Fungi Foraging Containers?

[Beer Monster]

Just a quick question for the experienced fungi foragers out there. What is the best type of “container” for carrying foraged shrooms etc?

I did my first serious bit of fungi foraging last weekend and having collected and identified the ones I found (most of them anyway) I’m now hooked! Found some spectacularly beautiful and tasty Wood Blewit …….

…… sorry back on topic. I kept them in a plastic bag whilst out and about but left them in there too long so by the end of the afternoon (even though it was quite chilly) some of them had got quite crushed and gone soggy . Having read the relevant books it seems that wicker baskets seem to be preferred, however, these always seem a bit of a pain to carry around the place (the places I forage on are quite steep slopes so I prefer 2 hands free) …….. is there any other container type/method that you chaps would recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

[andyn]

I am no way an experiance fungi collector, but Marts let me in on an idea which is to use the paper mushroom bags from Tescos/Sainsburys or whereever you do your shopping. Lets the moisture out much more than a plastic bag, but wont really help with the crushing I'm afriad.

 

[JonnyP]

Again, I'm no expert, but I believe that the best thing to use is a trugg.
You could always adopt a strap for it so you can have both hands free. There is a couple of trugg makers in Herstmonceux, E Sussex, who could probably make you something to order. I think one of them is called the truggery..........Jon

 

[Beer Monster]

Cheers for the info guys. Never thought of using the paper mushroom bags ...... good plan. It also helps to keep things separate as I'm still not too hot at IDing yet so I tend to collect samples of things I don't know and I don't particularly fancy discovering that I've had a poisonous shroom in the same basket as the safe one I've just eaten ! I suppose all I need now is some sort of ridged container that I can strap to my pack and I'm sorted.

 

[JM]

Normally specialists recommend a basket, to avoid damaging them, I use a maxpedition maxi rolly-polly.