz

The Ratsack is a rust-proof stainless steel mesh food bag that closes with a wide strip of heavy-duty velcro and has a hole at the end large enough for a carabiner for hanging.  Most people only need 100 cubic inches of storage capacity for their food per day, so the XS size is good for one person on weekend trips if you also use it to pack your toiletries and other smellables. Not knowing any better, I ordered a size Small, which turned out to be much larger than I expected or needed for the 2-3 night backpacking trips I usually take.

A Ratsack is a rodent-proof steel mesh bag for storing your food and other smellables.

When you fill the Ratsack with food and your other smellables (like toothpaste, skin lotion/balm, etc), you’re going to want to line it with a plastic bag to keep the interior clean and prevent anything from leaking out..or leaking in, if you place the Ratsack in a public place like a shared campsite bear box. The outside of the bag is also pretty abrasive and I’d recommend storing it in a stuff sack or even a plastic bag when you pack it in a backpack to keep it from tearing your clothing or other delicate gear.

I purchased my Ratsack for use at campsites with bear boxes after an incident in western Maine, quite close to the Appalachian Trail. I was carrying a bear-proof Ursack to store my food at night and rather than tying it to a tree, I put it in a campsite bear box because I figured it’d be even safer there. It wasn’t. Mice got into the bear box, crawled into the top of my Ursack, and ate my stash of crushed potato chips. I’d been counting on those chips as a salt substitute in the hot, humid weather. If I’d stored my food in a Ratsack instead of an Ursack, they wouldn’t have been able to get to my food.

Recommendation

The Ratsack Food Storage Bag is a rodent-proof steel mesh bag for storing your food and other smellables. While it is not bear-proof, it can be hung like a bear bag when conditions warrant. The Ratsack’s stainless steel mesh is also rust-proof and does not absorb water in the rain.

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