Bear bag hanging rope suitable for pack hauling?

[Chris Jackson]

My bear-bag rope serves double duty for pack-hauling on short sections of semi-technical terrain (3rd/4th class). Are either of the BPL bear ropes suitable for this?

The pack can get pretty heavy on a 2 week trip, and I'm wondering whether the BPL ropes are strong enough or thick enough for pack-hauling. My defunct rope is 0.15 diameter nylon and eventually weakened from abrasion.

[Stephen Eggleston]

I am no expert at pack hauling but I think the main limitation of the bearbagging ropes available on this site would be abrasion resistance because of their small diameter and tendency to 'saw' against things. Their diameter and 'slipperyness' can make knot tying and tightening difficult but a fixed caribiner can remedy that. The breaking strength of the AirCore Pro URSA is 1400 lb.

Check out this info: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/aircore_pro_ursa_bear_bag_hanging_rope.html

And this: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/aircore_pro_ursalite_bear_bag_hanging_cord.html

[Chris Jackson]

Stephen, the small diameter is a concern. As you say, thinner ropes tend to abrade much faster than thicker ropes. On the other hand, these bear-ropes are designed to slide over tree branches rather than cutting into them, so perhaps the slipperiness will reduce abrasion? Still, I'd like to hear of actual users experience pack-hauling with these ropes before shelling out the $'s. Spectra is a lot pricier than nylon!

[Rick Dreher]

I'd be very cautious about using thin, slick line for hauling, as it's very hard to hold and murder on the hands. The caveats about abrasion damage apply as well.

[Chris Jackson]

Rick, that's a good point. Even 0.15 inch nylon is hard on the hands, and thin spectra would be much more so.

To protect my hands, I've worn work gloves and also tied hand-loops every couple of feet along the rope. For heavy packs that's still not sufficient, so I sometimes carry two loops of webbing to use as hand grips and hitch them to successive loops on the rope. That's a much lighter setup than carrying a thicker rope.

I've been impressed with the abrasion resistance of the spectra core in 5.5 mm Blue Water Titan cord, but that's a lot thicker than the BPL cords and also not suitable for bear-bagging. 50 feet of Titan cord would weigh around 9 oz.

[Joe Kuster]

Have you looked into a thin webbing? I believe kit builder sites have it. It's incredibly strong, easy on branches, fairly light and easier on the hands than thin rope.

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