If you were thinking about purchasing an Ursack because of the latest Forest Service food storage order, I just received an email from Ursack informing me of a 25% sale starting today 5/14 through 5/21. I went to ursack.com to check it out. The sale is not advertised there, but if you put an item into a cart, the price in the cart is automatically reduced by 25%.

I have no connection, commercial or otherwise, to the company.

Wow, checked that out, totally legit! If I didn't already have 2 I would scoop another one. $108 for a Major 2XL is a great deal.

Very much appreciated the heads up!

Thanks! Was already thinking I'll need a 2xl now for when the family goes along.

So with the Ursack, Im not familiar with them. But you would still be expected to hang it at night and when away from camp correct? I also assume you would put it into a portaging pack for portages.

It doesnt seal in odor correct? It just makes it so the bear cant rip the pack open and eat your and teach it bad habits?

We use the under the canoe at night with paddles on them as an alarm system. My buddies and I have never had a bear issue in over 60 combined trips.

We always take food packs with us while on day trips or away from camp, for instance, after dinner evening fishing.

MarshallPrime: "So with the Ursack, Im not familiar with them. But you would still be expected to hang it at night and when away from camp correct? I also assume you would put it into a portaging pack for portages.


It doesnt seal in odor correct? It just makes it so the bear cant rip the pack open and eat your and teach it bad habits?


We use the under the canoe at night with paddles on them as an alarm system. My buddies and I have never had a bear issue in over 60 combined trips.


We always take food packs with us while on day trips or away from camp, for instance, after dinner evening fishing.


"

I believe the recommended usage of an Ursack is to tie it to a tree, it doesn't need to be hung.

Ursack've%20closed%20the,through%20limbs%20to%20get%20food.

The Ursacks by themselves don't seal in odors nor are they waterproof. The company recommends sealing food in an OPSak inside the Ursack to minimize odors. I do that and put all individual food items in freezer bags before I put them in an OPSak.

As timatkn wrote, the Ursack company recommends tying the bag to a tree so that it cannot be carried off by a bear, a raccoon, etc.. You close the bag with a double overhand knot and tie it to a tree with a figure 8 knot. I use a different knot to secure the bag: The Perfect Ursack Knot. This is very easy to do.

You carry the Ursacks just as you would everything else, i.e. in a pack. You tie them to trees at night or whenever you are not using them.

I have the Allmitey 10L, but would appreciate the extra capacity of the 20L or 30L 2XL Major. Has anyone had trouble with “critters” such as mice and raccoons defeating these bags?

I am looking at going this route as well, if in doubt does a guy just buy a size bigger than what you think you need? Any drawbacks to getting one too big? I go one trips from 1 person to 6. Was thinking 2 2xl would cover all?

Am I the only guy that thinks paying $100 for a cloth sack is sort of a rip?
And I am I the only guy that thinks you can make your own bag buy buying a yard of UHMWP fabric and sewing your own bag?

This whole bear proof rule thingy is really weird.
Tom

tumblehome: "Am I the only guy that thinks paying $100 for a cloth sack is sort of a rip?
And I am I the only guy that thinks you can make your own bag buy buying a yard of UHMWP fabric and sewing your own bag?


This whole bear proof rule thingy is really weird.
Tom"

You're not wrong, but then it would not be considered a certified container and thus would need to be hung, defeating the purpose of getting a Ursack. I'm with you though.

Proper UHMWP Fabric isn't exactly cheap however.

Ok, so, if you put your food in a Ursack, then in another pack, then tie it to a tree, then the bear (that has never gotten my food while under the canoe in 19 trips) will then either rip open the pack I have it in, destroying it....or if it isnt in a pack and it rains my food is perhaps ruined (or at least soaked since it is mostly in plastic bags)or if there bear tries to get it while tied to the tree, smashes all the food inside.

What am I missing here?

If you use an Ursack, you are supposed to tie the Ursack to a tree. Putting the Ursack in a portage pack and then tying that pack to a tree defeats the purpose of the Ursack. Using the method I described above, my food has remained dry. If you are worried about a bear crushing the food, the Ursack is not for you. You should look at hard sided cannisters or hang the food.

MarshallPrime: "Ok, so, if you put your food in a Ursack, then in another pack, then tie it to a tree, then the bear (that has never gotten my food while under the canoe in 19 trips) will then either rip open the pack I have it in, destroying it....or if it isnt in a pack and it rains my food is perhaps ruined (or at least soaked since it is mostly in plastic bags)or if there bear tries to get it while tied to the tree, smashes all the food inside.


What am I missing here?"

Well you are trying to make sense of the new regs. That’s what you are missing!

In all seriousness as you stated the Ursack prevents the bear getting your food and becoming habituated. It probably won’t save your food. And it keeps you from getting a fine doing what you used to do.

Although initially the fine will be $50 and 1 Ursack is over $100…

T

I’ve used Ursacks for 20+ years.

If your food is in an OPsak it won’t get wet in the rain while tied to a tree. Our food is also vacuum sealed. But the opening on the Ursack is so small when it is cinched closed that almost no water gets in the bag anyway. And we’ve had some really hard rains. Food getting wet is just not an issue.

