PDA

View Full Version : hanging food



jettjames
02-23-2007, 00:38
ok so i have anotehr newbie question.

so let me see if I have this straight

food goes in a seperate bag
at nite, after dinner you hang the bag high up in a tree 5-10 feet away from the trunk 15-20 feet off the ground. or on the pole or cable if it is there

get up bring it down have breakfast pack up walk away.

what kind of bag does the food go in a dry bag or sil-nylon?

am i missing anything?

pt

RAT
02-23-2007, 02:08
I have never hung my food bag in over 20 yrs of long distance hiking, not even in natl. parks. I use a nylon bag and sleep with it and have never had any issues not even mice.

RAT

saimyoji
02-23-2007, 02:18
Hang it around your neck so hungry hikers don't steal it while you sleep, then blame it on the "mice." :D

RAT
02-23-2007, 03:18
LOL good one, heh.


RAT

sandwitch
02-23-2007, 03:34
There is an article available online that you may find helpful; the diagrams provided make it easier to conceptualize:

http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/training/bearbag.shtml

fonsie
02-23-2007, 05:35
I been lucky in not having my food stolen when I hang it up. I was in the northern Va 20 miles south of Harpers Ferry. I did'nt hang it and I woke up with something sniffing around my tent. Since I had gotton a smell/water tight bag I never had a problem with critters. I don't hang my food just for the fact I caught a bum trying to steal my food one night. Just get a water/air tight bag to keep your food in and you should be allright.

Blue Jay
02-23-2007, 06:23
Don't listen to those guys. Even if they are telling the truth, which I doubt, they are just lucky. Hang your food as best you can, away from your tent but within sight. At best it's a delaying tactic. Determined animals can get almost anything. Hang your pans with the food. If you hear them in the night you can get up and often scare whatever is there away. If a bear already has your food forget it, it's gone. How hard is it to throw a line over a branch? Those other posters are pathetic.

Jaybird
02-23-2007, 07:56
hang your food...it's better to be safe...than feed a bear (or mice):D

good luck with your hike!

fonsie
02-23-2007, 08:08
O I do hang my food just out of sight from everyone else.

Lone Wolf
02-23-2007, 08:29
Don't listen to those guys. Even if they are telling the truth, which I doubt, they are just lucky.

RAT and myself ain't lying. The only time I hung food was back when I would sleep in a shelter. Now I only sleep in a tent and my food bag sleeps with me. Hanging food is not for me. Neither are Leki poles, filtering/treating water, or crossing the Kennebec in a canoe. But don't listen to me jettjames, i'm a bad influence.:)

saimyoji
02-23-2007, 08:30
Hang it around your neck so hungry hikers don't steal it while you sleep, then blame it on the "mice." :D

I've always hung my food when I camp. Its not only a good practice to get into, but is the law in some places (not along the AT I don't think, but Yellowstone, Yosemite maybe...) to use the system provided...oh yeah, in NJ wherever there are bear boxes you are required to use them...like the backpacker site#2 just before Sunfish Pond, if you choose to stay there.

Its not difficult and may save you much consternation should you fall victim to theft/destruction.

adh24
02-23-2007, 08:58
Its not only a good practice to get into, but is the law in some places (not along the AT I don't think, but Yellowstone, Yosemite maybe...)

I know it's a illegal in SNP. My buddy was down there got to where he was camping late on a cold rainy night. Never hung his food. I guess the ranger was by that morning and noticed a lot of Deer milling around his tent. Asked him if he hung his food and he said no. The ranger cut him a break since the weather was really bad that night but the fine was something like $500. :eek:

Lone Wolf
02-23-2007, 09:01
I know it's a illegal in SNP. My buddy was down there got to where he was camping late on a cold rainy night. Never hung his food. I guess the ranger was by that morning and noticed a lot of Deer milling around his tent. Asked him if he hung his food and he said no. The ranger cut him a break since the weather was really bad that night but the fine was something like $500. :eek:

he shoulda stealth camped

Fiddler
02-23-2007, 09:06
15-20 feet off the ground.
10-12 feet is plenty high.

