View Full Version : Ursack - general usage
Redbird2
11-13-2018, 15:57
Please only respond if you have personal experience with an Ursack.
How do you like to attach to a tree? Hanging from a low limb? Hang by a cord from a higher limb? Tie to the base of the tree? Other? If you used to use an Ursack but changed to something else, I'd like to know your thoughts as well.
I hang it head height to me, tie it in a simple overhand knot like the intructional video on YouTube suggests
Feral Bill
11-13-2018, 17:04
Also to a tree. It's easy. which is pretty much the point.
daddytwosticks
11-13-2018, 17:07
I have been using an Ursak Minor for years now on the AT. I still use cord and do a proper bear hang or I use the cable systems found by shelters. Love my Ursak! :)
tied to trunk of tree, just above a branch so that is stays "up", even better in a "Y" of a tree to hold it. Only had one animal attack it 5 years ago. A raccoon (I think) spent hours on it, but did not get through.
Five Tango
11-13-2018, 17:59
S29 All White Ursack with metal liner.I use it as a stool with sitpad on top of it.Hang at least 4 feet off the ground from a fork or sturdy limb.I also use two Base Camp odor barrier bags double lined for odor and moisture control.
Simple square knots.I am hoping the odor barrier bags make it more invisible to all the nosy creatures large and small.It's working so far.........
GoldenBear
11-13-2018, 19:46
I tie the cords about shoulder level, around as thick a branch as I can find, about 50 to 100 meters from where I sleep. Basically, I want to make certain a bear or racoon doesn't break a branch and haul the Ursack away. If no thick branch is available, I might lay it on the ground and tie the cords around the tree itself. On rare occasions -- basically, when I'm too lazy to look for a good tree -- I've tied the cords around the table or solid grill in the eating area adjacent to the shelter, but I don't recommend doing so.
Crushed Grapes
11-14-2018, 11:52
I hang mine like a normal bear bag, over a high limb with the bear line tied to another tree. I use an Opsack, and have never had anything try to get in my bag, or had any issues whatsoever. I don't use the metal liner, fwiw.
Hung head height, tied to tree trunk just above a branch so that it can't slide down. Bear couldn't get it open but did puncture every package inside and turn it into a nice mixed bear-slobber paste. You might try getting the liner with it and hope that it works or get an actual bear can. The Ursack by itself will keep the bear from eating your food but it won't protect your food from the bear. YMMV.
poolskaterx
11-14-2018, 18:23
I like to hang mine as a bear bag hang at least 15ft off the ground when I can. I have tied mine to the base of a small tree when no higher options were available. I use the OP sack bags to minimize odor... sure I know animals can probably smell it still but at least it "might not" smell as enticing as the other food stashes out there:) ... a side note, the OP sacks keep the food smell off of my gear in my bag too, well, at least I cant smell it!
I hang it head height to me, tie it in a simple overhand knot like the intructional video on YouTube suggests
+1 Me too; in bear country I will often hang it as I would a non-Ursack food bag
I have an All Mitey that I've only taken on overnights but even with that small amount of food it's so stiff I can't pack it properly. Any suggestions? I'm considering getting a smaller Ursack, especially since for the foreseeable future I won't be hiking in bear country, so the All Mitey is really overkill.
Signpost
12-07-2018, 03:18
I've always used my Ursack in conjunction with odor barrier bags such as the Opsack. I still occasionally bear hang my bag especially in rodent infested areas, but I often just tie it around the trunk of a smaller tree now. If all trees are larger, I tie it over a large, sturdy branch. Used mine for over 1000 miles of hiking in the past year and a half and have never had any critters steal my food. I did, however, have some humans steal my Ursack off a tree once.
MtDoraDave
12-07-2018, 06:59
As mentioned in another thread, I witnessed a girl on the AT dealing with an ant infestation in her Ursack, so be aware of that possibility if you tie it to the trunk of a tree on the ground.
:)
bad biscuit
12-07-2018, 11:29
Where i camp there's no bears so like others, i just tie to a tree about shoulder height. I've been using one since 2014 without issue.
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Signpost
12-07-2018, 13:49
As mentioned in another thread, I witnessed a girl on the AT dealing with an ant infestation in her Ursack, so be aware of that possibility if you tie it to the trunk of a tree on the ground.
:)
Good to be aware of. Seems like an opsack might help keep marauding ants at bay too, but I haven't tested it.
