Has anyone use the Ursack bear bag? If so what did you think of it? Other brands of bear bags been used?

Daddymention (AT 2002) had his bear bag chewed into by a rodent. They are not considered bear-resistant in the same sense as something like the Garcia can is and their primary role, it seems, is simply to slow the bear down to give you time to drive it off. They are not recognized by the NPS as acceptable food storage containers, although when they came out there were. I do not think there are any other bags out there, although there are other cans (lighter and much more expensive, though).

I picked up the Ursack a few weeks ago and have used it on two weekend trips. So far, it's worked well... I haven't had any critters get into it, but I haven't seen any try either.

My big concern was not for bears but for the mice, chipmunks, porcupines, etc. that hang out around the AT shelters and campsites. I have to say I sleep better at night because I don't jump at every sound checking to see if somethings gotten into my food.

Another plus is I no longer have to do the whole ordeal of pitching a rock over a tree branch for an hour to get my bear bag hung properly.

For me, it was a worthwhile purchase!

-- Ivy

http://www.crittersack.com/, but their site seems to be dead now. It was a smaller, cheaper version of the ursack.

The Ursack bag sounds very interesting to me. I hate having to hang a bear bag every night. I always seem to have trouble locating just the right tree---and assuming that I do, I always seem to want to get something out of my bag after it's already up there.

My main concern with the Usack is whether I would regret devoting 5 ounces in my backpack for such a "luxury" Any thoughts?

WITHA LITTLE PRACTICE YOU CAN GET THE BEAR ROPE UP INTHE FIRST OR SECOND TRY...

I purchased the yellow Ursack 3 years ago. I have yet to have any resident rodents try to chew through the thing, but even if they got through I'd at least have made them work for it! I still hang the bag underneath the suspended tuna cans and still hang the bag in bear country. My testimonial is that I still carry the bag despite my quest to shave every extra ounce off my pack weight.

I saw a new, supposedly tougher Ursack made out of fiberglass on the Net the other week.

Smokymtsteve -- I've had plenty of practice, but my pitching arm doesn't get any better. :) I really cannot throw high enough to get the rock over a suitable branch. Add that in with the rock falling off the rope and it has taken me up to an hour to hang the stupid thing.

I know I'm not alone in this... I've met plenty of others who have difficulty hanging bear bags as well.

- Ivy

Originally posted by poison_ivy
Smokymtsteve -- I've had plenty of practice, but my pitching arm doesn't get any better. :) I really cannot throw high enough to get the rock over a suitable branch. Add that in with the rock falling off the rope and it has taken me up to an hour to hang the stupid thing.

I know I'm not alone in this... I've met plenty of others who have difficulty hanging bear bags as well.

- Ivy

I carry a small stuff sack, about the size that a Whisperlite of water filter stores in. I put a small rock inside it and tie it onto the end of by bear line. Then I pitch it underhand over a branch. Not that hard. I never loose the rope off the line, and get it up the first time.

Originally posted by poison_ivy
Smokymtsteve -- I've had plenty of practice, but my pitching arm doesn't get any better. :) I really cannot throw high enough to get the rock over a suitable branch. Add that in with the rock falling off the rope and it has taken me up to an hour to hang the stupid thing.

I know I'm not alone in this... I've met plenty of others who have difficulty hanging bear bags as well.

- Ivy

A couple suggestions...

(1) Throw UNDERHAND not overhand. I use the same method to throw a bear bag line as I learned for throwing a rescue rope in Red Cross Basic Water Rescue training. In a nutshell, here's how to do it: Loosely loop your throwing rope in your left hand such that it will pay out without tangling, hold the rope about a foot or so from the weighted end with your right hand, and then in an underhanded motion swing the weighted end forward and back to build some momentum before the final "power" swing where you throw the line. You can control the flight of the rope somewhat by braking the rope as it pays out -- handy if your throw is going a little high and you want it on a particular brand. Of course, reverse hands if you're a leftie.

I can generally put my line over whatever branch I want within two or three throws. This method, although it requires some practice, is TONS easier than overhand throwing.

(FWIW, I am by NO means an athletic sort and don't place baseball or softball. :)

(2) If you are in an area where there are no suitable rocks for tying onto your line, wrap some smaller stones in a bandana or place them in a small ditty bag. This method is also handy for the knot-challenged. :)

in the circumstance that there are no trees suitable for a bear bag hanging, what do you do?

I've seen people hike 10-15 minutes from camp and chuck their bags on the ground.

Originally posted by chknfngrs
in the circumstance that there are no trees suitable for a bear bag hanging, what do you do?

I've seen people hike 10-15 minutes from camp and chuck their bags on the ground.

You just do the best you can. Maybe you hang it in an unsuitable tree, hang it between two trees or keep it with you. You also figure in to this what threats you are dealing with, like are you in bear country, are you dealing with 'park bears', are you in an established campsite, have you seen any 'signs of bears' recently, are you alone, etc? Even taking a morning dump is a different situation when you are alone in bear country... for instance do you leave your food on the ground?

Youngblood

If you can't hang your food, put it in your pack and put your pack under your feet. Or, use your food bag as a pillow. Rodents generally won't be brave enough to get at the food. What do you do if a bear shows up? Drive it off, pack up, and hike on.

But, on the AT, there should always be something to hang a line on. Just make sure you get your food more than 4 feet off the ground.

I use two ropes. I have a small pulley tied to the end of one rope. It's heavy enough to carry over the highest branch so you don't need a rock. The second rope goes over the pulley wheel. I pull the first rope up to the proper height, tie my food bag to the end of the second rope and pull it using the pulley. Easy up and easy down. I got my pulley at Walmart, they are in the pet section where they sell dog leashes.

Weight on that pulley, Jim?

Ive had mine for a year and a half and love it - I sleep a lot better knowing its there.

re:hanging - in the end hanging is only a delay tactic and even useless in a few areas, If you are anywhere near habituated bears or your food supply is critical use a can.

Originally posted by Kerosene
Weight on that pulley, Jim?

The weight on the pulley is 2oz. per my postal scale.

If you have problems with throwing a bag line and need a way to keep the rock from coming loose and also don't want to carry an extra bag, make one of my stake/rock bags. Basically you take the drawstring out of your stake bag and replace it with one end of your bagging cord so the cord forms the drawstring. You keep the steaks and the cord in the bag for storage when traveling. when you camp, the stakes wil normally be in the ground, so now you have an empty bag attached to 50' of cord for bear bagging. Mine is attached to a sil-nylon stuff sack with a bottom haul loop which makes a waterproof, lightweight food bag. Nothing has chewed it yet.

One thing worth mentioning - in Shenandoah NP they have these "bear poles" that are placed near the shelters (err "huts") and they do work for keeping the bears out of the food HOWEVER the raccoons have learned to climb the bear poles and thus the bear poles are worthless for keeping your food safe.

I was at Gravel Springs Hut this weekend and decided to do my usual bear bag hanging from a tree instead of using those bear poles based on register entries - it turned out to be a good choice because one or more raccoons had climbed each bear pole at the site that night - one was run off by an alert thruhiker (Dog Tags) and the raccoon gave up trying to get into another bag on the other pole after pulling the bag up on top of the bear pole.