I received my Ursack from Amazon the other day and several questions/thoughts came to mind.
Will there be a run on the bear resistant containers and will they be hard to find and or more expensive? I ordered mine in Jan. for those reasons.
Do people who use the Ursack put it in a waterproof pack or bag? How do you carry it while portaging?
I bought the Ursack rather than a hard sided container because I felt it would fit my needs better as a solo. What about larger groups? What style and size would you get for say a party of 5 going out for 6 days? (thinking about a trip later this year)
Cost! I hated to part with over $100.00 for the Ursack I don't want to think how much it will cost outfitters or those who have their own gear to purchase enough inventory of bear resistant containers of any style or how much it will increase the overall price tag of a BWCA trip.
How pissed I will be if they rescind the order.

We've used Ursacks since 2001. We put our food in a OpSak inside the Ursack. If you aren't familiar with the OpSaks, they are basically very odor containing, waterproof, ziplocks. They used to come with the Ursacks but maybe the new company doesn't do that. Personally, I would use that or some other very odor resistant bag with any food storage container. And they are way more odor resistant than ziplocks.

There is no need for any other waterproofing. We carry ours inside a waterproof backpack with kitchen and miscellaneous gear. But that is just because we use waterproof backpacks. At night they are tied to trees and the opening is so small that we haven't noticed significant moisture inside, even after torrential rains.

For larger groups and longer times, we use multiple Ursacks that we bought over the years. It may be pricey but I really, truly hate hanging packs in trees.

I usually go with an Ursack and a BV500 bear vault. When portaging they're both inside my portage pack; when I get to a campsite the Ursack gets tied off to a tree and the bearvault gets hucked back into the woods. I don't have an OpSak but do have a few gallon ziplocks inside, including/eventually the doubled-up ziplocks for trash scraps.

I do recommend practicing knotting the Ursack, because it's easy to cinch it and knot it but still have a small opening and a persistent chipmunk or squirrel can work at it. There's a lot of good videos on YouTube of people demonstrating it - I know I absolutely benefited from that.

And I too hate hanging packs in trees, both because I suck at it and because I'll end up using the same tree that everyone else at the site uses and just add more wear and tear to it.

In my younger days I sometimes paddled in treeless or nearly so areas. Bear barrels where required by the governing authority and as a result I have several garcia barrels. Since I have them I have used them in bwca for years. I find 1 barrel/person holds about a week's worth of food. If I had to replace them I would look at the ursack. I will say I have a friend who found a bear chewing on his ursack and while it didn't get to the food it was crushed up.

I slide a clear plastic box (commercial name avoided) into my Ursack. The lid snaps on and while not waterproof it does a pretty good job. I have carried fresh eggs packed in bags of dried food with no breakage.

I also put my food in an OPSack (also waterproof) inside the Ursack, which just goes in my pack with everything else. The Ursack does not absorb much water and the amount that gets inside while hanging in tree is nil.

andym: "We've used Ursacks since 2001. We put our food in a OpSak inside the Ursack. If you aren't familiar with the OpSaks, they are basically very odor containing, waterproof, ziplocks. They used to come with the Ursacks but maybe the new company doesn't do that. Personally, I would use that or some other very odor resistant bag with any food storage container. And they are way more odor resistant than ziplocks.


There is no need for any other waterproofing. We carry ours inside a waterproof backpack with kitchen and miscellaneous gear. But that is just because we use waterproof backpacks. At night they are tied to trees and the opening is so small that we haven't noticed significant moisture inside, even after torrential rains.

For larger groups and longer times, we use multiple Ursacks that we bought over the years. It may be pricey but I really, truly hate hanging packs in trees."

+1 for opsaks. How many ursacks you actually need really depends on the menu. If you are taking homemade dehydrated meals, oatmeal, and shore lunch mix...you can stuff them with enough food for a long time. If you bring in fresh foods, liquids, and more complex meals, they can fill up fast.

My ursack has a very strong velcro closer and a knot so I've never had a problem with water or persistent critters. We carry ours in our backpacks with everything else.

I use an Ursack on solo trips as well. I make my own meals and vacuum pack most of them. I also line the Ursack with an OpSak to decrease odors. However, I am not happy with the longevity of the OpSaks so this year I am trying out large mylar bags instead.

You don't need to put the Ursack in a waterproof bag. It repels water quite well.

We do take an extra Opsak with us. We've also been meaning to try some other odor proof bags. I've been looking at some that are green, twist close and lock with a plastic clamp. But I can't find a link right now.

I'm with you merlyn. I purchased one (Allmeity) $$$ but decided to go for it. It will be my first trip with it. Hope it goes well for both of us. It's just 2 of us on this years trip so I figure if packed correctly the Allmeity should hold everything we need.