Don’t put it in another pack and tie that pack to a tree. The Ursack includes a cord that cinches it shut and ties to the tree. That cord is designed to not be chewed through.

There is no big problem with having one too large and not filling it for trips with fewer people. We prefer multiple smaller Ursacks for two reasons. One is organization. My wife keeps a list of what food is in which Ursack and we don’t need to dig through a big bag for things. Second, we spread the Ursacks out around camp so that a bear is less likely to get them all. Also, the big ones are a newer thing and didn’t exist when we were buying ours. But I’m happy with our plan.

Never had a problem with any sort of rodent getting into our bags. And we’ve been at sites with lots of mice and squirrels.

I have to admit using an Ursak and tying food to a tree sounds a lot better than the fight to get the packs even more than 6 feet overhead. We've always put most our food in 2 Igloo coolers and a couple of bread keepers mostly to keep the rodents out since I never thought being up off the ground would really keep the mice out. I guess if we got 2 or 3 Ursaks or equivalent to put those in it would work. Expensive, but better than trying to get a rope over a 15 foot tree branch and it would save some weight in bear ropes and pulleys. The coolers seem pretty odor resistant on their own and tough to break into but probably not good enough on their own. I thought about getting Ursaks in the past, but I didn't feel like it was worth it without the extra incentive of the new rules.

I wonder if the new rules will incentivize other companies to get into the business of making similar items and bring down the price, also there will be secondary resale markets that they will show up on.

Ausable - thanks for heads up. Saved me quit a bit.
Thanks.

tumblehome: "Am I the only guy that thinks paying $100 for a cloth sack is sort of a rip?
And I am I the only guy that thinks you can make your own bag buy buying a yard of UHMWP fabric and sewing your own bag?
This whole bear proof rule thingy is really weird.
Tom"

That was my first thought upon getting mine, $150 for a glorified drawstring bag…& they don’t even have grommets at the holes where the cord goes through, just raw cloth…
Unfortunately, I don’t think one can make their own unless they have it tested following construction, which likely costs more than buying one that is pre-approved.

JohnGalt: "

tumblehome: "Am I the only guy that thinks paying $100 for a cloth sack is sort of a rip?
And I am I the only guy that thinks you can make your own bag buy buying a yard of UHMWP fabric and sewing your own bag?
This whole bear proof rule thingy is really weird.
Tom"

That was my first thought upon getting mine, $150 for a glorified drawstring bag…& they don’t even have grommets at the holes where the cord goes through, just raw cloth…
Unfortunately, I don’t think one can make their own unless they have it tested following construction, which likely costs more than buying one that is pre-approved."

Yeah, when you buy an Ursack you are also paying for the testing and development they did, along with American manufacturing. At some point there will be competition and the price will come down.

MarshallPrime: "Ok, so, if you put your food in a Ursack, then in another pack, then tie it to a tree, then the bear (that has never gotten my food while under the canoe in 19 trips) will then either rip open the pack I have it in, destroying it....or if it isnt in a pack and it rains my food is perhaps ruined (or at least soaked since it is mostly in plastic bags)or if there bear tries to get it while tied to the tree, smashes all the food inside.

What am I missing here?"

I've used two Ursacks for the past couple of years, sometimes in conjunction with a Bearvaullt and/or blue barrel. Aside from typically sealing my food items in their own bag, I the put the food inside the recommended Opsaks, the put the Opsak inside another supposedly scent-proof plastic bag that keeps the rain out. (Note: I doubt anything is really scent proof - but some plastics do a much better job than others). The goal is to keep the scent to the lowest possible level, and that goes for keeping the Ursack itself very clean.

Tying to a tree is recommended, and I think they even recommend tying to branch and letting it hang free vs tying next to the trunk so a bear has less potential for leverage to crush stuff. It does make me wonder why a person could not tie it to the seat or thwart of their canoe and turn it over if they wanted too. A bear might just flip the canoe and could potentially damage the seat/thwart, or grab it and try to drag the whole boat - but that would she be an effective alarm! Doubt they would get to far.

As mentioned it is possible (not necessarily probable though) that a bear may crush some or all of the food. You would definitely want to check for any punctures to make sure there is no bear saliva, but some foods can also take a bit of crushing without much consequence. Certain foods are really not suited for Ursacks, which where designed with lightweight through-hikers in mind. Do NOT put your fresh eggs or a plastic bottle of fish oil or maple syrup in there - not only will you lose them but the bear will be rewarded as they drip out. This is why I also sometimes use a Bearvault of the things I don[t want squished, or you could also just hang those small hand full of items.

One more thing for anyone that's interested in Ursack volume - I have I think a 10 and a 30 liter, and when I got them neither looked like they could hold that much. I was especially doubtful of the 30, which did not look any where near as big as my blue barrel.

FWIW, I tested both carefully, lining with a plastic bag and carefully began adding Nalgene after Nalgene filled to the 1.0 liter mark, and both bags were spot on accurate.

Thanks for the heads up, Ausable. Took advantage of the sale.