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  1. #1
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    Default bears bags and bear safety

    sorry I'm sure this has been beaten to death, but I still need to ask about bear safety.
    What about wild hogs?
    How far away from the tent do you need to go to pour out the pee bottle.
    Does pee attract varmits?
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

  2. #2
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    Wild hogs are no real threat. They run away. It's rare to see them along the AT. They will only come after you if it thinks it's cornered. Most of the stories about people getting chomped on involve a hunter and a wounded pig. Human urine smells like "human" to wild animals. It won't attract anything. How far away to put it is more of a sanitation thing. I always laugh when I see a tent 20 feet behind a shelter. Setting up a tent in a spot that has been a urinal for 50 years. Lucky thing that hikers smell bad anyway.

  3. #3
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
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    I usually hang my food bag, using the PCT Method. Sometimes I sleep with my food in my tent. Depends on how I feel and where I am camping. But hanging one's food on the AT is almost never a bad idea.

    Other bear safety: if you see a bear on the trail, 99% of the time the bear will run away. Most of the bears I've seen went about 25 yards then stopped and watched me pass. No biggie, though it does get the heart rate up a bit

    Wild hogs: not a problem.

    Pee bottle: only in the coldest weather. Otherwise I just get up and go pee in the middle of the night. Not right next to the tent, especially if tenting in a popular area. Pour out the pee bottle in the same place you would pee.... Pee does attract animals -- I watched a deer eat the grass I peed on out in front of my tent one night. Interesting.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  4. #4

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    A poor hang is worse than no hang when it comes to food.
    Some pee around their tent intentionally because its more human scent to discourage a bear. I dont know if there is a right or wrong. Technically, probably should pee on rocks, because animals will eat items that are peed on for the salt, this can kill trees, plants, and damage any manmade wooden structures.

    No pee bottle. Just get up if have too.

  5. #5
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    Sleep with food. Pee around tent before sleep. Use pee bottle.

    Agree w MW on peeing on rocks. Had a porcupine dig next to my tent in MA this summer. Peed on rocks after that.
    Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChinMusic View Post
    Sleep with food. Pee around tent before sleep. Use pee bottle.

    Agree w MW on peeing on rocks. Had a porcupine dig next to my tent in MA this summer. Peed on rocks after that.
    yeah, but try and find a rock that doesn't look too comfortable -- cause I like to sometimes sit and rest on a rock, if it looks comfortable enough...(but after this, I think I may adjust my thinking!)

  7. #7
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    yeah, but try and find a rock that doesn't look too comfortable -- cause I like to sometimes sit and rest on a rock, if it looks comfortable enough...(but after this, I think I may adjust my thinking!)
    I worry more about blueberries next to the trail..........
    Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChinMusic View Post
    I worry more about blueberries next to the trail..........
    oh, man! Now you really ARE ruinin my day!!! I remember eatin those blackberries off the sides of mountains, back in the old days (70s), when my buddy and me used to ride our bikes on weekend trips from Atlanta up into the Smokies... Now I'm wonderin -- but, I'm guessing the mountain sides were probably safe from hiker pee!!!

  9. #9
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    speaking of bear bags, I've been checking the web re. this PCT system, and found it looks like a few companies actually sell everything you need for that -- the food bag, rock bag, rope, caribener, etc. Do any of you have a recommendation on any of these? I saw a review on one of them that said as soon as the guy threw the rock bag over the tree, the bag tore up...So, I don't want that one!

    Also, I think I read that you have to have a cannister in some places (i.e. Smokies). Is that true? If so, I guess most folks probably just use a cannister where it's required and then mail it home afterwards? Probably don't want to carry that extra weight the whole way if you don't have to....Thoughts?

  10. #10

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    When my daughter was making dinner one night, I told here to wash the lettuce.
    She said "what for"

    I said " you know they bring in "migrant" mexican workers to pick those, right? Do you think they come in out of the fields whenever they have to pee?

