View Full Version : Hang my pack or just food bag?
SugarLand
04-28-2010, 08:47
Starting out on my first section hike this weekend and will be camping the entire trip. Should I plan to hang my entire pack each night or is moving all "smelly" stuff to a food bag and hanging that sufficient?
Jack Tarlin
04-28-2010, 08:50
Don't hang your pack, there's no need.
Also, things that are hung up on occasion fall down, or sometimes get PULLED down. Bears can be pretty ingenious.
A missing food bag is an inconvenience that will last just a few days.
A missing pack could end your trip, or at very least, will put a big dent in your budget if you have to replace it.
Don't hang the pack.
garlic08
04-28-2010, 09:11
Not just bears, but rodents and even large birds will chew and peck through anything to get to your nuts. A determined raven, ferret, even a mouse can do quite a bit of damage to a pack.
Not just bears, but rodents and even large birds will chew and peck through anything to get to your nuts. A determined raven, ferret, even a mouse can do quite a bit of damage to a pack.
ALL of my compartments & pockets are left wide open just because of that. IF they have no other way in to whatever they want in, a critter WILL get in "the hard way". I know that rats will look for an opening first, so leave your pack open & hang your food bag. My current pack only has a main bag & 2 pockets, but they are left open every night. Had a possum get in (I think it got in) my pack Tuesday night at RRG, didn't stay long, my food was up in a tree & I yelled at "him". :p
I sometimes hang my pack just from a small sturdy branch low to the ground. I leave all my zippers open so nothing (hopefully) does not feel the need to chew through anything. I have also threw my rain cover over it and left it out in the open. Sometimes I have used a large black garbage bag and just threw the pack inside there and cinched up the bag. One night doing this I did hear a mouse crawling around the bag (which was right by my head under the fly of my tent) but nothing ever came of it. Didn't even see a hole in the garbage bag.
As for food bag, I always hang it. I use a Outsak to put all my food in so it is safe from any small critter trying to get in to my goodies, and I just make sure to hang it properly to keep it from larger critters.
Yep just hang a food bag. Get about 60 feet of 2mm cord (anything larger is overkill) from your local outfitter. Cut off 10 feet (+/-) to use as a clothes line.
Have fun!
Gunner81
04-28-2010, 19:17
I always just hung my food bag. If I was in an area where bears were a problem (there'll be signs posted) I hung other "smelly" stuff. No need to hang pack for reasons mentioned.
SugarLand
04-28-2010, 20:53
I've just got a stuff sack for my food. Is that sufficient, or do I need something more "durable"?
Thanks for the info, guys - you're saving me a lot of headache, I'm sure. :)
I use a waterproof bag so the food doesn't get wet if it rains.
How far away from your tent/shelter do you hang your food bag?
SugarLand
04-28-2010, 21:26
I was thinking about 50-75 feet?
TIDE-HSV
04-28-2010, 21:29
I used to not hang the pack, but, then, a bear stole my wife's empty pack at Sheep Pen Gap in the Smokies. Food had never been carried inside it. We've hung packs since. Last August, we were at Laurel Gap shelter in the GSMNP, and a family struggled in late from Walnut Bottoms. A bear had taken the mom's pack - no food in it, but all her clothes, rain gear (it was raining for days), etc. They hiked out. In the Smokies, at least, it seems that bears have developed a strong association between packs and food - even when there's no actual food - or food smell - in it. They're not dumb. With my wife's pack, a Ziplok fell out, which had her Platypus tube in it. The bear bit it several times. Same thing - association with food and Ziploks in the past...
Lone Wolf
04-28-2010, 21:35
tent with your food bag and pack as one. works for me and a lot of others
tent with your food bag and pack as one. works for me and a lot of others
Yeah, and someone else who used to do it all the time had his tent ripped up next to his food bag which was next to his head, and probably won't roll that way again anytime soon.
Again I'll mention the case in NH many years ago where a woman lost her eye to a bear's claw when it slashed through the tent fabric in search of the source of food odors.
Sure, I know - it only happens to other people.
