Newbie ? (Air Pad and Pack) in bear country

I camp in Sierra bear country where a cannister is required and I use my pad/pack in the way your describe. I've been told by ranger's a pack under my tarp is not a problem. But those are black bears, not brown or griz.

I've always been told anything with a scent needs to be out of your tent/tarp. Unless you're spilling food on your pack, or spraying it with Febreeze or something, there shouldn't be much of a scent, no more so than the clothes you eat in.

No hard and fast rules.

Anything with food odor should be away from the sleeping area. If the pack is free of food smells, it should be considered fine.

If you gut fish, and use your backpack as a cutting board, and then spill honey all over it, and then wipe the bacon grease of the fry pan with it – – don't sleep on it in Yellowstone.

I always hang my pack HIGH in a tree and my supplies are in a H20 proof silsack also hung high, but, away from the pack. I keep ONLY what I NEED for night time in my bivy or tent and I even use a different tent for summer than my winter Integral Designs MKI-XL as I will sometimes cook just in front of it's door and food odours may permeate it's fabric.

This is pretty much S.O.P. here and when a fair size Grizzly came into our camp on a horse packin hunt in Sept. '07 at about 03:00, there was nothing for him to get and only two armed and POed guys to yell at him to "bleep off, you bleep, we want to sleep!!!" He did, too, although I think the stabbing glare of my LED light helped.

I have a "base camp" of a Kifaru 8-man tipi, with large stove, liner, mossy netting and various horse/plane/boat packable accessories; this makes a VERY comfortable camp for two when on a long wilderness trip. I also have a Hilleberg Saivo tent plus an XP-20 tarp and this goes with it. We cook and eat in the K-tipi and food, etc, NEVER goes near the Saivo, as we sleep in it and I am adding an Electroguard bear fence for the whole camp, this coming year.

This is a pretty serious riggin and not UL, but, for actual living in wilderness and enjoying life between forays into the surrounding country, this is THE way to go and I still hang everything, especially my expensive pack(s) as mice, pikas and Packrats can really damage them, if left on the ground.

I figure, the less odour, the fewer fuzzybutts bugging me at night.

I always sleep with my pack under my feet.

Many, many nights in the sierra nevada with out any problems at all.

thanks, i figured i would smell as much as a pack (assuming no food spills, etc…) just trying to merge ul with the new bear stuff i have read.