View Full Version : Opsak bags - worth the money?
I'm putting together my gear list for an upcoming section hike on the AT as well as my summer thru hike on the Colorado Trail. Most of my hiking last year was in the Sierra Nevada where bear canisters are required and I have a Bearikade for when I travel in such areas. Even in areas where canisters are not required, like nearby areas on the AT and other trails, I have at times been lazy and accepted the two pound weight penalty of the Bearikade for short overnights where my pack weight is a non-issue due to limited food and I kind of liked having the canister as a camp stool as well. However, I will most definitely not be accepting that two pound weight penalty for my longer hikes this year.
I already have a zPacks bear bagging kit so if I add an opsak as well, it is going to be more for odor proofing my food than for keeping it dry. I intend to bear bag using the PCT method both along the AT and CT where feasible to do so. However, I am certain that there will be times when for whatever reason bear bagging is not feasible (arriving at camp after dark, very poor weather conditions, being above treeline (for the CT), etc).
Knowing the controversy over sleeping with food, I am not entirely comfortable with the idea but am resigned to having to do so at times. So it is for that reason that I am considering buying opsaks but since I know that bears are super sensitive when it comes to smell, I wonder whether it isn't just a false sense of security for people who choose to sleep with their food. Does it even make a difference? I'd be willing to spend the money and carry a small amount of weight for some additional protection but not for a false sense of security.
Any thoughts welcome.
Damn Yankee
03-29-2014, 16:45
From what I have read and not from experience mind you. There is no order proof bag. For one, as you stated, bear have an insane sense of smell and secondly, you eat all day and get food smells on your hands, cloths etc. also soaps and other hygiene stuff which will all scent the outside of the bag, hence odors. Maybe someone with experience with the product will chime in.
From what I have read and not from experience mind you. There is no order proof bag. For one, as you stated, bear have an insane sense of smell and secondly, you eat all day and get food smells on your hands, cloths etc. also soaps and other hygiene stuff which will all scent the outside of the bag, hence odors. Maybe someone with experience with the product will chime in.
The thing I wonder about is precisely related to your point. There is no way that the items inside my shelter, including me, do not have some remnant of food smells on them just because my food sack is inside my pack all day and some scents linger from cooking odors. If the opsak does nothing more than reduce these scents to the "background level" that always exists and appears to not interest critters, then the opsak would have done its job even if the outside of it gets "contaminated" by odors. My strong suspicion is that there is some threshold of smell that must exist to interest bears in an object, especially when it appears to be enclosed in a shelter and the bear also smells a human. If there is enough of it, or it is strong enough, maybe the bear takes a chance on a confrontation, but otherwise they seem to not think it is worth it. Otherwise lots of people with minor food spills on their clothes or who cooked right next to their shelter would be experiencing bear/animal issues. Maybe the opsack doesn't eliminate food odors but makes it seem less worthwhile to a bear?
I've never slept with my food before and would only do it as a last resort, since I know I'd sleep better with food well away from camp!
Hill Ape
03-29-2014, 19:08
I slept with my food once. It wanted me to do it. I used protection though
Just Bill
03-29-2014, 20:49
I slept with my food once. It wanted me to do it. I used protection though
LOL, Apple pie?
To the OP-
BPL did a test with drug sniffing dogs and OPsack's- bottom line- not worth the money.
Damn Yankee
03-29-2014, 21:39
LOL, Apple pie?
To the OP-
BPL did a test with drug sniffing dogs and OPsack's- bottom line- not worth the money.
There you go!
Meriadoc
03-30-2014, 08:01
Pain-in-the-neck wise Opsaks aren't worth it either. They are annoying to close.
I do like to use a true dry bag for food. First it keeps my food dry. Second, food particles (scent) will not spread easily if the bag is air tight. I figure if I limit the spread of scent to slow diffusion rather than speedy convection, it will be more difficult for a critter to smell. Definitely not odor proof for reasons mentioned before.