Looks like the largest Ursack is just 30l (and $130) …If they made a 60l, I’d maybe consider it to use as a sort of liner for my (new) blue barrel, then I’d be legal and still have a container that stands up nicely on its own and be easier to retrieve stuff.

HowardSprague: "Looks like the largest Ursack is just 30l (and $130) …If they made a 60l, I’d maybe consider it to use as a sort of liner for my (new) blue barrel, then I’d be legal and still have a container that stands up nicely on its own and be easier to retrieve stuff."

That is one thing I like about the blue barrels - they stand up on their own. I have 4 flat round bags that stack fit perfectly in the barrel, and they are each a different color. It would be great if ursack made different color bags. And an easy way to carry them.

Having bought Ursacks over the years we do have a few different colors. It is handy. For ones of the same color we use colored wire ties to tell them apart. Shrink wrap tubing on the rope ends could also work. My wife keeps a good inventory in her journal and when we want something can tell us it is in “green-yellow.”

I do wish the new ones weren’t black for both absorbing heat and finding them back in the woods. We have some white ones and those we numbered with a sharpie.

Carrying is easy. The ropes can be used as handles.

If I was doing a larger group, I would plan my trip to avoid blowdown and fire areas. Then I could use a 60L blue barrel and plan to hang it.

merlyn: "
How pissed I will be if they rescind the order.
"

In 2020 there was a run on bearvaults…but they seemed to be in stock in 2021 and and now. There are still supply issues but it doesn’t seem as bad for most outdoor products.

I don’t think the order will be rescinded. There were too many issues the last few years with bears. I stocked up on bear vaults.

I think the order is ridiculous…although glad to see they modified it to include the Garcia bags, which originally were excluded. Most people will choose to hang as it is the least costly alternative…I’ve been tripping a long time and have NEVER seen a properly hung bag in the BWCA. I’ve seen a lot of bear piñata’s. I am sure many of you can post a pic of a perfect one but you are not the norm and I guarantee you have also had situations where hanging perfectly didn’t work.

The blue barrels were a cheap high volume method that reduced smells better than the bear vaults, Garcia bags, hanging…thus reducing a bear visit to begin with. For newbies it was a great alternative…now they are going to be hanging them like a piñata’s…hope I am wrong. The blue barrels are what some of these guides use in polar bear country, not to keep bears out but to not attract them in the first place. Anyway doesn’t matter to me I converted over, just saying not sure this order was thought out fully.

T

merlyn: "
I bought the Ursack rather than a hard sided container because I felt it would fit my needs better as a solo. What about larger groups? What style and size would you get for say a party of 5 going out for 6 days? (thinking about a trip later this year)
Cost! I hated to part with over $100.00 for the Ursack I don't want to think how much it will cost outfitters or those who have their own gear to purchase enough inventory of bear resistant containers of any style or how much it will increase the overall price tag of a BWCA trip.
How pissed I will be if they rescind the order.
"

I don't own an Ursack so this is just a post about bear barrels.

I use one BV500 plus one BV450 for about a week of food for my wife and me. It's always a tight squeeze to fit everything in. We store particularly aromatic food (for example, brought dehydrated jambalaya one year) in OpSacks. We bring additional empty OpSacks to store garbage. We don't bring, nor is there space for, the prepackaged deyhydrated backpacking meals you can purchase at outdoors stores like REI.

We transport both barrels in a single portage pack. We use Granite Gear portage packs double-lined with the big plastic portage pack liners. At camp we remove the barrels from the pack and put the barrels in the woods away from the kitchen and tent area. Rain won't enter the barrels if they're out in the woods, but the exterior of the barrels gets wet.

One way that bear barrels defeat bears is because the barrels are slippery and difficult for the bear to get a grip on to drag/carry away. Any time you store a barrel in a pack while at camp you make it easier for a bear to carry off your food. I would never assume any lashing could secure a pack to a tree at ground level well enough to prevent a bear from taking that pack. This goes for Ursacks too - they need to be hung.

Our annual trip to the BWCA is the biggest vacation my wife and I go on during the year. When it comes to cost we spare no expense and didn't bat an eye at the cost of Bear Vaults once we were satisfied by the positive reviews for these items online. If you want a way to try out an item without purchasing it, one option is to rent it from your outfitter for a trip before deciding whether or not to purchase.

boonie: "I also put my food in an OPSack (also waterproof) inside the Ursack, which just goes in my pack with everything else. The Ursack does not absorb much water and the amount that gets inside while hanging in tree is nil."

This is what I do and all you really need