Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Why not just hang food?
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AmarilloJim |
Savage Voyageur: "Kind of hard to find the correct trees to property hang a food pack, especially in a blow down area. If you have a group size of eight that’s a lot of food to hang. We now just put food in barrels around the woods. Five gallon pails with screw on lids called gamma seal lids. Never have had a problem with these. "I do the same. I like to put mine under some cedar trees and place upside down with pine needles around the edge. Don't know if it really helps mask scent but it makes me feel better. The rubber gaskets get compressed if you leave them screwed tight at home. |
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heavylunch |
I have used bear barrels before too but mostly just for 1-2 day backcountry trips. On the other hand, with 6-8 people in a crew, we never had trouble raising even the heaviest of bags. Most of those trips were 10 days. I think one of my next purchases might be that URSACK though :-). |
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Savage Voyageur |
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Basser8239 |
What are your thoughts? |
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mastertangler |
Basser8239: "What do you guys think about 5 gallon buckets? I'm heading up to the BW in a few weeks. Was planning on putting my food in 5 gal buckets (2 if needed) with lids that have o-rings. Going to hang them, but after reading through this thread, I am thinking that I don't have too. I have several 5 gallon buckets designated for tripping in the Everglades complete with screw on lids. Mostly to thwart the ever present raccoons which want your food and water. I actually like 5 gallon buckets but if you are of a shorter variety of person they may have a tendency to bang against your knees on portages. Probably not so much with taller folk. Certainly they are not bear proof but would foil your most likely nemesis of mice and chipmunks. My advice is to give them a go and see how you like it. There is nothing quite like actual experience to see if it's your style. I certainly trip differently than most folks and am quite happy with how I roll. So give it a go, evaluate the experience and adjust accordingly. If you are concerned about bear pilfering your food it is an uncommon event but it does and can happen. Some folks take zero precautions and have been fine for decades. Others, myself included, have been not so lucky. Just remember a bears world is its nose. If it doesn't smell your food, it's not interested (unless it has learned that certain trees contain food). I would probably make sure my food is odor free and just stash my buckets. But I would likely get some camo tape and make them invisible. A bright orange or white bucket might arouse some curiosity. But make sure you can find your stashed buckets. I strongly suggest a runners wrist band placed in the tree above your chosen site. Just Velcro back on the handle of the bucket when not in use. Nothing more aggravating than trying to find your food in the predawn darkness.......been there. |
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MisterKrabs |
Nobody here is trying to convince you to stop hanging, just pointing out some personal opinion and experiences. Keep hanging till it no longer works for you, lots of ways to store foodstuff in the bush. butthead" Ha! I think I was trying to convince myself! |
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HighnDry |
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TomT |
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MisterKrabs |
HighnDry: "This is one of our most cherished traditions: the hang it vs. stash it debate!" I couldn't have asked for a better initiation. Maybe next I'll ask, "should I carry a gun to BWCA?" :) |
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yellowcanoe |
Sometimes use them but not for portage trips. Hanging seems to be verboten in some National Parks now. I am not sure if that is because bear lockers are more effective and have been installed. |
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Banksiana |
I don't like the rigidity of the Bear Vault. Will switch to Ursack if my system fails. |
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Merganser |
Most of my food is dehydrated or packaged stuff like cliff bars so I can work with the volume constraint that a canister adds. Canisters are also rodent proof which is more likely to be a problem and always protect your food from vermin even in camp, as long as you get in the habit of putting the lid back on. BTW two of the large BearVaults fit perfect, stacked sideways, in a CCS RuckSack. |
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mgraber |
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MN_Lindsey |
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billconner |
mastertangler: " I use two pulleys - a double and a single for a 3:1 advantage - and hang my CCS Deluxe pack. I posted five pics of five hangs in a thread a year or two ago. One was iffy in terms of the 5 and 10, now 6 and 12 iirc, but it was on a small island. There is no place in BWCA or the Q that I could not get out from without starving if this ever fails, so not investing in new gear yet. Besides, I'd need probably 5 or 6 of the major XL match capacity of the CCS pack. |
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Mad_Angler |
I also found it very hard to find good trees. Most often, the trees available will just slow a bear down. He'd still eventually get the food. So, I don't hang food any more. Now, I bring my food in kitty litter buckets. That solves the mouse/chipmunk problems. I stash the buckets in several locations around camp. Hopefully, the bear wouldn't find all the food. |
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MisterKrabs |
Is it that hanging food is a pain in the neck? (sometimes it is) Or am I just hanging the dinner bell out? |
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sedges |
The other, more current issue is the large area with no good hanging trees after the 1999 blow down. Bear resistant containers is the only option there. |
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MisterKrabs |
I'll be sure to talk about that with my outfitter for my trip this fall. |
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butthead |
In my case a Ursak will hold more food than I consume in 10 days and offers many placement options. Everyone's needs vary. butthead |
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SevenofNine |
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billconner |