Big Dawg
02-23-2007, 09:52
I sleep w/ my food,,,, never had a problem.

khaynie
02-23-2007, 10:17
I sleep w/ my food,,,, never had a problem.

Do you have protection (not what comes to mind first:-); i.e. pepperspray, Saturday night special, etc for the worst case scenario?

moxie
02-23-2007, 10:21
My first experience was less than a week into my thru hike. At the cheese factory site mice at through my backpack to get at my toothpaste, my food was hung. Once at Hogpen Gap and again near Max Patch I slept with Snickers bars in my tent and all night had mice running up and down the tent. Once in the Grand Canyon my wife set her pack down to use a privy and when she came out a rodent had eaten through her pack to get at her gor., I have never had a problem with bears but coons and mice have caused me fits. Bears are frequently more frightened of you than you of them and if you show no fear and make lots of noise they will leave your food alone. There are exceptions to this but with the black bears we have on the AT I usually will shout and walk right at them and they have allways run away, perhaps I have been lucky. I have seen a racoon open a plastic cooler strapped shut to get at a hikers butter. they are very smart. I never hung my food very high or very far from my tent and I did use a waterproof food bag. Hanging simply makes it harder for critters to get at it but a determined critter wil be successful A very strong human scent will keep alot of animals away and perhaps that is why some of us have better luck just keeping our food in our tents or shelters.

TurkeyBacon
02-23-2007, 11:22
What... No one has mentioned mouse hooks in the shelters??? While in shelters, there are mouse hooks made from an empty tuna can with a stick attached to it. They are mostly effective to stopping mice. When tenting, its up to you. The Smokies and a few locations in Maine have bear ropes, Shenadoa has bear poles and New Jersey has the most effective way of bear boxes. I got my food broken into twice, once on a bear pole in Shennadoa by a mouse or squrrrell. It ripped a hole in my food bag and ate peanuts from my gorp. In NH, I low hung my food and a squerrell used the same hole and ate peanuts from my gorp. Where bears are a problem, use whats given, hanging in shelters is neccessary and then its up to you when tenting.
TB

Skyline
02-23-2007, 11:53
What... No one has mentioned mouse hooks in the shelters??? While in shelters, there are mouse hooks made from an empty tuna can with a stick attached to it. They are mostly effective to stopping mice. When tenting, its up to you. The Smokies and a few locations in Maine have bear ropes, Shenadoa has bear poles and New Jersey has the most effective way of bear boxes. I got my food broken into twice, once on a bear pole in Shennadoa by a mouse or squrrrell. It ripped a hole in my food bag and ate peanuts from my gorp. In NH, I low hung my food and a squerrell used the same hole and ate peanuts from my gorp. Where bears are a problem, use whats given, hanging in shelters is neccessary and then its up to you when tenting.
TB

Mouse hangers in overnight huts in SNP are discouraged, and we maintainers are supposed to take down any we find at the shelter(s) we maintain.

The reasoning is that while "mouse hangers" might provide some protection from mice, the food smells coming from what is hanging inside a shelter attract other critters that visit during the night.

This isn't theory, it has happened. One night a few years ago a medium-size bear decided to investigate smells at Pinefield Hut and the snoring occupants were lucky to escape without injury. What was hanging inside the shelter didn't fare as well. I have read entries in the register of a hut I maintain that indicate visitation by chipmunks, skunks, and raccoons. The entries also indicated food was being stored in various ways inside the shelter rather than out on the bear pole.

Spirit Walker
02-23-2007, 13:27
We had a bear making nightly visits to Ethan Pond campsite in the Whites. He got our food, and that of several other hikers. There were others in PA and NJ. I also saw bears near the shelter in NY and ME.

Generally you will know from the registers where bears are an active problem. In those places, hang your food. The AT bears are pretty habituated - meaning they have no fear of you. That is very bad if you want to keep your food. Some of the bears were coming up to us as we cooked dinner. Others had regular rounds of shelters and campsites.

