EVERYTHING POP TOTE!

[BWeaves]

My brother lives in Orlando too I have fond memories of visiting him and sitting in his screened in Lanai (before he moved to a house with no porch).
I had no idea that there were bears in Central Florida. Alligators definitely, but I've never heard about bears. To be fair my brother lives in a fairly high density suburb of Orlando, so there's not a lot of places a bear could hide.

The bears are in the high density areas of Orlando, too, just like the gators are. All the housing developments have encroached on their habitat. Bears are a huge problem in neighborhoods and subdivisions because they've learned they can get food from trash cans. The cities are even starting to give away bear-proof trash cans to prevent people from getting mauled in their own garages. There are plenty of places a bear can hide, and don't forget they climb trees, so you have to look up to find them sometimes.

I have a herd of deer that live in my backyard. I live in the middle of a huge subdivision, and not in the country. One of my neighbors feeds them, so they hang around. There's serious wildlife here. Even Disney World has a problem with gators eating their guests, so you have to be very careful here.

OK, I'll say something happy. I keep calling it a POP TART, too. I can't stop.

[lizziejean3]

Here in Missoula, MT, residents with fruit trees, especially apple trees, are asked to pick their fruit and not let them fall to the ground to rot. It can turn into a feast for the bears!

[Darcy]

Darcy, I'll take your idea and go one further.

I have three counter-surfing, trash-diving, "sandwich-snatching from your hand if it's at snout level" dogs.

Now with the Pop Tote, I can bring in said groceries and set them on the kitchen floor! Woo Hoo!

Yes!!! I brought bags of groceries home last Wednesday, set them on the floor which I don't typically do for this very reason, and guess what Fiona pulled out to chew on? Kale! She treated it more like a toy than a food -- tearing it up, but not actually eating it. Since she basically claimed the bundle of kale as her own, I steamed it and added it to her food... that'll teach her.

[bchaplin]

Not quite the same thing, but this video I just clicked on seems amazingly relevant. I would think that a dog with a sufficiently motivating reward, left to their own devices, would eventually break through a Pop Tote. But maybe Tom Bihn needs to set up a testing facility like this one.

Darcy, I'll take your idea and go one further.

I have three counter-surfing, trash-diving, "sandwich-snatching from your hand if it's at snout level" dogs.

Now with the Pop Tote, I can bring in said groceries and set them on the kitchen floor! Woo Hoo!

Back to the Pop Tote... I'm thinking it might function as an overnight bag, given that it's almost 20 liters, like the Synapse 19 and Night Flight Travel Duffel. Because the handle is thin, of course, it wouldn't be comfortable to carry with a lot of weight inside. I'm considering trying it out in combination with the Luminary, which could hold electronics and toiletries, distributing that weight on my back. Well, I'll get mine next week to test out...

--Beth

[K9TB]

Now with the Pop Tote, I can bring in said groceries and set them on the kitchen floor! Woo Hoo!

This & Darcy's reply gave me a scary flashback (with a happy ending).

Two years ago when living in Germany, I carried in groceries, left them in the foyer, went back to the car for the rest. When I got back to the foyer my dog wasn't there. He usually waited for me there with a wagging tail. So I went to look for him. He was on his dog bed, happily eating a large bunch of grapes that he had pulled from the bag.

For those of you who don't know, grapes can be fatal to dogs. He had eaten almost all of a large bunch - well into kidney failure range.

I think of myself as a very careful person, and I still can't believe I did this (left grapes within a dog's reach, unattended no less). I guess this falls under the "anyone can make a mistake" category.

My blood ran cold. I clapped my hands and called him cheerfully (to interrupt the eating) and took away what's left of the grapes.

Luckily my local vet was opening their office hours soon. So we got in the car and started driving to the vet. When they were open, I called them and said in German "My dog ate grapes. Poison. Ate grapes. Poison. Ate grapes. Poison. I come immediately. OK?"

Two good things I did: learned key words in German, and had my vet on speed dial on my phone.

When I got there they gave him the shot to make him vomit. I got him to the vet so quickly that he was fine.

After the crisis passed, a Vet Tech said "of course, he had to take the one thing that could k....." and stopped. I said "It's ok. You can say, 'the one thing that could kill him.'"

So I still wouldn't put grapes on the floor, even in a Pop Tote, but yes, I would use it to keep the dogs out of the kale!

[Darcy]

Not quite the same thing, but this video I just clicked on seems amazingly relevant. I would think that a dog with a sufficiently motivating reward, left to their own devices, would eventually break through a Pop Tote. But maybe Tom Bihn needs to set up a testing facility like this one.

I definitely won't be replacing my bear canister with a Pop Tote. Whether its zipper closure will keep a dog out depends on the dog and what's in the bag. Knowing my own two dogs as I do, I felt certain the bread and cheese would be safe in the particular instance I described, but it's not a use we recommend in particular for the Pop Tote.

In her younger puppy days Fiona herself volunteered to test the buckles and straps of several bags....

This & Darcy's reply gave me a scary flashback (with a happy ending).

I'm so glad your dog is okay! That is really scary. Good for you for staying so calm and collected. It's important you shared this because not everyone knows that grapes are toxic to dogs. While we're at it: onions are toxic to both dogs and cats.