Sounds like there are several limitations to be aware of. I did read a couple of articles referring to Skurka using opsaks successfully so that's a potential positive. I ordered one from Anazon just to see for myself but I have limited expectations. Thanks for all the feedback.
I have used Opsaks for 2-3 years now inside my ursack. It may be a false sense of security but I am one who sleeps with my food on a routine basis. If bear poles, boxes or cables are available I will use them but otherwise I snuggle with my food bag at night. I have had enough black bear encounters in my life that I believe possession is the rule. Never leave your food or pack unattended in the woods.
CarlZ993
03-30-2014, 17:28
There is no odor-proof bags. Opsaks MAY emit less odor. If there were odor-proof, all the drug smugglers would use them with impunity. Trust me, you wouldn't be able to purchase any Opsaks if they truly worked. The smugglers would corner the market. But, drug dogs can find drugs in Opsaks that were inside school lockers (done in a control test scenario). I just don't recall if I read that info from a backpacking site or a law-enforcement site (I'm an avid backpacker & a retired cop).
Get you a gonzo bag... die-rect from Humboldt Co. CA.. where the grass is greener.
http://www.gonzobags.com/Services.php
jimmyjam
03-30-2014, 17:36
Get you a gonzo bag... die-rect from Humboldt Co. CA.. where the grass is greener.
http://www.gonzobags.com/Services.php
Ouch. What a price.
Ouch. What a price.
I'm fairly certain that people buying Gonzo bags think they're a pretty good deal.. :)
Dogs (and bears) don't smell through things - the smell permeates from the inside out.
The best you can do is buy time by having as good of an odor barrier as you can get - a dog can smell weed floating in a tank of gas.... and I've heard, a body encased in concrete.
Sarcasm the elf
03-30-2014, 17:53
I'm fairly certain that people buying Gonzo bags think they're a pretty good deal.. :)
I can only imagine that the green smoke clouds in the diagram on their web page was a not so subtle nod towards their target audience. :rolleyes:
Get you a gonzo bag... die-rect from Humboldt Co. CA.. where the grass is greener.
http://www.gonzobags.com/Services.php
Lol... Priced for a different market!
MDSHiker
04-02-2014, 15:58
I use an Opsak inside a Ursack. A few weeks ago a stray dog was walking around our camp and begging food from everyone. The dog was down right annoying and people had to eat standing up. I purposely put my sealed Opsak on the ground by my feet to see what the dog would do. The dog walked over to the Opsak and gave it a sniff, and then walked away and started begging food again. Although this was just a regular dog and not a drug sniffing dog, I do think the Opsak works...some.
The good ending to the story is that a married couple in our backpacking group took the dog home and adopted it !
I have a dog that is notorious for getting into things when left out by mistake. Example I left a bag of chips open on my kitchen table one night and found the bag shredded on the floor the next day. I tried the same test by leaving a bag of chips in an opsak on the table for several days and he never touched it.
I was on a section hike several months ago staying in a shelter with some other hikers. We all hung our food on the mice hangs. I had mine in a zpacks bear bag and Opsack. The mice never touched my bag but they did get into everyone else's bags. Maybe I was just lucky.
I do know that when I open my Opsacks after using it to carry food you can immediately smell everything packed inside of it. Maybe they aren't odor proff but they do a better job of masking the smell compared to just leaving it in a food bag. At the end of the day the sacks are just over an ounce and for me I dont mind carrying it even if its just for a false send of security lol because I still use it to carry my trash in and it keeps the odor out of my pack.
I should get the opsaks today. I don't have a pet I can use to "test" the bags at home but that does sound interesting. At the very least it should help a little and make the perceived food reward less enticing. I know that my pack and clothes already smell like food at least a little. Maybe my food bag will seem equally uninteresting to critters even if not "odor free". Still I plan to hang food whenever feasible. We shall see...
Violent Green
04-03-2014, 20:38
I use the below sometimes. Aluminum foil laminated to a heat sealable plastic film. Opsak on 'roids.
http://www.h2ofilters.com/zimybafor1ga.html?gclid=CJysleLIxb0CFYuXOgodvDAA7A
Ryan