    She washes everything now.

  11. #11
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    Thanks for the point of camping far enough from the urinal.
    Yes I do pee in my garden,

  12. #12
    Springer to Elk Park, NC/Andover to Katahdin
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    Also, I think I read that you have to have a cannister in some places (i.e. Smokies). Is that true? If so, I guess most folks probably just use a cannister where it's required and then mail it home afterwards? Probably don't want to carry that extra weight the whole way if you don't have to....Thoughts?
    Canisters are not required in the Smokies. The only place on the AT where one is required is within a five mile section of GA just before Neels Gap. And then only during the Spring and only if camping in that section. Most just hike on through this section before camping.
    I am not young enough to know everything.

  13. #13
    Springer to Elk Park, NC/Andover to Katahdin
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    Urine is sterile.
    I am not young enough to know everything.

  14. #14
    Registered User Sandy of PA's Avatar
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    I always carry my bear can, it is very effective for mice and other critters too!

  15. #15
    Registered User ChinMusic's Avatar
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    If you choose not to sleep with your food a canister is a reasonable option.

    1. You KNOW your food will be safe.
    2. You will not be "that guy" that poorly hangs his food, losing it, and contributing to the death of a bear.
    3. You will save time in camp by not having to find that perfect tree and make the perfect throw.
    4. Gives you something to sit on for breaks/camp.
    5. Not as much of a weight penalty as you may think when you subtract rope, bag, etc.
    Fear ridges that are depicted as flat lines on a profile map.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChinMusic View Post
    If you choose not to sleep with your food a canister is a reasonable option.

    1. You KNOW your food will be safe.
    2. You will not be "that guy" that poorly hangs his food, losing it, and contributing to the death of a bear.
    3. You will save time in camp by not having to find that perfect tree and make the perfect throw.
    4. Gives you something to sit on for breaks/camp.
    5. Not as much of a weight penalty as you may think when you subtract rope, bag, etc.
    Well wait a second. Just because you put it in a canister, you still want to hang it, right? Cause I hear these things are NOT "smell-proof", so the bears still know there's food in them, and they'll go after them, won't they? If you don't have to hang the canister, then what do you do with it -- just put it outside your tent somewhere?

  17. #17
    Registered User ChuckT's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SouthMark View Post
    Urine is sterile.
    I have heard this. I don't wish to believe it.

    Cvt
    Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    Well wait a second. Just because you put it in a canister, you still want to hang it, right? Cause I hear these things are NOT "smell-proof", so the bears still know there's food in them, and they'll go after them, won't they? If you don't have to hang the canister, then what do you do with it -- just put it outside your tent somewhere?
    Afaik bear canisters are not designed to be hung. When you hang them a bear can grab/bite/paw it.
    Because they can't get a hold of them on the ground, they will leave it alone eventually.

    Here is a link with more informations.
    http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/30876.html

    Don't leave it near a cliff or pond too though.. Probably just stick it in the middle of a bush.
    If you want your food around and on the ground, then you could also use an "ursack" and tie it to a tree.

    I will use a drybag for my thru - and hang it PCT style

  19. #19
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    Bear Gryll drinks his pee. That's good enough for me.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    Well wait a second. Just because you put it in a canister, you still want to hang it, right? Cause I hear these things are NOT "smell-proof", so the bears still know there's food in them, and they'll go after them, won't they? If you don't have to hang the canister, then what do you do with it -- just put it outside your tent somewhere?
    You don't hang canisters, just leave them on the ground at least 50-100 yards from your camp in a place where it cannot roll down a hill or into a lake. Bears in the Sierra Nevada don't even bother investigating when they see the canister. I suspect that bears who never or rarely see canisters are more likely to investigate and make a futile attempt to break in but this has never happened to me the few times I've used a canister on the AT. I'm going to give sleeping with food a shot soon since I'm eager to ditch the canister where not needed and I'm not that confident in my hanging abilities.
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