I hope that this doesn't sound stupid but on the trips that I have organized we have never hung the food packs.  We stash them as Cliff Jacobson suggests, however we are considering hanging them this year.  The first two trips that I went on the group hung the packs but my uncle's took care of the hanging.  I would appreciate any suggestions and techniques for hanging packs.  Thanks in advance!

Thanks,
Firechief

Hi Firechief,

Go to the "site map" menu at the top of this page.  This takes you an index, locate "Virtual trip area", where you can next select "trip 2 (hang pack)".  This is a fine piece of work on making a hanging food pack rig.  I plan on making one.

- YB

FireChief & Yellowbird,

While I'm sure there will be plenty of folks wanting to cover this topic again (just watch), consider doing a "Search" of both the New & Old Forums.  Keywords might be "Food Pack" or "Bear Proofing", etc..  Another way at getting to the vast amount of commentary on this subject would be to search the contents of either the General Discussion Forum OR, perhaps, the Strictly Gear Forum for related materials.  

I know for a fact there was at least one thread entitled "Food Packs" where a fair amount of this discussion was carried on.  It was either there or on some other related thread where I got fairly well-blistered for my former practice of shoving my Food Pack under the canoe (versus "hanging" versus "random placement in the woods" versus "guard dogs" versus substituting "live chicken sacrifices" versus who knows what else).  Anyway, I recommend dredging up one of those old threads & resurrecting it for discussion this year.  Seems we gotta fight this one out at least once a year.  This is as good a time as any to do it!!

Jimbo

See   (You need to Login or Register

Rig up some bent branch snares, and hang the bears! instead.

The problem with the 'stashing the pack' approach is 1. I don't trust it 2. Mice ARE a big problem and can easily chew through a pack to get at the oatmeal 3. Hanging packs is actually a lot of fun.  

I use the horizontal rope, two pulley approach described elsewhere on this site.  Tip - I toss a drilled baseball with light parachute cord to thread the hanging rope over the branch.  Easier and safer than trying to tie a rock to a cord.

wrote on Apr 21^st, 2004 at 2:04pm:

Tip - I toss a drilled baseball with light parachute cord to thread the hanging rope over the branch.  Easier and safer than trying to tie a rock to a cord.

I prefer a drilled hockey puck (and parachute cord) <gr>.

-aj

I prefer a drilled hockey puck (and parachute cord)

Probably a regional thing ;-).

The baseball bonus is that we get to play catch in camp if the kids get bored.  Might even play stickball.

Hey Beemer,

I agree with your point about "stashing" the pack & rodents.  It can be especially bad when the rodent reproduction cycle peaks out in late Summer.   On the other hand, hanging doesn't necessarily keep the rodents out.  They're pretty resourceful little beggars & climb rope easily.  Many-a-time I've lowered the pack, opened it up, & have had to shoo out the nasty little critters.  

It was db who put me onto my current "improved" arrangement with the "Rubbermaid Box"-up-in-the-tree approach.  That bad boy sure slows the little suckers down a good bit!  

Interestingly enough, however, there have been NEW developments.  I could swear that a raven or some other beak-endowed flying critter has tried to hack its way in a time or two.

Gigantor mosquitoes??

Jimbo

Jimbo -

Yes I understand the rodent problem - if you think late summer is bad, try October when they are trying to eat enough to burst.

I'm surprised they don't swim out and try and attack the canoe as you approach the shore.

In the fall, I use the BWJ Hard Pack sold by many, and this stops 'em cold, very similar to the Rubbermaid solution.

Beemer,

I can't recall being out there in October but I can say from first-hand experience that they SEEMED to be mostly gone by mid-November (it was a late freeze that year).  Still, I'm sure you're absolutely right.  

I was up on Cirrus at the tail-end of September a couple years back & the little devils were completely brazen.  I'd be about to dip my spoon into my oatmeal bowl sitting on rock beside the campfire &, instead, I'd end up tossing it at the gooped-up furry head that was poking around & staring back at me!!  Voles, I think.  You could find bunches of them just by pulling off a few of the campfire rocks.  They were everywhere!!  

