View Full Version : Have Ursack. Need PCT bear hang?
KermitBoxer
07-29-2013, 15:18
I have a feeling this question will lead to a thread of arguing.....regardless.....
I leave for the Long Trail on Thursday. I have an Ursack. Do I need to bring the 50 ft of cord for a PCT-style bear hang?
Or can I just tie the Ursack to a tree trunk as shown on the Ursack website? (http://www.ursack.com/proper-hang.htm)
If it makes a whit of difference, I also have those "smell-proof" bags, and all my food is in those, inside the Ursack.
Hill Ape
07-29-2013, 15:26
the bear may not be able to get into the sack, but not for lack of effort. if your food wasn't beat to death before a hungry curious bear got a hold of it, it will be afterwards. and its been my experience that smell proof bags, aren't. bears have a sense of smell on par with a coon hound.
i always hang, and i do it away from the established areas that other people always hang. bears are smart. they live out there, they learn our habits, they return to the scene of the crime. if they found a meal there once, it goes on their browsing list.
MuddyWaters
07-29-2013, 15:26
The idea of the ursack, is that you dont have to hang your food.
But it might be saliva soaked mush if you dont.
You decide.
KermitBoxer
07-29-2013, 15:29
Mmmm....bear saliva mush.
The breakfast of champions.
Aight, I'm hanging.
Hill Ape
07-29-2013, 15:34
and thanks for that link, the bear test videos are hilarious! upside to that i guess is that you'll smell like bear, probably a strong warning to anything else that might want to molest you out on the trail
JustaTouron
07-29-2013, 19:19
The idea of the ursack, is that you dont have to hang your food.
But it might be saliva soaked mush if you dont.
You decide.
I think the idea behind the bag is mostly that it denies the bear the food, ('cause to do otherwise encourages more bear encounters) rather than it saves the food for you.
In the East Coast states, I always sleep with my food next to me, and I always wake up with my food next to me. Why in the world would I tie it to a tree or even worse hang it unattended from a tree in the middle of nowhere?
Read the instructions on the bag...... NO!
speedbump
07-29-2013, 21:57
I have one, and have used it many times in VT. Maybe a bear has not gone near it, or maybe it worked, but my food has never been touched or squished. I wrap it in a waterproof stuff sack and do not hang it- only tie it to a tree on the ground.
speedbump
07-29-2013, 21:59
Mice and rodents WILL chew through your tent and your pack to get your food. They cannot get through the Ursak.
In the East Coast states, I always sleep with my food next to me, and I always wake up with my food next to me. Why in the world would I tie it to a tree or even worse hang it unattended from a tree in the middle of nowhere?
Never happened to me; probably never will. I have had a critter climb down my PCT, mice-baffled, properly hung bear bag. I guarantee that will never happen again. Regarding my pack, I never, ever store food in my pack outside of an OPSak, not ever a candy wrapper. At night, all odor emitting items -- other than me -- go in my OPSak and then into a Zpacks roll top food bag. My hair emits more critter attracting smells than my Zpacks food bag. I don't hang my hair up either.
MuddyWaters
07-30-2013, 23:10
Avoid shelters and heavily used areas, and you will avoid most of the critters anyway.
Mice and rodents WILL chew through your tent and your pack to get your food. They cannot get through the Ursak.
They might be able to get through if they had a couple weeks. I once left my Ursack hanging from a short trail for a week. It had tiny holes in it when I retrieved the Ursack, but the rodents weren't able to get to get past the Ursack fabric.