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blue_bus
08-07-2004, 13:41
Hi all,
I'm new to hiking in this part of the world...and to the bear issue so maybe my question is silly - bear with me (pun intended..)
I understand that the main tradeoff is the weight and bulk of the canisters vs. the certainty they offer. I also understood that the bears are attracted by the odors...so how about the following (this is not intended to raise the take/not take canister issue or the can/ursack issue):
1. I divide my food into small portions each one packed in a sealed odor tight pouch ( there are some types that you can heat seal and are sturdy enough - they have a semi metallic finish, or maybe just a zip loc) and then maybe wash them b4 I travel so as to make sure no odors stick to the outside.
2. Carry these pouches in my pack - the bears wont come 4 them.
3.Open a pouch and eat away from my tent etc.
4.Carry a very small can that I can stuff the empty pouches in and hang from a tree.
Is this reasonable? or am I missing something?
-mike

eyahiker
08-07-2004, 14:22
1. I divide my food into small portions each one packed in a sealed odor tight pouch ( there are some types that you can heat seal and are sturdy enough - they have a semi metallic finish, or maybe just a zip loc) and then maybe wash them b4 I travel so as to make sure no odors stick to the outside.
-mike
Bears can smell the food.

Hang your food at night, there's some great info on this site in other threads about this, as well as on the net.

I have never heard of a bear chasing a person during the day for the food in their pack, or for an opened power bar ( east coast).

illininagel
08-07-2004, 18:10
Carry a very small can that I can stuff the empty pouches in and hang from a tree.
Is this reasonable? or am I missing something?

What kind of very small can will hold several days of food and still weigh less than the stuff sack that most hikers use for this purpose?

steve hiker
08-07-2004, 19:21
I don't think bears could smell food from a sealed foil pouch, unless it had a hole in it. Ziplock plastic bags yes bears can smell the food, because they're not airtight.

You don't need a bear can on the A.T. or other parts of the Eastern U.S. Just hang your food and used pouches from a tree in a stuffsack at night. Bear cans are for places like California where the black bears are more ingenious at getting food bags from trees.

Lilred
08-08-2004, 10:15
Bears can smell food that is in a cooler locked in a car's trunk. They will be able to smell the food in your 'airtight' pouch.

eyahiker
08-08-2004, 10:42
Yup.




A leaf fell in the woods . . .The deer heard it. The eagle saw it. And the bear smelled it.



"You humans have me figured to be just like Yogi, Booboo or your cuddly stuffed Teddy Bear. Please remember; I am a wild animal. Statistically, you are quite safe from us bears. We do add a risk to you visiting the backcountry but you take a much greater risk driving to the trailhead. Even if you should die in the wilderness, you are much more likely to fall off a cliff, drown, suffer heart failure or succumb to hypothermia than you are to be attacked by one of us bears.


My eyesight is not perfect but my sense of smell and hearing are very keen. I can smell you humans coming for quite some distance and I’ll usually be gone at the first whiff of human intrusion.


There are some of us bears you have invited in for milk and cookies. To some of my fellow bears, the smell of humans in the woods works like a dinner bell. All of us bears remember where our meals come from. We aren’t dumb and our stomachs rule. We have a road map sketched in our minds. All the best restaurants (campsites, berry patches, cars, oak groves, etc.) are located on this map and we will visit them again in a couple of days.


We bears are intelligent and opportunistic critters and when we become accustomed to the idea that humans share our space, we readily take advantage of everything that association has to offer — such as helping ourselves to your delicious pork and beans, granola bars, bacon, toothpaste, soap. Some of us have even cultivated a taste for chocolate. We will also eat chap stick and deodorant. With noses like ours, it is impossible to hide the fact that you are keeping all that good stuff in your tent, your car, or your camper! Our noses lead us to the food and our incredible strength gets us past almost any obstacle. We are able to open the side of your trailer as though we had can openers for claws. We will open cans of spaghetti sauce and ravioli. The fact is, when we bears are offered the choice, we will almost always opt for the easiest meal at hand; we have discovered that beef stew with milk and cookies tastes better than grubs!


If we gain access to your food, we become habituated. That means we become dependent on human food sources and are less afraid of humans. Therefore, it is critical that we never gain access to human food. You humans need to mind your manners while you are visiting the forests and parks.


Take time to store your food properly in the backcountry. It is your moral and legal responsibility. Proper food storage makes the difference between a wild bear and a dead bear because problem bears are often destroyed. The following suggestions may make the difference of having a good time during your visit or going home angry and upset. Please help us both stay alive.

Be Alert, don't surprise me......You are being agreesive if you:


Get between me and my cub / Are anywhere near a carcass ….It’s my food!


Walk directly towards me/ Circle or crowd me …..I need an escape route!


Try to take “your” food away from me …….It’s mine!


The following are some helpful hints to remember ; Avoid a Confrontation / Separate cooking and sleeping areas / Store food and garbage properly / Keep a clean camp site / Avoid a Confrontation: Watch for these Signs / Large areas of torn up ground / Rocks or boulders turned over /Logs or stumps torn apart / Fish or dead animals / Berries / Claw marks on trees / Bear scat /Bears habituated to food are dangerous / Do not run / Try to look larger than you are . Remember ...Bears have an extraordinary sense of smell. Bears are attracted to and will eat anything with an odor. While notnormally aggressive towards humans, bears are possessive of their food and will defend it. They are very quick and powerful. DO NOT TRY TO RETRIEVE YOUR FOOD FROM A BEAR. If a bear gets into your food, stay a safe distance away and then be sure to clean up the mess afterwards. Report incidents to a ranger. You can keep bears wild and alive by storing your food properly. Just use some thought and preparation."

TakeABreak
08-16-2004, 19:03
I think you are over worried, Hang your food at night and your trash with. If you have a camp fire put youcans in it for a bit and burn out the smell. Where bear cables (smokies) or bear boxes (new Jersey) are use them.

Brush yor teeth and wash your hands after eating, if spill something aon yourself wash those garments. do not under any circumstance take food to bed with you.

In Double OO, a mouse bit a person on the lip in a shelter who was using flavor lip gloss, get the point.

remember you are a visitor in there territory. Play by there rules.

Peaks
08-17-2004, 08:02
Like others have posted, bears are not that smart along the AT.

The bears know where to find food. So, if there is a bear cable, or bear box, then use it. Also, if there is an active bear in the area, people will write about it in the registers.

Like others, I would recommend always taking your food and trash out of your pack every night and at least hanging it somewhere. If bears aren't around, then other critters such as mice are, and they want your food just as much.

If there are no bears in the area, then you can hang your food in the shelters. If a shelter has mice hangers, then I used them. If a shelter did not have mice hangers, then I threw up a bear line outside and used that.

Bears elsewhere are smarter. Bear lines don't work in places like the popular areas of the Adirondacks. Next time I camp at one of the popular areas, I'll carry a canister. But no need for a canister along the AT.