Rumor has it that Phantom Jug uses live voles routinely as Northern Pike bait...just as I was sorely tempted to.  Being duly mindful & respectful of Park regulations re: use of live bait, of course, I'd never do THAT.

No, no... rather I'd just hook up some of the dead ones that I happened to find next to my campfire after each meal....

Jimbo  

wrote on Apr 21^st, 2004 at 2:04pm:

Hanging packs is actually a lot of fun.

I agree, each campsite presents a new engineering challenge.
And, 

wrote on Apr 21^st, 2004 at 2:04pm:

I toss a drilled baseball with light parachute cord to thread the hanging rope over the branch.  Easier and safer than trying to tie a rock to a cord.

I use a pitching wedge and drilled golf ball.

Ok, I saw the rubbermaid thing in the pics on this site....but I don't get it!  How do you get straps on the thing to carry it, and WHERE would you get shoulder/hip straps to do that??

Also, does anyone know what the biggest barrel type of thing is? I have seen those, and they have straps on them already....I'm sure they are quite spendy though.  

Ok, put the rubbermaid box in a large plastic pack liner. Roll up the top. You can get these from camping stores or from outfitters. Put it all in a Tripper pack made by Camp Trails. Cinch all of the straps tight, and voila an odor proof food box. I've done it this way for years, rodents or not, nothing has ever bothered the box using this system. And I don't have to waste a good hockey puck either. I've never hung a food pack.(bear pinata)  I have had bears checking the trees looking for it however. The straps are on the Camp trails pack.

Recently used a 14 gallon rubbermaid tote inside a #4 cruiser pack and it was a good fit. It held food for 4 people for 7 days. When I realized how heavy 14 gallons of food was I was happy to be using a well made durable pack. Also there is room to slide a few items along the sides of the rubbermaid but inside the pack (fire grill, fry pan etc.)
Squirrels were a problem whenever the pack was on the ground but did not bother it when it was hung.

wrote on Jul 20^th, 2004 at 8:25pm:

How do you get straps on the thing to carry it, and WHERE would you get shoulder/hip straps to do that?

With power tools and a little imagination, you can make up a pack board suitable for carrying the totes.  Since I've got more time than money, this is the route I went this year.  Cut a piece of 1/4" plywood to fit the side of the tote.  Cut slots in the plywood large enough to run through 1" nylon strap (goes laterally around front of tote) and to run seat belts (vertically for pack straps). Buckle is left on seat belt to cinch around your waist.  A cushion cut to size makes it comfortable.
-YB

Get a bear barrel, I have the blue one & we just leave it out in camp. I usually will wedge it against a tree or between some rocks, just to keep a critter from rolling it into the lake.

I will never hang a pack again  :D

WW

wrote on Jul 20^th, 2004 at 8:25pm:

Ok, I saw the rubbermaid thing in the pics on this site....but I don't get it!  How do you get straps on the thing to carry it, and WHERE would you get shoulder/hip straps to do that??

I straped mine on to a metal backpack frame this year.  Worked pretty good but I'll never bring it again! (So much room made me bring way to much food)

You may be able to use   (You need to Login or Register instead of a pack board.

wrote on Jul 21^st, 2004 at 4:25pm:

You may be able to use   (You need to Login or Register instead of a pack board.

Anyone try this? I'm afraid a Rubbermaid wouldn't fit. It seems to be a few inches too big. Looks great though.

It will fit into a Duluth but I didn't like that solution much. My rigged straps are much more comfortable than a Duluth. I added straps and a padded belt for around $25. They do get tangled while moving the pack around in camp on group trips though. They are pretty worn these days too.

I wish that Paragon Pack were a bit bigger.

