I have read other chains about hanging food/certified bear containers, but was wondering if anyone just ties parachute cord to a rock and throws it over a viable branch? I wasn't able to head in last year, so first time hanging food...

There are a number of earlier threads regarding how to hang food. Congratulations for discovering the "Chuck and Duck" method for getting the rope over a high limb.

I used to use a small double pulley to gain some mechanical advantage with lifting the pack when I hung my food.

Around 15 years ago, I decided to just deal with the consequences of a bear in the campsite, and stopped hanging. All I did was put my food pack underneath my overturned canoe. Worked great, and never had any bear issues. I always have kept my food in Tupperware large plastic containers, which helps keep down odors, but I'm sure a bear could sniff things if they were nearby.

However, the Forest Service demanded last year that bear proof containers or hanging were the only approved methods one could use. So, last year, I bought a giant Ursack (so I would be compliant with USFS regulations and not get a fine), put my food containers in it, stuck it in my food back pack, and stored the pack under the canoe like I had been doing for the last 20 years. The results were the same as before, except my bank account was smaller due to the Ursack purchase.

Tom

Found the "pully system" for $20. All good.

fcrugbyhooker: "Found the "pully system" for $20. All good."

. can you share where you obtained the pulley system?

Here's an option:

bear rope kit

HighnDry: "Here's an option:


bear rope kit "

This kit is useless if you have a heavy pack. Maybe if you’re going for a few days and only freeze-dried food. Used it last year and the rope broke several times. Thank god I had extra rope.

I found it on Amazon. Lots of options

If you want a robust system for hanging full food packs - and it has real pulleys - it is hard to do better than this:
Portage North pulley system
Or you could go to your local hardware store and buy ropes, pulleys, etc.

egknuti: "

HighnDry: "Here's an option:



bear rope kit "

This kit is useless if you have a heavy pack. Maybe if you’re going for a few days and only freeze-dried food. Used it last year and the rope broke several times. Thank god I had extra rope. "

I made my own from sailing pulleys and 3mm climbing rope. I'm sure others have their own systems that they can share as well.

Ausable: "If you want a robust system for hanging full food packs - and it has real pulleys - it is hard to do better than this:
Portage North pulley system
Or you could go to your local hardware store and buy ropes, pulleys, etc."

My Cousin did this system the first year we went. It's the two rope system so you have to do the Chuck-n-Duck twice. But we always found a place to hang. The draw back as that he was an engineer and it weighed 8.5 pounds! Two 100' pieces of 3/8" climbing rope, three carabiners, and two very heavy double pulleys. I'm pretty sure the bear could hang from that rope and not pull it down.
After the second year when we decide to shave weight, he got it down to 3.5 pounds. One carabiner,75 feet of lighter rope, and much smaller pulleys. One single and one double. We need the high capacity because we bring a LOT of fresh food and all the dry stuff. We always end up hanging two packs. Even last year when there were only two of us. One CC insulated pack with the cold stuff and one portage pack with all the dry goods. Including booze, wine , and fresh ground coffee.

“ pack-a-pull” pulley system has 2:1 and 4:1 pulley systems that weigh only a few ounces. We started using it last year and it has made hanging so much easier. Packapull.com.

One modification to chuck and duck I have used for years is to put the rock in a handkerchief/bandanna and then chuck it. If you have a heavy pack you can chuck the paracord then use it to pull up a heavier rope. For a pulley just pick up one from a HW store or I bring the one used to hang the canoe in the winter.

Chuck and Duck rope with pully attached to 1 end(pully rope, purple thinner rope).
Feed Rope through pully with a Carabiner on the end(pack rope, green rope).
Tie tag line rope to pack rope carabiner(tag line rope).
Pull pully rope to desired height and tie off to tree for duration of trip.

To raise pack you just need to a Attach pack rope to pack/container with carabiner. Pull pack rope to raise food container to desired height and tie off to tree. Then to pull the container away from the tree, pull the tag line rope away from the tree and secure it to another tree.

Weight of system will vary based on rope type and pully material/size.

I use a tennis ball for the chuck, cut small slits in it 180 degrees apart. make one slit bigger. Put rope thru bigger slit, push thru smaller slit, tie knot, so won't come back thru. Put small pebbles in bigger slit in ball until you have your perfect throwing weight, aim well, fire.

