Bear Bags...

[RagingHampster]

What do people here use for Bear Bags?

I'm looking for a durable foodbag with cord & small mesh sack that will hold 12-15lbs of food for 5-6 days. I'd like to get as light as possible.

[Hammock Hanger]

I used a silnylon bag, it was my food bag the whole way. When I did hang it I used the strap across the bottom so that it hung upside down. This way if it rained water would not go inside. HH

[Happy]

I use the same as HH, the Equinox bags have the strap on the bottom and I loop the drawstring back with strap to hand on the cables or my biner/rope. Be sure to seamseal them and take biners if you are staying at shelters as they cables fill fast at the first of hiking season.

[Presto]

I second the silnylon bag.

[Redbeard]

I just use a stuff sack from an old sleeping bag, I keep all my food in ziplocks.

[chris]

Silnylon also.

[Moose2001]

#4 OR Stuff bag. perfect size for about 5 - 7 days of food. Has a haul strap on the bottom that's perfect for hanging the bag upside down in bad weather.

[MOWGLI]

Ditto what Moose said. OR #3 did the trick for my food, #4 for my sleeping bag.

[RagingHampster]

I was considering making a sil-nylon bear-bag, but I was worried that it would not hold up with 15 pounds of weight in it swinging in the wind. I was looking at the Gregory Bear Bag with 40ft of nylon rope and mesh stone bag, but it weighs 8.8oz, kinda heavy on my scales. I'm not too worried about my bag contents getting damp, as everything will be in waterproof packages/ziplocks...

[MOWGLI]

Originally posted by RagingHampster
I was considering making a sil-nylon bear-bag, but I was worried that it would not hold up with 15 pounds of weight in it swinging in the wind....

RH: You're a light-weight hiker guy aren't you? I can't imagine a scenario where you would ever need to carry 15# of food on the Appalachian Trail. Perhaps only the 100 mile wilderness on a Sobo hike. There are far too many resupply points along the AT to have to carry that much food. Just my .02. I carried about 7-8# of food on average leaving town. 10# was about the most ever.

Of course, you might have a Raging Metabolism....

[Blue Jay]

I am not a golite guy and I always carry too much food because I like to eat a lot and not just the food you can buy along the trail. I sometimes carry 20 lbs. of food because I can eat 5 lbs in one day, no problem. Eating like a pig and losing weight is one of the reasons I'm out there. I use a dry bag, the kind kayakers use. I believe, not only does it keep my precious food dry in a monsoon, but it also holds in the smell better than all you other hiker's bags. Twice my bag was hung worse (lower. closer to the tree) than another bag that got eaten. As the old joke goes "I don't have to run faster than the bear, I only have to run faster than you".

[RagingHampster]

I eat 2-2.5lbs food/day. I'm 6'1 230lbs, I need my steak & potatoes. This means 6 days of food weighs 12-15lbs. 90% of the time, I will carry 5 days of food. This means 10-12.5lbs. I therefore need something strong enough to hold my grub. Having sewn some sil-nylon sacks for my sleepingbag, clothes, and misc gear, I don't trust the 1.1oz material to holding 12.5lbs of food in the air swinging around. Even with an 8oz bearbag, and 1.5lb camera, I would still be just under 14lbs for a dry packweight. With food, water, and fuel, I plan to carry 28-30lbs on my first day, leaning out to 16lbs or so on day 5.

That said, I'm looking at my lightest-weight options which provide a bulldog integrity. The Gregory bag is my default choice if I can't find anything. I also considered making one, but I'd like to see whats on the market first.

[Dirtyoldman]

I use an ursack but Im kinda weird.....

[Presto]

I assure you that sil-nylon will hold up just fine, even if you do carry 20# in it and hang it on a windy night. We used ours for the entire thru-hike and had food for 2 in it and the bag never suffered from the weight in the bag. Sil-nylon is a very resilient material.

[Haiku]

I plan on getting an Ursack for when I hike on the John Muir Trail this summer, but for the AT I'd be happy with a silnylon sack. Even if I have too much food for one sack, I'll be carrying more than one - one for food, one for sleeping bag - so I could split it between two bags. By the next day I'll just have eaten anything that would strain the bags, so I could go back to one bag.

Haiku.

[Footslogger]

Another ..."same as Moose" vote here. Those OR hydroseals are great for just about everything. I use the #4 for food and #3's for clothes and sleeping bags.

[Jumpstart]

Like HH, we used the Equinox Silnylon bags. They held up the entire trip with no problems at all, usually carried about 4-5 days worth of food for two people.

[Peaks]

For those that haven't figured it out yet, typical backpacking food works out to about 2 pounds per day. That's based roughly on 4000 calories per day, and 100 to 110 calories per ounce. So, if you go 7 days between resupply, you are carrying 14 plus pounds of food. And depending on your stamina and resupply schedule, you will might be 7 days between resupply. I know I was sometimes.

[Blue Jay]

4000 calories per day??? I'd look like a concentration camp survivor in a week instead of the usual month. You must be a little guy. I do 7 or 8000 and weight still falls off me.

[Kerosene]

I have used the Ursack the past few years, weighing in at only 5 ounces. While I'm not entirely convinced that a bear couldn't gnaw through it given enough time, it does keep the mice out. While the fabric and construction will certainly carry 15+ pounds, the dimensions may be the limiting factor for you (about the size of a medium sleeping bag stuff sack).