On the video:
Looks to me like they had plenty of time to shoo the bears but wanted see the show. That's cool. But why did they stop filming before they walked away? Was it because once they realized that an expensive harness was probably now ruined they decided to shoo them before the non bear proof barrel became wrecked as well? Maybe the cubs got bored and mom went to round 'em up? Just wondering. The hanging job gave them plenty of time for action in any case.


I normally just take my chances on portages. In spring I'd always watch for Ravens. I do like ST's alarm idea though.


Magic- On tossing-  I've used tent poles with great success. One year I had shoulder problems and a borrowed tent that had only two poles. My tent had 4 poles. The borrowed one had two which I found didn't work so I was reduced to tossing underhand, which I can get much higher but with far less accuracy. At one campsite I became so frustrated after a half hour of on and off attempts that I ended up tying two 5' sticks together to poke it over the branch. Worked great!

You don't need a branch. All you really is a nub. The trunk is what you want to use to hold the weight. My preference is the ~1/2 - 1 sticks leftover after the rest of the branch has dried up and fallen off. They often seem to be the right height as well.

I use a bag for tossing.
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