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  1. #1
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    Default Packing/storing food

    If you use an odor barrier bag, like opsack, do you still need an Ursack or something similar, or does it block odor enough that critters and bears wouldn’t be interested and you can just use a drysack?

    If you do use an Ursack, can you give your review/opinion on which one to get? My husband and I would be hiking together, so would we each carry our own food or get the Ursack Major? Would an Ursack AllMitey be overkill or a good idea to protect against bears and critters?

    Other good brands/options?

    Thank you for your input!

  2. #2

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    I have heard that bears have learned that somewhere, even if they can't smell it, in the big nylon bags the two-legs carry, is a snickers bar, so regardless of smell, etc, they'll go after it an try and eat it. This was in the High Peaks of the ADK, which has a significant tame/nuisance bear problem.

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    I have been using this for the last few years with an Opsak inside it. https://www.rei.com/product/846495/a...od-storage-bag

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    As Downhill has already stated, most animals have long since learned that there is something tastey inside plasicbags.
    I have got plasic bags chewed through by ants, mice, squirrels, cats, dogs, cows, horses and camels.

  5. #5
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    Given that tests have shown bears can detect smells thru multiple layers of ziplock bags, and I've had ants get into loafs of bread I thought were closed, I simply don't believe the claim that any sack is an odor proof sack to a bear and therefore would never personally rely on it.

  6. #6
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    Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like I would need a specialized bag. Is it better to be critter resistent, like the Ursack Allmitey? Or is the regular Ursack sufficient and we could get a larger bag?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #7
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    Some common sense thoughts and facts:
    1)bears can not smell scents downwind of them
    2) bears are going to be more attracted to strong scents then weak ones(so odor containing bags limit detection range)
    3)bears will investigate anything unusual in their territory, which is exclusive(they dont share territory)
    4)bears are several times more hungry in the fall and there is less food available
    5)bears are not only very shy but wary of humans because we hunt them(as many as 4300(out of an 18000 population) were taken in PA alone in a season)
    6)bear populations are crowded- 18k bears in PA "want" a 10sq.mile territory=180,000sq. miles yet PA is only 43,000sq miles
    7)bears are rather intelligent and prefer steady food supplies, they might target a permanent dumpster but not typical isolated campsites, in this context, target means seek out in preference to alternatives. See #3

  8. #8
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    i've used Ursac lined with odor-free bags since 2007, on the AT, WY, CO, & north slope of Alaska on the tundra where there are no trees to hang. i carry my own food, anyone i hike with such as husband carries own food (split so to balance share of weight). i've also carried bear canisters which are not required along the AT but certainly are an option. as posters above have noted, there are a lot of creatures in the woods, both big and small.

    .com

  9. #9
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HooKooDooKu View Post
    Given that tests have shown bears can detect smells thru multiple layers of ziplock bags, and I've had ants get into loafs of bread I thought were closed, I simply don't believe the claim that any sack is an odor proof sack to a bear and therefore would never personally rely on it.
    Add the food smells on the hiker’s person, clothes, food bag, Ursack, etc. and the so called odor proof sacks would seem to be a waste of time and money. They also give the user a false sense of security.
    Besides, moose are far more dangerous to humans than bears.
    Wayne

  10. #10
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    What about protecting from smaller critters? I’ve heard shelters often have lots of mice.


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  11. #11
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    1) Personal anecdotes make for great stories, BUT they are pretty useless for responsible decision making. For instance, I've spent most of my life drinking untreated water in the back country, I grew up sleeping with my food to keep it away from predators, I have slept within sight of bears in the Olympic National Forest and within smell of bears in Denali National Park. I once heard a large animal sniffing outside my tent in the Three Sisters Wilderness in Oregon, but was too scared or tired to stick my head out and see what it was.

    I've never been ill from a water born disease (that I know of) in 55 years of drinking untreated back-country water.

    The only animal problems I've had concerning food was rodents in a few places and a raccoon once when I had food in my vestibule instead of under my head.

    But please, don't be stupid and regularly drink untreated water when treating water is so easy and getting sick is such a significant downer. AND, please don't head into bear country and sleep with your food because, yeah, the chance of a problem is maybe 1 in 1000 - 1/10th of 1%, but, it is still real and you don't wont to be that one in 1000 person, and again, the cost of safer alternatives is very, very low compared to the cost of that 0.1% encounter.

    2) Ziploc bags are absolutely NOT odor proof. And I don't think most animals choose what to chew through based on appearance. I have always kept my food in ziploc freezer bags (i.e. the thicker and more odor proof ones). I have never had a rodent chew through a bag or backpack that wasn't containing food exactly where the chewing occurred.

