bear bag cord

[map man]

I've been practicing hanging a bear bag and I'm doing great except for one thing: actually pulling on the cord to hoist the bag up into the air. When the weight of the bag goes much over ten pounds the cord really cuts into my hands. I'm anticipating needing occasionally to carry a weeks worth of food on some hikes, so just lightening the load in the bag won't be possible sometimes. The cord I'm using is a fairly new ultralight product from backpackinglight.com and it's advertised to be not so thin as to damage the bark on trees, but it sure is playing havoc with the skin on my hands. My fleece glove liners and waterproof mitten shells don't work because the cord slides right through them. With so much synthetic material I'm carrying in my backpack I don't have a single thing that's grippy to put between my hands and cord. Anyone else have this problem? Anyone have any ideas?

[hikerjohnd]

Maybe tie a loop in the end of the cord for pulling?

[Skidsteer]

Wrap it around a stout stick or branch and hoist away.

[Vi+]

“(P)ulling on the cord to hoist the (bear) bag up into the air ... cuts into my hands. ... I don't have a single thing that's grippy to put between my hands and cord.”

If the cord is so thin you cannot hold onto it, it may be described as being “slippery.” Wind several turns of the cord about your hand, which you would do if you were securing a boat at a dock, then pull the cord, or simply walk away from the limb pulling the cord over the limb, raising the bag.

I bought Triptease (Kelty) when it came out but became dissatisfied. You can buy "throwing line" at stores which supply tree workers. It's typically light weight, flexible and durable.

[LostInSpace]

“I bought Triptease (Kelty) when it came out but became dissatisfied. You can buy "throwing line" at stores which supply tree workers. It's typically light weight, flexible and durable.

See this post. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12569

This is what I use.

[Fiddler]

If you use hiking poles use one of them to push up with one hand while you pull down with the other. You can get the food bag 11-12 feet off the ground fairly easy with this method. Of course you will hold the spike end and use the handle end to push the bag up.

[LostInSpace]

A hiking partner helps speed up the process. Of course you have to keep them out of the "bag", the sleeping one that is, or keep them from getting "bagged" until you have completed the hanging. Margaritas don't help! That's my dilemma. My hiking partner ... she loves to "hit the sheets" while "I" ready everything for the night. But when she helps, it makes quick work of the whole process.

[Tinker]

If you use hiking poles use one of them to push up with one hand while you pull down with the other. You can get the food bag 11-12 feet off the ground fairly easy with this method. Of course you will hold the spike end and use the handle end to push the bag up.

That's what I do. I use the Spectra from BPL Light, too. I've recently started using their "PCT" method for hanging the bag. Works great.

Earlier this year on the AT in Georgia, my food bag was so heavy leaving Amicalola that I did a combination of wrapping the rope around a stout section of branch and pulling while pushing the bag up with my trekking pole (I used the pointed end without incident).

[Vi+]

Contact an arborist supply store. Tell them your problem. If they think they have something for you, go there. The specifications you seek aren't readily apparent on-line.

There are lines which aren’t treated to reduce friction, which are not kevlar, have very little stretch, and are light in weight. These lines aren’t painful to handle, are durable, and the ends are easy to heat seal.

They offered triptease line, in several hundred foot lengths (without much discount for quantity), kevlar line, an almost plastic line, and another line. The line I bought is similar in appearance to standard kernmantle accessory line, although it isn’t. It doesn’t twist readily, and appears to be fairly snag resistant. It’s only 120 pounds test strength which should be sufficient to drag a resisting food bag over a limb.

[LostInSpace]

If you don't want to spend the money on some Spectra arborist throw line, then go to a boating supply store and get some 1/8" braided polyester line. It is often sold in 50' hanks or about $0.10 a foot. It has a breaking strength of 530# and stretches only 3% under a load of 15% of its breaking strength ... so its not going to stretch the way nylon line does. Braided line will slide over a limb more easily than 3-strand line. You could get some 3/16" braided polyester for about $0.12 a foot, and it will be easier to handle, but it will also be a little heavier.

[The Snowman]

You can try using a cord reel and insted of pulling on the cord you just keep wraping the cord round and round. The ones from fishing shopes work best mostly sold as crab lines.

[RumpusParable]

I find that when the bag gets to the difficutly heavy point like that that doing a basic pulley arrangement works well. I carry a simple metal hoop (can get at lots of activity and pet stores) and use whatever extra line or better yet a snapping-strap I have to loop around a nearby tree and through the hoop. Then, run the end of the bear-bag line through the hoop and pull like normal. The hoop works as a pulley to reduce the amount of force needed. Makes it much easier for me to lift and my hands are happier.