Pringles
12-07-2018, 16:58
I live in grizzly country. I wouldn't mind buying the metal insert to use, but I've not really looked at it. If anyone has one, would it be easy enough to insert the metal part after I get to camp, when I'm storing my food, but when hiking have the food in the ursack, but the metal sleeve thing not in the ursack? I was wondering if I could use it to provide stiffness to the pack, like some folks use a pad to add rigidity to their pack? I have a bear canister, but it takes up lots of room in my pack. I'd rather carry an ursack, but I'd also rather not have the protection the metal provides, but not have thing be as bulky in my pack as an usrack is.
Pringles,
Watch the videos at the Ursack web page. One of them shows the metal insert alone and it can be reduced from 8” diameter in the Ursack to 4”-6” diameter outside of the Ursack. A couple lightweight Velcro straps could hold it compressed. Then put it in a similar sized stuff sack hung on your pack.
You won’t like the rigid aluminum against your back. I tried lightweight plastic sheeting in a frameless pack for about 30 minutes before removing it.
On the other hand, buy the metal insert from REI. Give it a try. Send it back if it doesn’t work for you.
Wayne
GoldenBear
05-08-2019, 13:43
Over the years I've spoken highly of the Ursack (I use the Allwhite), which I consider a good compromise between weight (less than a canister), ease of use (MUCH quicker than hanging), and protection FOR THE BEAR. Remember, the purpose of the Ursack isn't just to ensure you still have food after a bear wanders into an area with people; its purpose is also to get the bear from being "taught" that
People = Easy Meal
and instead having it taught that
People = Nothing to Eat Despite Over an Hour of Effort
If a bear is taught the first lesson, it's going to get killed. If it learns the second, it may well decide that wandering towards people just isn't worth it.
ANYWAY, two nights ago, I got a demonstration (VERY undesired!!) of the Ursack's ability to resist attacks from raccoons*. As these photos indicate
https://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=63152
https://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=63153
the attackers were not able to actually penetrate the Ursack despite innumerable bites and scratches. However, they were able to tear open all of the food containers, causing the food to drop down to the bottom of the bag. Although most of the food was not eaten by the attackers, enough of it had liquid added to it (saliva, perhaps?) to give them a taste of my breakfast, as well as to stain my Ursack. I may decide to buy a new one.
I may well have been able to avoid this problem *IF* I had placed my food and trash in the odor-proof plastic container. Lesson learned!
The makers of the Ursack, as well as users, are clear that bears and raccoons would be able to smash the food inside these bags, even if these creatures would be unable to open up hole in them.
https://www.ursack.com/faq/ (FAQ #3)
For the animal, there is a difference between destroying the food inside, and getting to eat it (the bear will be taught the second lesson); for the user, the food is lost in either case. Just add me to the list of those who have learned this first hand.
I still recommend the Ursack, mainly because it worked exactly as it said it would. Plain and simple, I couldn't do a hang if my life depended on it, and I don't carry enough food to justify a container.
* I didn't see which animals attacked the Ursack, but the park rangers agree that bears are extremely rare in Wharton State Forest
https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wharton.html
and we both note that the size of the bite and scratch marks indicates raccoons.
Riocielo
05-09-2019, 18:08
We are totally incapable of either finding an appropriate limb to hang a bear bag or throwing it in a way that it doesn't get tangled in tree limbs, so we changed to the Ursack three years ago. We added the aluminum liner last year. We also use the Opsak with it. I have been amazed how the Opsak contains food smells, at least to my nose.
We usually wedge it between two small trees and tie it as shown on the Ursack videos. If we can't find two small trees together, we just tie it to one. We've never had an issue with our food...yet.
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Five Tango
05-10-2019, 09:18
I live in grizzly country. I wouldn't mind buying the metal insert to use, but I've not really looked at it. If anyone has one, would it be easy enough to insert the metal part after I get to camp, when I'm storing my food, but when hiking have the food in the ursack, but the metal sleeve thing not in the ursack? I was wondering if I could use it to provide stiffness to the pack, like some folks use a pad to add rigidity to their pack? I have a bear canister, but it takes up lots of room in my pack. I'd rather carry an ursack, but I'd also rather not have the protection the metal provides, but not have thing be as bulky in my pack as an usrack is.
FWIW,mine fits horizontally in my ULA Circuit with all my other gear in the pack except for what goes in those awesome side and stretch pockets.It will also fit under the top strap to carry on top of the pack if you want to carry it that way.I've never done it because it's white but if I did it would go inside another bag of another color.
Putting a sit pad on top of it makes a handy stool while cooking too.