    3) Finally, from a number of studies with dogs, who apparently don't have as good a sense of smell as bears, I have never seen an example of an odor proof bag that even significantly slowed down the dogs' ability to find the contraban of choice. The most that odor barrier bags can do is reduce the intensity of the odors that escape, so probably reducing (maybe significantly) the size of the area around your food storage that a bear would pick up the odor and care, and that is not a bad thing. . . but, as any well trained scrounge could attest too, it doesn't take a genius bear to know that where there are people, there is food, and once a bear has the temerity to investigate the possibility of food in the vicinity of people, they'll be close enough to smell odors even those originating from inside an odor barrier bag.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  12. #12
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    Well said, I would only add that a bears ability to smell is 7x greater than the best dogs...
    For a good overview with some hard info vs anecdotal wives tales:
    https://sectionhiker.com/bears_sense_of_smell/

    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    1) Personal anecdotes make for great stories, BUT they are pretty useless for responsible decision making. For instance, I've spent most of my life drinking untreated water in the back country, I grew up sleeping with my food to keep it away from predators, I have slept within sight of bears in the Olympic National Forest and within smell of bears in Denali National Park. I once heard a large animal sniffing outside my tent in the Three Sisters Wilderness in Oregon, but was too scared or tired to stick my head out and see what it was.

    I've never been ill from a water born disease (that I know of) in 55 years of drinking untreated back-country water.

    The only animal problems I've had concerning food was rodents in a few places and a raccoon once when I had food in my vestibule instead of under my head.

    But please, don't be stupid and regularly drink untreated water when treating water is so easy and getting sick is such a significant downer. AND, please don't head into bear country and sleep with your food because, yeah, the chance of a problem is maybe 1 in 1000 - 1/10th of 1%, but, it is still real and you don't wont to be that one in 1000 person, and again, the cost of safer alternatives is very, very low compared to the cost of that 0.1% encounter.

    2) Ziploc bags are absolutely NOT odor proof. And I don't think most animals choose what to chew through based on appearance. I have always kept my food in ziploc freezer bags (i.e. the thicker and more odor proof ones). I have never had a rodent chew through a bag or backpack that wasn't containing food exactly where the chewing occurred.

    3) Finally, from a number of studies with dogs, who apparently don't have as good a sense of smell as bears, I have never seen an example of an odor proof bag that even significantly slowed down the dogs' ability to find the contraban of choice. The most that odor barrier bags can do is reduce the intensity of the odors that escape, so probably reducing (maybe significantly) the size of the area around your food storage that a bear would pick up the odor and care, and that is not a bad thing. . . but, as any well trained scrounge could attest too, it doesn't take a genius bear to know that where there are people, there is food, and once a bear has the temerity to investigate the possibility of food in the vicinity of people, they'll be close enough to smell odors even those originating from inside an odor barrier bag.

  13. #13
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    I use an Ursack major for all my food. Never needed it to protect my food from bears, but mice and squirrels, definitely. Watched a squirrel try to get through the ursack tied to a tree, but it never could concentrate on one spot and kept tugging on different places. It knew the bag held food. Watched it for a good half hour. Very comical.

  14. #14
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    I just use a bear can, it helps me sleep better at night knowing my food is protected from everything, and makes a great stool, drum, ice bucket, etc.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sandy of PA View Post
    I just use a bear can, it helps me sleep better at night knowing my food is protected from everything, and makes a great stool, drum, ice bucket, etc.
    I take it the weight isn’t too bad for you then? How much can your canister hold?

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by biloute View Post
    I take it the weight isn’t too bad for you then? How much can your canister hold?

    About this many beers IMG_1217.PNG
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    About this many beers IMG_1217.PNG
    Is that the BV500?

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    About this many beers IMG_1217.PNG
    you could fit a lot more in there if you get rid of the packaging the beer comes in, and tap the vault like a keg, I don’t think bears have figured how to operate a keg yet...but this I’m not certain of.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by biloute View Post
    Is that the BV500?
    Yes it is, though I can't take credit for the photo, that's from The trail Show Podcast.

    I did buy a BV500 this year and so far have been happy with it
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    I did buy a BV500 this year and so far have been happy with it
    I loved the Bearikade I used while on the JMT. Yea, it's expensive as #3!!, but in addition to being lighter, I loved how easy it was to operate compared.

    The Bearikade was packed up-right in the top of my pack just under the brain. The underside of the brain had a zipper pocket where I kept a coin. At lunch time, I didn't even have to remove the Bearikade from my pack, just simply lift up the brain and open the Bearikade in-place with the coin from the zipper pocket.

    By contrast, the 1st morning out on the JMT, overnight temps had been a little chilly and a lady from the campsite next to mine came over because she needed help getting her BV500 open (you've got to be able to bend the lid a little to get past the tabs... and the plastic is stiffer when the temps are cold).

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