Bear Ropes Redux

[Lawrence Froehlich]

I am an advisor to a crew going to Philmont mid-June. First trip there for me. I have been coordinating our weekly practice hikes and weekend trips to get everyone ready. Through the course of this process, we have settled on much of the gear that we are carrying, but still have an open question on bear ropes.

The Philmont-providedbear ropes at 2.5 lbs for a 100 feet seem awfully heavy. What are the options out there that people have used to lighten up the load? I have seen a lot of discussion on Amsteel ropes, but are they still allowed at Philmont? Also, I don't want to get into to much cost for the group.

Any thoughts / help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Creamer]

We took Amsteel last year and we're not allowed to use it. They had never heard of it (
Which really surprised me) and were concerned about strength. Also, and this is a legitimate concern, they were not happy with the diameter of rope based on the ability to hoist it/not enough surface area to get a good grip.
Just carry their ropes. I didn't like it, but overall it wasn't a big deal. They did let us carry Amsteel for the oops bag which saved significant weight. We also made bear bags from Tyvek (works great) but we're not allowed to take them. Oh well. Still had a blast.
Good luck..

[M B]

I recall their ropes weighing about 1.5 or 1.75 lbs each.
Not a big deal really weight wise.

We did not take an oops rope. We carried an amsteel as a backup in case our main rope got tangled. For a crew of 8, even with 5 days food, raising and lowering the bearbags was not a big deal, and was best left to only 2 larger scouts at a time to do. More just got in the way and made it more difficult.

With a bigger crew, it might be necessary.

But, an lighter cord will always suffice for an oops rope. You dont need a heavy rope for that. They may use a backup as an excuse, but they bring new ropes to people that tangle theirs up on the cable anyway.

We saw a few others with amsteel oops ropes.

[Bruce Kolkebeck]

Better yet, get a Valle Vidal itinerary. Very few staff camps and LNT bag hanging. Only cable we had was at Ponil on the way home. We even used the PCT method. We left that 1/2 rope in the locker.

BK
Advisor 00, 03,07,10,13

[Lawrence Froehlich]

Thanks for the input. Looks like the Philmont Ropes are not as heavy as I thought. I do like the idea of a lighter rope for the Oops bag.

Joe Fro

[Michael Kiernan]

Sadly, Philmont pretty much forces you to use their ridiculous ropes. They get waterlogged and become VERY heavy. First time there in 2006, we declined their ropes and used 550 cord w/o any problem. In 2011 they refused to allow this and we had to lug their heavy, cotton-based 1/4 inch stuff. Weighed a ton. Their reasoning for refusing 550 cord is that "it doesn't hold up well over the Summer". That might be true if using the same line for many crews over an entire season but has no validity for a crew using their own for a single trek. Just more "our way or the highway" Philmont-speak.

What they should be doing is allow crews to bring their own 550 cordage or put up permanent cable-based bear bagging systems or issue bear-resistant cannisters. I expect they will get to one of those eventually.

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