The ball wont get hung up, just works smoother.

buz: "I use a tennis ball for the chuck, cut small slits in it 180 degrees apart. make one slit bigger. Put rope thru bigger slit, push thru smaller slit, tie knot, so won't come back thru. Put small pebbles in bigger slit in ball until you have your perfect throwing weight, aim well, fire.


The ball wont get hung up, just works smoother."

That's pretty brilliant and the consequences of not ducking in time would certainly be less painful with a tennis ball. I caught my brother in the head with a rock when doing the chuck and duck to hang food while backpacking a number of years ago. He was not amused!

I typically throw carabiners, 3 or 4 of them, instead of a rock. Haven't hit myself with them yet but I hope it would hurt less.

I love the looks of that pack n pull system, surprising it's only 4 ounces. I currently have a setup I made with dyneema and a couple soft attach fly blocks from Harken that has been amazing for me. I use a triple and a double block for 5x? mechanical advantage and it's a bit of overkill in the BWCA but it's sure nice when there's a pinned canoe or a stuck 4 wheeler or a deer that needs to be hung. With 100' of 7/64 Dyneema the total weight is 6.1 ounces and the weakest link is the triple block which should break at around 1100#, assuming my water bowlines make it that far.





Nobody here is talking about protecting the trees. Suppose you camp in the same place for 4 days and take your food down twice each day, that's 16 times that a single rope is going to be sawing into the branch you're using. A larger diameter line is going to do less damage but the majority of us are carrying dyneema or paracord which is going to cut past the bark. With a second static line holding the weight and the majority of the rope travel happening in the pulleys, you're protecting that branch. Good hanging branches near campsites would last a lot longer if everyone used pulleys.

I use a Bear Vault and I have to say I love not having to mess around with hanging my food. Definitely worth the investment!

Regarding the setting of the line, I strongly recommend a throw weight. I bought one of these Notch weights last year. Adding a 14oz weight on top of a canoe and pack is not a burden, but it makes it so much easier to get my lines placed. I can tie and quickly untie with this slipped simple noose knot.

I built myself a three-line setup based on TrailZen's explanation here. I bought two pulleys and three 50-foot sections of 7/64" amsteel rope. I practiced throwing the weight like an arborist based on videos, but ended up falling back to throwing it like a baseball, which worked well.

Unsurprisingly, the thin amsteel rope can be painful if lifting a lot of weight. It's very good at not getting snagged when setting the lines, and it's very light and compact, and of course it doesn't stretch, so it is great for the clothesline part of the setup. For the lifting rope I generally wrapped it around a thick stick to keep the rope from cutting into my hands.

This year I think I'll try a 1/4" rope as the lifting rope, and probably make it longer than 50' because that was too short in one or two of my setups.

After reading all of these replies I have to ask, why does anyone hang their food anymore? Yes, bear resistant containers are a bit of an expense up front, but they should last pretty much forever and they're SO much easier to use than messing around with ropes, pulleys, and whatnot. And even a proper hang is not foolproof, and most hangs are not properly done. It just doesn't make sense to use this antiquated method when there are objectively better alternatives available.

NEIowapaddler: "After reading all of these replies I have to ask, why does anyone hang their food anymore? Yes, bear resistant containers are a bit of an expense up front, but they should last pretty much forever and they're SO much easier to use than messing around with ropes, pulleys, and whatnot. And even a proper hang is not foolproof, and most hangs are not properly done. It just doesn't make sense to use this antiquated method when there are objectively better alternatives available."

Because it is also quite subjective.

People will do what they like, what they know, what they're comfortable with and what gives them the most pleasure from their trip.

One could also ask, "Why still drive a stickshift when a so-much-easier automatic transmission is so available?" or, "Why would anyone use a wood/canvas canoe (or even aluminum) when there are now lighter, durable choices?", or "Why cook over a fire when, simple and efficient stoves can do it much quicker and cleaner?" or even, "Why choose to camp outdoors when you have already paid for a climate-controlled space with a roof over your head, a comfortable bed, indoor plumbing, and no insects?", etc...

bottomtothetap: "

NEIowapaddler: "After reading all of these replies I have to ask, why does anyone hang their food anymore? Yes, bear resistant containers are a bit of an expense up front, but they should last pretty much forever and they're SO much easier to use than messing around with ropes, pulleys, and whatnot. And even a proper hang is not foolproof, and most hangs are not properly done. It just doesn't make sense to use this antiquated method when there are objectively better alternatives available."