We have slept with our food in some areas without problems, but in areas where we know there are bears, we hang. I have heard a lot of stories of PCT hikers having bears tear into their tents and stealing the food under their head/feet. One hiker was grabbed by the foot when the bear tried to steal his food. The bear let go - but did get the food. This was not a 'friend of a friend' story, we knew the hiker and saw the sewed up tent. The bears on the AT are active and hungry.

mrc237
02-23-2007, 14:05
Bears dont like maverick wolf meat! So spray your food with wolf scent or drink some then you won't have to treat water, use lekis or use the pussy canoe to cross the KB

Frosty
02-23-2007, 15:06
what kind of bag does the food go in a dry bag or sil-nylon?I have a large silnylon bag I use as my food bag. At night, after brushing teeth, I put my cookpot and toothpaste into the bag and hang it. It has two loops on the bottom I use to hang it with, meaning the draw-stringed opening is at the bottom. I have never had a problem with wet food hanging in the rain (combo of silnylon bag and ZipLocs inside I guess) or with animals.

There are lots of people who don't hang food and have not had a problem , just as there are people who never wear seat belts and have not died in a car crash. I always think "yet" to their claims. Hanging food doesn't guarantee not having a problem with animals, but it makes it less likely than if it is in your pack hanging on a nail in the shelter.

I agree withe the poster who said once a bear gets possession of your food, forget it. There are different bear rules about food. You can chase him away from hanging food usually, but once he has it, he is defending what is now his, and will fight to keep it.

Flying Brian told me that he sleeps with his food bag under his knees to take advantage of this ursine protocol. The idea is if food is hanging up it belongs to anyone, and whoever wants it most gets it. If the bear has possession, he recognizes it as his and will fight all comers to keep it, but if the food is on your body, then the bear sees it as your food and may bluff charge but is unlikely to try to get it from you. Unless, Flying Brian said, the bear is exceptionally hungry or aggressive.

Skyline
02-23-2007, 15:12
I think there is a world of difference between black bear in the east (along the AT for example) and larger, more aggressive grizzlies out west. Our black bears are somewhat predictable and all but a few shy away from human contact even tho they will go for your food if they can. Grizzlies haven't read that memo.

jlb2012
02-23-2007, 15:31
I like having something to sit on in camp so I carry a bear canister to sit on and it does a great job keeping all animals out of my food - dang raccoons know how to climb the bear poles in Shen.

Spock
02-23-2007, 18:53
Learn to throw a rock bag with your line attached over a limb. It isn't hard. Make it a habit. Leep the line in the bag to keep it organized. The bag will hold rocks, sand, bagels - anything to give it enough weight to throw.

I used to keep my food in the tent - as my hiking buddies did - until one night in New Mexico while I used my food bag as a pillow, and had an open bag of Gorp by my head, a bear pushed into my buddies' tent, picked up their food bag and stolled off with it. No amount of shouting or rock throwing had any effect except to make the bear run away faster with the food. No one got hurt. I have hung food ever since.

Mouse trapezes in the shelters are also called bear pinatas. I've watched saavy mice run along the rafters and leap for the food bags, thereby avoiding the discs or tuna cans meant to exclude them. Sometimes the mice catch the bags, sometimes they miss and hit the floor. This does not seem to discourage them.

SouthMark
02-23-2007, 19:48
he shoulda stealth camped

Just remember that rules and laws are only for others.

jlb2012
02-23-2007, 20:15
Learn to throw a rock bag with your line attached over a limb. It isn't hard. Make it a habit. Leep the line in the bag to keep it organized. The bag will hold rocks, sand, bagels - anything to give it enough weight to throw.