The groceries I had set on the floor were bags of potatoes, kale, squash, pomegranates, carrots and a bottle of wine, so nothing too tempting in there. Except the kale I guess, which was treated as a toy / something to rip apart. Fiona did seem to really enjoy eating it after it was steamed, though! I thought she only liked green beans, berries, and squash.

On to a different use for the Pop Tote....

It was quite handy on a recent holiday shopping outing! I've taken to always putting my Travel Cubelet inside the Pop Tote so I can remove the Travel Cubelet / carry it too once my Pop Tote is full or nearly so.

[Meglet]

So here's an unusual use I found for the Pop Tote....

On a recent weekend getaway, I visited a co-op that had a magical thing the likes of which I'd never seen before: gluten-free sourdough bread! I bought a boule and some cheese to go along and put my purchases in a Shop Bag. Once I was back in the car, I realized that our next stop was a restaurant for dinner (the bread and cheese would be for lunch the next day) and that Fiona and Ichiro (dogs) would be in the car-- which doesn't have a trunk -- while we were inside eating. How to protect the bread and cheese?! And then I remembered that I was also carrying a Pop Tote, which, of course, has a zipper! The dogs might help themselves to bread and cheese sticking out of a bag without a closure, but they wouldn't get into a bag that was zipped shut. So, into the Pop Tote went the bread and cheese, and all was well.

P.S. I have since made my own homemade gluten-free sourdough bread, and though it takes some work it's totally worth it if you eat gluten-free and miss a good crusty loaf of bread.

OMG, where is this magical co-op which carries gluten-free sourdough? I'm hoping it's near-ish enough that I can make a little detour on my next upcoming road trip!

On to a different use for the Pop Tote....

It was quite handy on a recent holiday shopping outing! I've taken to always putting my Travel Cubelet inside the Pop Tote so I can remove the Travel Cubelet / carry it too once my Pop Tote is full or nearly so.

This is exactly how I've used my Pop Tote the last couple of trips. Travel Cubelet and Small Shop Bag (in a stuff sack) go into the Pop Tote for easy carry through the store, and then as I need cargo I start filling the SSB and then the Pop Tote until I'm down to carrying the TC cross-body. It has been super awesome.

[terayon]

I’m thinking that the Pop Tote will work nicely to hide presents when I’m shopping with the recipients!

[Darcy]

OMG, where is this magical co-op which carries gluten-free sourdough? I'm hoping it's near-ish enough that I can make a little detour on my next upcoming road trip!

Barn Owl Bakery -- they're on Lopez Island, but they do ship!

I’m thinking that the Pop Tote will work nicely to hide presents when I’m shopping with the recipients!

Good thinking. I'm going to go to a craft show this weekend and I'll have company this time, so I may be able to test this strategy soon enough myself...

[anna2222]

This & Darcy's reply gave me a scary flashback (with a happy ending).

Two years ago when living in Germany, I carried in groceries, left them in the foyer, went back to the car for the rest. When I got back to the foyer my dog wasn't there. He usually waited for me there with a wagging tail. So I went to look for him. He was on his dog bed, happily eating a large bunch of grapes that he had pulled from the bag.

For those of you who don't know, grapes can be fatal to dogs. He had eaten almost all of a large bunch - well into kidney failure range.

So I still wouldn't put grapes on the floor, even in a Pop Tote, but yes, I would use it to keep the dogs out of the kale!

My biggest dog ate a sealed 12 oz. bag of hershey kisses one year, FOIL AND ALL. How do they do that??? The vet told us to put her in the tub and give her hydrogen peroxide. Several tablespoons later, all she did was burp. When we went to the vet, they were more worried about the foil than the chocolate. They put a very tiny white tablet, as small as the head of a pin, under her eyelid, set her on a disposable pad, and waited. I won't describe what happened next, except to say it ALL was expelled in a very timely manner and she was fine. That pill was amazing!

Just to clarify: Not planning to leave my zipped PT on the floor for hours, more just to get everything in the door from the garage or driveway.

[Meglet]

Barn Owl Bakery -- they're on Lopez Island, but they do ship!

Oh excellent! A little far out of my way for this trip, but I've been meaning to head up that way on a weekend trip soon-ish anyway, so I'll have to add them to the list!

[Mausermama]

I took my Pop Tote over to a friend’s house to pick up my daughter. She had her Navy Swift and Nordic Side Kick sitting out on her kitchen table, so I had to grab a family photo.


The blues look really lovely together!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[lizziejean3]

I took my Pop Tote over to a friend’s house to pick up my daughter. She had her Navy Swift and Nordic Side Kick sitting out on her kitchen table, so I had to grab a family photo.


The blues look really lovely together!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mangosteen]

Blue Pope Tote with a bunch of cubelets



(I wasn't sure if I would like viridian and grass, but I actually like them a lot more in person. The colours look kind of flat on screen and much deeper/livelier in person. Viridian might be my favourite of all these, and I thought it would be red or dawn. I still kind of really want a red PT, though. (A smaller every day purse-like PT would be ideal for me, though this one isn't as big as I thought it would be either.))

[Rocks]

Olive Pop Tote arrived! I love the color and I think Paddington does too. It’s a keeper.




ETA it can carry approximately 60 jars of marmalade.