Because it is also quite subjective.


People will do what they like, what they know, what they're comfortable with and what gives them the most pleasure from their trip.


One could also ask, "Why still drive a stickshift when a so-much-easier automatic transmission is so available?" or, "Why would anyone use a wood/canvas canoe (or even aluminum) when there are now lighter, durable choices?", or "Why cook over a fire when, simple and efficient stoves can do it much quicker and cleaner?" or even, "Why choose to camp outdoors when you have already paid for a climate-controlled space with a roof over your head, a comfortable bed, indoor plumbing, and no insects?", etc... "

+1 (...and respectfully stated, yet clearly showing the options each of us can choose from when planning our trips)

TZ

I agree with TZ and bottomtothetap.

When I restarted tripping several years ago, we did hanging for one year with some outfitter's gear and I swore I wouldn't do it again. Since then I'd been using a 60L barrel and stashing in the woods far from camp. When the regulation came down last year, I did buy a couple Bear Vaults, and bought one of the new REI collapsable ones this year, but I didn't want to try to pack food for four into these little things, so I also decided to be ready to hang a pack so that we'd have more flexibility and space. Honestly, I liked the idea of one more thing to experiment with, to see if I could do efficiently, to optimize over the next couple trips.

"Why still drive a stickshift when a so-much-easier automatic transmission is so available?" or, "Why would anyone use a wood/canvas canoe (or even aluminum) when there are now lighter, durable choices?", or "Why cook over a fire when, simple and efficient stoves can do it much quicker and cleaner?" or even, "Why choose to camp outdoors when you have already paid for a climate-controlled space with a roof over your head, a comfortable bed, indoor plumbing, and no insects?", etc... "

You make some excellent points. Those all seem like great ways to make one's life unnecessarily difficult ;)

But hey, don't let me stop anyone from doing things the hard way. Whatever makes you happy.

NEIowapaddler: "
You make some excellent points. Those all seem like great ways to make one's life unnecessarily difficult ;)
But hey, don't let me stop anyone from doing things the hard way. Whatever makes you happy. "

? So you spend your vacations in hotel rooms? The rest of us here go camping in the wilderness. It's typically a bit of work but that extra effort makes it all more rewarding.

Which IGBC approved container would you suggest for my Yeti backpack cooler? They don't make one big enough for the whole thing and having 3 smaller containers inside of it is.... unnecessarily difficult

What do people that hang do when they are in an area where there was a burn? My 2023 trip from Insula to Snowbank, about half the trip there were no suitable hanging trees…just brush.

Never go to any of those areas and confine your trip to just certain areas? I mean A LOT of the BWCAW was affected recently…. Or Violate the rules? I did see people hanging on my trip…but mostly bear Piñata’s in the Burn areas. It was quite ridiculous looking really…

T

I just bought a 30L ursack to use basically as a liner for my 30L barrel, to stay compliant with the new regulation. My last trip in 2023 we did have some issue finding branches high enough or have hangs far enough from the trunk.

NEIowapaddler: "You make some excellent points. Those all seem like great ways to make one's life unnecessarily difficult ;)


But hey, don't let me stop anyone from doing things the hard way. Whatever makes you happy. "

Exactly! I wonder if anyone ever considered hanging the bear? Difficult, but is it impossible? Just has to be done to one or two of them creatures and the others will certainly learn probably! (Almost generated by AI)

Z4K: "

NEIowapaddler: "
You make some excellent points. Those all seem like great ways to make one's life unnecessarily difficult ;)
But hey, don't let me stop anyone from doing things the hard way. Whatever makes you happy. "

? So you spend your vacations in hotel rooms? The rest of us here go camping in the wilderness. It's typically a bit of work but that extra effort makes it all more rewarding.


Which IGBC approved container would you suggest for my Yeti backpack cooler? They don't make one big enough for the whole thing and having 3 smaller containers inside of it is.... unnecessarily difficult"

I would say that taking a cooler on a backcountry camping trip is in and of itself unnecessarily difficult, but that's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. Some of y'all are taking my opinions WAY too seriously...

NEIowapaddler: "

Z4K: "

NEIowapaddler: "
. "

"

Some of y'all are taking my opinions WAY too seriously..."

Agree…but Easy to happen when we are all writing each other. If someone has a differing opinion we tend to add our own emotional bias and inflection as we read the message and it changes the intent of the OP. I’ve done it…we’ve probably all done it :)

T