If you use a soda bottle for a water bottle then use the bottle instead of the rock / rock bag - its easy to adjust the weight of the bottle and its easy to tie the rope on the neck of the bottle but the main advantage is that it is easier to throw the bottle accurately with a good wrist snap.

mountain squid
02-23-2007, 20:18
50' of parachute cord and a sil-nylon stuff sack. If you do hang, either hang it upside down or tie a knot in the top to keep rain water out. Also, don't forget to put in any other aromatic items you have (tooth paste, soaps, wet ones, deodorant, etc). I figure it is better to be safe than sorry...

If you hang it in a shelter, keep a hiking pole nearby for any midnight mouse "whacking" opportunities...

See you on the trail,
mt squid

bigcranky
02-23-2007, 21:02
I finally gave up on hanging food after the $%^& mice (or maybe flying squirrels?) got into my hung food one too many times in Georgia. I bought an Ursack, which is critter proof. I have watched a raccoon try to gnaw his way into the bag on top of a pole in Shenandoah, and he couldn't get in.

The Ursack is just under 8 ounces, which is only slightly heavier than a large silnylon food bag plus 50 feet of rope plus a carabiner plus a rock bag, etc.

If you do want to hang, the PCT Technique works very well, and in my experience is somewhat easier to pull off (for uncoordinated folks like me, anyway). You can find detailed instructions here (http://tinyurl.com/amf3q).

For the lightest possible bear hanging bag, BPL sells a 2-ounce kit (http://tinyurl.com/bufoz) for (cough, cough) $60.

But I like my Ursack.

Fannypack
02-23-2007, 22:20
dang raccoons know how to climb the bear poles in Shen.
I heard that this is a big problem at Gravel Springs Hut (when NOBO, the last hut in the SNP)

Of course, at this hut the deer (looking for salt in the sweat) also chew on the straps of hiking poles, as well as any clothes left out to dry overnite.... which prolly happens at most SNP huts...

but i did read in the register about an animal (raccoon??) getting the food bags on the bear pole..

Blue Jay
02-23-2007, 22:33
While in shelters, there are mouse hooks made from an empty tuna can with a stick attached to it. They are mostly effective to stopping mice.

AHahahahahahahahah, ouch I think I hurt myself.:banana

rafe
02-23-2007, 22:46
I must be lucky or something. Knock wood, I don't recall any critters ever getting into my food bag -- either in a shelter (hanging from the rafters under a tuna-can rig) or hanging from a tree at camp. I use this rubberized-nylon bag that I've had for years. A bit oversized and heavy, just under 4 oz. Been thinking of replacing it with something lighter... but maybe I should just stick with what works. ;) [Maybe it works 'cuz the mice can't get a grip on its surface?]

Turtle2
02-24-2007, 00:35
I had no critters get into my food bag. My only concern was the night before Waynesboro, Straw and I pitched tents after a hard 22 miler in 90* heat at 9:30 pm. About 3 am I awoke to hear a twig snap, then another and another. Those snapping twigs circled my tent then snapped off to the north. 6:30 in the am we were about to head out and darned if that twig didn't snap again. Looking up there was a large black bear 25 feet away staring at us trying to decide whether or not to visit. After a minute or two he sauntered off to the south. Shall we say that was the last time I tented without hanging my food bag.

TurkeyBacon
02-24-2007, 08:44
"AHahahahahahahahah, ouch I think I hurt myself."

I'm confused... I hiked for roughly 140 days and slept in shelters most the time. I always hung my food from the mouse hooks and in all my nights in a shelter, not me or any other person in that shelter got their food broken into during the night when hung from mouse hooks. They found food hidden in side pockets and packs, they stuffed boot, packs and pocket with acorns, gave birth in boots and packs, stole toilet paper, but NEVER stole food hanging from the hooks. Maybe the mice have evolved and figured them out since my hike in 2002, but none the less, the mouse hooks appear to be better protection then hanging it in a tree so the squirrels can grap a snack. When in bear country this is different but thanks to hunting season, most the AT is safe from bold bears who will walk into a shelter.
TB

hopefulhiker
02-24-2007, 08:48
In some places they have bear boxes on the ground... The problem is that mice can get into little holes in these boxes.. Still better to hang the food..