TIDE-HSV
04-29-2010, 00:39
So far, they've only taken my gear and food, but I respect them too much to tempt fate. Also, I've camped many times in the Chilhowee campground where the child was taken, without any thought or worry about bears. We did have a bunch of wild pigs wreak havoc in the middle of the night, knocking down tents, but that was comical more than anything else...
As for food bag, I always hang it. I use a Outsak to put all my food in so it is safe from any small critter trying to get in to my goodies, and I just make sure to hang it properly to keep it from larger critters.
I had Dave Brandenberg (owner of Simple Outdoor Solutions) make a custom sized Outsak (11.1 oz. and made of stainless steel "mesh") to fit my GG Gorilla pack into, including all contents including a substantial food bag. Before putting the pack inside I first put it (the pack) inside a 20x28 Opsak to make certain that no odors were pdetectable.
(Please note that the first Outsak I had Dave make as shown in the thumbnails was for my Golite Jam2 and clothing, as shown. Afterwards, I had one made for my GG - same principle, but no photos for it, sorry.)
This combo system effectively allows me to hang the pack in a shelter and/or keep it inside a tent with little concern that any animals will detect anything that would attract them and, if they do, will resist most anything except possibly a bear getting it open.
Bare Bear
04-29-2010, 10:40
Hang em both and you will not have a problem. Hang just one then take a chance. I've done both, especially like to use the pack as my pillow or foot elevator at times. My pack is washable though so the stink factor stays lower than most.
SunnyWalker
04-29-2010, 21:28
Hang both, pack and food bag. Then sleep without any worries. Get heavier then 2mm cord though.
Get heavier then 2mm cord though.
The Sterling Rope Co. 1.5 mm "mini cord" that I use for hanging food is rated to 100 lbs. 50' has a mass of 23 grams.
(BTW, Parachord III has a rating of 550 lbs. 50' has a mass of 102 grams.)
Jack Tarlin
05-02-2010, 00:54
I don't understand the "Hang your pack!" mentality.
Food bags I understand.
But your pack? Why? Because it may retain food odors?
Well, most people carry their tent or tarp in their packs all day long. Don't THESE items pick up food odors from their all-day proximity to your food bag, which in all likelihood, is either inches away or perhaps directly next to your tent all day long?
By this logic, you should hang up your tent as well.
Hanging your pack does little in the way of security, and is merely a good way to lose your pack and everything in it. I've seen it happen.
And if you're worried about mice or other rodent vermin, then by all means hang up your FOOD. But the pack? Absurd. In 15 years on the A.T. I've heard of packs being carried off by animals when they were left unattended; were left by trees, tents or hammocks; or were hung up from trees.
I have NEVER heard of a pack being taken from someone's tent when the owner was present.
The simple reason I've never heard of this is cuz it doesn't happen. Your pack is much safer next to you than it is suspended from a tree.
Yeah, and someone else who used to do it all the time had his tent ripped up next to his food bag which was next to his head, and probably won't roll that way again anytime soon.
Again I'll mention the case in NH many years ago where a woman lost her eye to a bear's claw when it slashed through the tent fabric in search of the source of food odors.
Sure, I know - it only happens to other people. Not being contrary or anything, but could you provide some links for those cases?
Nevermind
05-02-2010, 04:03
By this logic, you should hang up your tent as well.
It's called hammocking. We're just that far ahead of everyone else.
:D
I don't understand the "Hang your pack!" mentality.
Food bags I understand.
But your pack? Why? Because it may retain food odors?
Well, most people carry their tent or tarp in their packs all day long. Don't THESE items pick up food odors from their all-day proximity to your food bag, which in all likelihood, is either inches away or perhaps directly next to your tent all day long?
The potential/probability of food odor "bleed through" to the pack/tent/etc. stored inside (and even outside) is exactly why I use/store food in an Opsak, which is over a thousand times more odor proof ( and WAY more durable) than a Ziplock.
I actually use two Opsaks: a small one for the day's snacks, etc. and a larger one for the rest of my food. Both get put into a "regular" stuff sack, which I then use if/when I decide to hang food.
The weight/mass of the above "system" is negligible but the odorproofness/security is maximal.