Hanging a backpack ???

[MuddyWaters]

Once I saw one of those expensive REI trip groups all hang their packs on the bear cables at one of the shelters in the Smokies. The one thru-hiker and I just kind of laughed to ourselves.

Why?

Have to hang food anyway
Keeps mice out your pack
Keeps peoples crap from being strewn around a crowded shelter

Better than hanging on a peg, out of everyones way

[Farr Away]

We've done a lot of hammock camping in the Smokies. Just as easy to hang the backpack on the bear cable as to figure out where else to put it to keep the raccoons, etc. out of it.

-FA

[ggreaves]

i've never hung a pack or a food bag. both go in my tent

I put my pack and food bag in the tent then hang myself from a tree.

[bamboo bob]

"No, it doesn't make it any easier to sling that damn rock over the branch, lol!

I put the rock in a bandana and tie the line to the bandana. Works great.

[Lone Wolf]

I put my pack and food bag in the tent then hang myself from a tree.

good for you. that's great

[Heliotrope]

I put my pack and food bag in the tent then hang myself from a tree.

TMI


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[SWODaddy]

Why?

Have to hang food anyway
Keeps mice out your pack
Keeps peoples crap from being strewn around a crowded shelter

Better than hanging on a peg, out of everyones way

I've seen someone get their pack bored into by a mouse while hung on a bear cable in the smokes.

"Life finds a way"

[righand]

i agree with Lone Wolf, i sleep with my food!

[MuddyWaters]

I've seen someone get their pack bored into by a mouse while hung on a bear cable in the smokes.

"Life finds a way"

Betcha 1000x more have had packs nibbled on hanging on pegs or nails in shelters

[Whack-a-mole]

I've had mice in my pack in shelters, and I've had mice eat through my food bags that were properly hung in a tree. The critters are pretty resourceful when it comes to getting food. It's all just part of the hiking. Take your precautions however you see fit, but there isn't too much that is foolproof. My friend was down near Springer a couple years ago. The campsite had bear cables, and a bear climbed the tree, and then jumped on the cable system. Brought the whole thing to the ground. He laid there and ate everyone's food. They tried to run him off, banging pots and pans, throwing rocks at him etc...he didn't care, he just laid there and ate and occasionally growled at them. Go hiking, enjoy the woods, you may come back with a good story that will grow over time....

[AngryGerman]

[QUOTE=Venchka;2152474]Here we go again.
Redundant question and answers.
The answers:
Yes. No. Maybe. It depends.
Y'all have fun.
Wayne

Now that is funny right there!

i've never hung a pack or a food bag. both go in my tent

Roger that! My preferred method.

And yet you read it! Presumably for the entertainment value.

Almost always my method!

I never saw the need to hang my pack. Just don't leave any food in it.

Or... sleep with it!

Not true for a great many people, particularly when shelter sleeping.

How does shelter sleeping and what is left in the pack defer to when one sleeps in the shelter they carry?
[QUOTE=Farr Away;2152645]We've done a lot of hammock camping in the Smokies. Just as easy to hang the backpack on the bear cable as to figure out where else to put it to keep the raccoons, etc. out of it.

Hang that baby at the foot of your hammock. You will feel the critters walking the line. I've hung my food bag there many times; on the rare occasion I hang my bag

[QUOTE=ggreaves;2152647]I put my pack and food bag in the tent then hang myself from a tree.[/QUOTE

Or is it hang the tent then put the pack; food bag and self inside the tent! Too funny!

[BuckeyeBill]

Tonight live on the Campfire Channel, the Bear Bag Hanging Championship. Seven individuals will compete to throw the perfect hang line for a Bear Bag. While at times it is comical, the winner receives his Bear Bag/Food Bag back at breakfast time and can eat. The losers, well lets just say that they will still be hungry the next day. Bonus points are given for hanging their packs and/or the biggest studio audience laugh track. Be sure to arrive early as all the front row seats go fast. Our judges for tonight's Championship are all veteran hikers that have no fear of bears who sleep with their food bag. So joint us tonight at 8 PM - 7 Central, only on the Campfire Channel.

[HooKooDooKu]

I've seen someone get their pack bored into by a mouse while hung on a bear cable in the smokes.

On more than one occasion, either I or a fellow camper have experienced mouse damage to food bags while the food hung on the GSMNP bear cables.
Had a family member camping in GSMNP who said they saw the mice simply climbing the cables (diagonal cable clipped to tree).

At least once the park service had a sign at a GSMNP shelter instructing that your entire pack be hung because there was a bear in the area that had learned to associate packs with food and would attack unsupervised packs even if there wasn't any food in it.

[Deacon]

On more than one occasion, either I or a fellow camper have experienced mouse damage to food bags while the food hung on the GSMNP bear cables.
Had a family member camping in GSMNP who said they saw the mice simply climbing the cables (diagonal cable clipped to tree).

At least once the park service had a sign at a GSMNP shelter instructing that your entire pack be hung because there was a bear in the area that had learned to associate packs with food and would attack unsupervised packs even if there wasn't any food in it.

Two years ago at Rock Spring Shelter in the Shenandoah, an industrious raccoon rummaged through five or six food bags hanging on top of the bear pole behind the shelter. We could not figure out how he accomplished that feat.

A young hiker who stayed the previous night told us about this but none of us believed him. We figure the raccoon dropped from a branch above.

No hang is safe.

[Bansko]

Ive found my 20oz Gatorade bottle is easier to throw over branch than a rock....lil water in it obviously....

While I like to think of myself as a practical person, I obviously am not practical enough. I did the whole damn trail throwing rocks over tree branches while carrying a 22 oz. Gatorade bottle the whole time. I almost clocked myself in the head a few times when the rock came swinging back down. Not to mention the fact that although you encounter appropriately sized tossing rocks all day long while hiking, they always seem to be non-existent when it's time to hang the bear bag. A Gatorade bottle would have been perfect since the narrowing by the neck makes a great tie-on point.

I've been schooled.

[tflaris]

I've seen this practice recommended to me by a guide that was guiding in the GSMNP.

I just hang my food.




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[martinb]

Hanging packs in the smokies keeps the mice from chewing thru. This happens more often than you'd think. I have seen other food-bag-only hangers in GSMNP get their packs holed by mice. In other areas, I just hang the food bag.

[BuckeyeBill]

I put my pack in my hammock under my feet.

[TNhiker]

At least once the park service had a sign at a GSMNP shelter instructing that your entire pack be hung because there was a bear in the area that had learned to associate packs with food and would attack unsupervised packs even if there wasn't any food in it.

this happens quite a bit---especially at Cosby and Russell field shelters .....

[Berserker]

I put my pack and food bag in the tent then hang myself from a tree.

You better make sure you are using the PCT method or else a bear could still get you.