Lone Wolf
02-24-2007, 08:51
Just remember that rules and laws are only for others.

right. they don't apply to me

Topcat
02-25-2007, 09:59
We had a bear making nightly visits to Ethan Pond campsite in the Whites. He got our food, and that of several other hikers. There were others in PA and NJ. I also saw bears near the shelter in NY and ME.



The last time i was at Ethan Pond, the had bear boxes there. Are they not there any more?

Appalachian Tater
02-25-2007, 22:24
Problem isn't bears or mice, trying to get your food, it's southbounders trying to get your food.

superman
02-26-2007, 18:07
I also own a bear can. We hike on different trails and it's just a good habit to get into. It's not a hard thing to do. It doesn't matter if it's for mice or bears. Although it can be pretty comical in the early part of the AT. I called it the "food bag folleys." There are folks that have a heck of a time getting the line over a branch.

mrc237
02-26-2007, 18:36
Thinking you can protect your food by sleeping with it is dangerous putting yourself and others in jeopardy. Saying I never had a problem is worse. Its like saying I don't wear my helmet when I ride my Harley "I never had a problem" or I never buckle-up, never had a problem. Its insurance not a guarantee. Hanging your food away from your campsite is your insurance against a bear attack. Oh yeah I forgot this one: "It'll never happen to me."

Cheesewhiz
02-26-2007, 18:48
SEE THREAD "What do you guys use as a pillow" Food bags are great for this!

Cheesewhiz
02-26-2007, 18:51
I never hung my food from PA on this past year and never had a problem. have you ever played russian roulette. its kinda like that

Bravo
02-26-2007, 18:52
Thinking you can protect your food by sleeping with it is dangerous putting yourself and others in jeopardy. Saying I never had a problem is worse. Its like saying I don't wear my helmet when I ride my Harley "I never had a problem" or I never buckle-up, never had a problem. Its insurance not a guarantee. Hanging your food away from your campsite is your insurance against a bear attack. Oh yeah I forgot this one: "It'll never happen to me."

I'd never say "it'll never happen to me." I'm sleeping with my food cause I want to see a bear. Different story in the west though. Different bears too.

How many folks do you know that have been attacked by black bears?

Lone Wolf
02-26-2007, 18:53
How many folks do you know that have been attacked by black bears?

it'll never happen to me.

hopefulhiker
02-26-2007, 18:55
I had a candy bar in my tent near the NOC, NC and I am certain that a bear came to my tent. I ran it off though..

Bravo
02-26-2007, 18:57
I had a candy bar in my tent near the NOC, NC and I am certain that a bear came to my tent. I ran it off though..

Did you get a picture first??? That's the whole point of sleeping with your food. Bait them in.:D

Bravo
02-26-2007, 18:59
it'll never happen to me.

I heard bears along the AT are afraid of wolves. Especially ones that are crazy enough to travel alone.:D

eventidecu
02-26-2007, 19:12
I'm with L Wolf on this, I very rarely hang my food, only if I'm with someone who's hanging theirs that I'm sleeping in close proximity to, a matter of concideration more than anything else. I'm not scared but don't want to cause anyone else any grief. Been in the woods more than 30 years and the only issue I've had with a bear was while I was getting water from a spring. (got charged, I growled / waived arms back at her and she ran off) As far as "critters" goe's I'd rather take my chances with my food next to me.

As far as a Ranger, way out in the middle of the woods all by himself, writing me a $500 ticket for not hanging a food bag?, well lets just say I'd persuade him otherwise.

Bravo
02-26-2007, 19:15
As far as a Ranger, way out in the middle of the woods all by himself, writing me a $500 ticket for not hanging a food bag?, well lets just say I'd persuade him otherwise.


Whoa!!! I can't help but read into this one. All I can figure is he's not leaving the woods alive or he's not telling his wife about his day.:eek:

mrc237
02-26-2007, 19:18
Just a generalized statement not aimed at anyone in particular. Custers last words: It'll never happen to me