We’re pretty much exclusively car campers, usually in state parks or other established campgrounds. Not sure how it is in the rest of the country, but here in the Southeast we’re overrun with racoons. Being car campers we do have more space to work with and weight is not a concern at all, but I’ve got 4 kids so the vehicle isn’t exactly empty, if you know what I mean. We’ve just been bringing along a collapsible plastic tub that we can fill at the grocery store once we get the camping gear set up, and then storing it in the rear of the car. It works, but it means the rear hatch area of our car pretty much becomes the pantry for the entire trip. I would prefer to be able to leave our food at the campsite, saving the room in the car for other uses and making food much more accessible to the family at camp. I bought a pop-up screen room to put around the picnic table and form an enclosed “kitchen” area, but it really just helps keep the bugs out. Racoons go right under the thing at night, so that didn’t work.
I guess what I’m looking for is some sort of enclosure that’s strong enough to keep the racoons out, big enough to hold food for 6, and preferably packs small enough to travel without taking up too much space, something I can set up at the campsite and leave out. Something collapsible would be ideal, although I could probably just pack it full of sleeping bags or whatever while we’re on the road if that’s not a thing.
Any thoughts anybody? Or is storing the food in the car the only way to go?