I use a better grade of Rubber-Maid box than db with my Wenzel Load Hauler  [SEE     (You need to Login or Register   ].  Yes, it costs a few bucks more than some of the other solutions but it has serviced us well over our last three trips.  BWYoungster made a good point, though...such a system DOES encourage you to take MORE food.  Anyhow, IF you DO like to "eat well", this system works well.   ;D

As far as the "hanging" part goes, well... I DID invest in the BWJ Bear Rope system last Winter.  While it does include high quality rope & really good pulleys, etc., I'd have to say that I could have gone to the local hardware store & walked away with an equivalent system for about half the price.  Even then, in actual practice this year, we probably only hanged our bags about half the time.  We ended up reverting to "old habits" & stashing the food packs (yes, PLURAL, for 5 of us) under the canoes during the other nights.  We also used the "random placement in the woods" technique.  Just lazy, partly.  Also - towards the end of our 8 days AND just when the packs were getting light, unfortunately - we figured a poor, starved bear would be welcomed to what little was left (about 6 long rolls of Summer Sausage; the sausage was NOT a big hit with this year's crew   :P).

Also, LAST SEPTEMBER db & Tripper dazzled me with their virtuoso displays of  hanging their food packs.  Somehow this year I could never make my BWJ bear rope system work (OR look) quite as good as THEIR systems worked (& looked).  Thus, the pack-hanging "inferiority complex" that has ensued has probably contributed to my reversion to bad habits from my sorry canoe-camping past.  :-[

Jimbo   8)

PS.  I'll be packing my Wenzel Load Hauler to Bushwhacker's Jamboree next June.  I figure I may need it to haul out Stumpy if he breaks a leg or something.   ;)

Looks good, Jimbo. I could take the wheels off an appliance cart for half the money! ;D :P ;) ;)

wrote on Apr 20^th, 2004 at 11:37pm:

I got fairly well-blistered for my former practice of shoving my Food Pack under the canoe (versus "hanging" versus "random placement in the woods" versus "guard dogs" versus substituting "live chicken sacrifices" versus who knows what else). Jimbo

"former practice"? Former? ???  Next thing I'll read is you don't tether the canoe either! :-)

I hate to say this but part of Jimbo's bad habits must have rubbed off. This Spring, Tripper and I were shameful. Our first attempt came crashing down when a carabiner failed. We hung on Keats too but campsites after that, um, I guess you could say we got lazy. In our defense, the later campsites were little used, had no game trails...  We actually saw one more bear than humans the last half of the trip and come to think of it, even that bear sighting didn't motivate us.

I always like these threads. Everyone has a solution that works for them while thinking others do it the hard way or the wrong way if at all.
"... never had a problem in x trips. Works for us."
A bear has never gotten my food either. Even the a time one watched me hang it. He didn't even look at it twice. He was more interested in the rest of my stuff. Why? Because, probably, it was easier. Then again nothing has ever bothered my toothpaste and that's always out and accessible at camp.

The way I've come to understand this issue is that most people, and most bears, are basically lazy creatures of habit. All we really gotta do is be just a little more industrious than any bear we might be lucky enough to see. It's not just protecting our food, it's protecting the food of those that follow - and the bear as well I guess. Every method has it's drawbacks. We all do what's easiest for us.

Is it the hiding, the scattering, the distance from the campsite? How far is far enough? How much effort is each of us willing to expend just to have an extra cocoa when the Northern Lights are out?  It's all a gamble based on individual risk assessment and circumstances. What are the odds? Who knows.

I started bringing the Rubbermaid box to foil the mice. Just so happened that it kept everything dry, organized, easily accessible and cost like $4. Hey, too bad there's not a camo version! (Although I'd bet blue would be tough for a bear at night.)

As long as unlucky people don't hang stuff too close to trees, or sleep with it, I think I'm good.

BTW - On solo trips my food pack is almost always hanging before I do anything else. If I'm not digging in it or sitting on it, it goes back up. I like it best when it's as close to the edge of the rainfly as possible. Walking any unnecessary distance is a pain, and kinda scary in the dark sometimes too. Talking to Yogi and Booboo in or very near 4 different campsites (3 in the dark) over the years will do that to a person. I'd certainly hate to be carrying food around at the time! ;-)

The engineer in me loves to hang food packs. That is as long as someone else is taking care of the other chores. I might skip it if I were alone.