But, not discussed recently, food fence. Heavy and probably not much protection from mini-bears, but one more option. Perhaps where there are no trees and no place to stash or hang. |
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GraniteCliffs |
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mschi772 |
The two-rope method where you hang from a rope strung between two trees is one way of artificially creating the ideal distances required, but there have been bears that have figured-out how to defeat this method, it's still a chore to execute, and it is still screams "FOOD!" to local bears when they see it. I tell people all the time lately: You're not protecting your food from the bear so much as you're protecting the bear from your food. A bear getting rewarded just ONCE instantly makes that bear more dangerous to all future campers which will put future campers AND that bear in riskier and riskier situations. At the end of that path is a bullet for that bear, and if no humans get hurt on that bear's journey to self-destruction, we are all lucky. Ursacks, Garcias, Bearvaults, Bearikades... Used correctly, they're unlikely to be found, and if they are, the bear will not get the food. It will learn that human stuff is stupid and unrewarding instead of being taught to raid campsites. Blue barrels are not bear-proof, but they do control scents well, are more bear resistant than a bag, and work very well (if not better) when stashed low instead of hung. P.S. Hung food bags are still always vulnerable to "mini-bears" like squirrels, mice, and chipmunks. Another down-side to the food bag. Mic drop? I'm going to be switching to a combination of barrel and Ursack. The barrel is the main event, but the Ursack will always contain at least enough food to feed us on the way out of the wilderness in the unlikely event the barrel and/or its contents are completely lost. |
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mastertangler |
I also like the canister as it starts or "anchors" my pack when it's time to break camp. The canister is like it was custom made to take up 1/2 of the bottom of my pack. Throw my sleeping bag on the other side and suddenly my Pro Pack can stand upright for easy loading. Banda-bing......."no hassles" (the MT creed) |
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Blatz |
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thlipsis29 |
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bhouse46 |
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butthead |
MisterKrabs: "nctry: "The whole hanging thing is the most rediculous thing people still do in the BWCA. I know a guy who's hanging (kit) takes up a whole pack itself. " I used that system in the past, kept needing to replace vermin holed bags, even when hung up they get to the bags. This is the reason I went to a Ursak. My food consists of air/freeze dried ingredients in twist tie baggies, then all into an Opsack. Many consider this smell proof, I do not. Spent enough time in the bush to realize many critters chew on anything they find. Nobody here is trying to convince you to stop hanging, just pointing out some personal opinion and experiences. Keep hanging till it no longer works for you, lots of ways to store foodstuff in the bush. butthead |
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nctry |
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MisterKrabs |
nctry: "The whole hanging thing is the most rediculous thing people still do in the BWCA. I know a guy who's hanging (kit) takes up a whole pack itself. " Mine weighs about 5 ounces with 1.75mm dyneema cord and looks like the setup below. It's been very effective backpacking in the blue ridge and smokies, areas with very healthy black bear populations, including nuisance bears that show up every year on the AT. I don't think anyone's convinced me yet that for solo or a small group, with dehydrated food and experience hanging that the cost and weight of alternatives are worth the convenience of not hanging. Maybe I just don't want to be convinced, but then again, maybe not. I think I'm waiting for an anecdote of a good hang failing to thwart a bear. |
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mastertangler |
MisterKrabs: "nctry: "The whole hanging thing is the most rediculous thing people still do in the BWCA. I know a guy who's hanging (kit) takes up a whole pack itself. " Dehydrated food is the least vulnerable as it is for all intents and purposes odor free. I would never bother to hang dehydrated food. The tiny cord is not practical for most canoe trippers as they tend to bring food of a more robust nature.......added volume and weight. The thin cord would be very difficult to handle. The slickest set up that I had seen was a double pulley and 2 weeks worth of food went high rather effortlessly. A bit of a learning curve and proper storage of the lines are paramount but I had to admit it was a slick set up. |
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carmike |
Easier for me + better for protecting my food + better for the bears = Winner! |
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TomT |
Banksiana: "I don't like the rigidity of the Bear Vault. Will switch to Ursack if my system fails." I love to use the vault as a table when I eat. I never would have pegged you for a hanger especially because you liked to single portage. With an ursack you can lose some ropes and a pully. The simplicity of hiding food is what really appeals to me. I never have to worry about finding that perfect branch to then toss a rope over. You might enjoy the old school ritual of it all? |
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TrailZen |
TZ |
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bwcadan |
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GearJunkie |
And this last trip.... no where in any camp was there a limb that gave you four feet of clearance from the trunk. Saw my friends hanging off 2 foot branches and all I could think was “you know bears climb trees right?” |
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HighnDry |
MisterKrabs: "HighnDry: "This is one of our most cherished traditions: the hang it vs. stash it debate!" hahaha! The list is long but here's a few more (in no particular order): 1. single vs. double portage 2. fresh vs. dehydrated food 3. rod holder vs no rod holder 4. burn vs bury tp 5. layin' "dibbs" on a site to check another 6. fire vs stove to cook 7. braid vs monofilament..... etc. etc. etc. Have fun -- you've taken your first steps into a whole new world :) |
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bwcasolo |
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