Bear bag?

I like ZPacks’ bear bag hung on Lawson’s reflective bear line. I use a tiny stuff sack as a rock bag that is just large enough to hold the line when everything is packed up.

First time I hung the bag a friend got his line stuck in a tree and I found a heavy branch about 10′ long and helped him unsnag his line. After we were done I placed the end of the branch on the ground, jokingly called “timber” and then realized it was going to fall with the full force of the end of the branch on my brand new bear bag. The bag was full of food and had some air in it and was sealed well with several rolls (inflated like a balloon). Much to my amazement, the bag was not pierced. I even water tested it after I got home. The bag is tough.

My entire kit with 50′ of line, biner, rocksack and bear bag is exactly 100 grams on my scale.

I’ve seen everything from plastic grocery bags and t shirts used as bear bags. Don’t over complicate something this simple. Got a stuff sack right now that is big enough for your food? If so, done.

At the moment, I’m using a S2S eVac roll top bag which works fine, but finding suitable trees with branches that are sturdy 5+ feet away from the tree is often times easier said than done.  More often than not, I end up using a modified/reverse PCT hang so I can pull the food bag away from the tree.  I’m of the belief that I’ve been more lucky than good and it’s a small miracle that I haven’t lost a food bag yet.  For this reason, I’m switching to an Ursack this year.  YTreesMV.

No real need for anything fancy or expensive here.  I’m sure the Zpacks bear bag is great, but I would have a hard time justifying that purchase at $50 just to save 1-2 ounces.  This is what I’m currently using for weekend trips and it weights about 4.5 ounces:

• Food bag is a stuff sack from this 3-pack set.  I like the 4L one for weekend trips and the 8L one for longer trips. The 8L sack adds .5 oz. to overall weight of the system.
• 50 ft of 3/32” paracord
• Mini carabiner
• Plastic mesh garlic bag for rock sack (something like this)

Even if you buy everything new, this whole set shouldn’t cost you more than $25.  Here’s a helpful video.

After my stuff sack wore out from 20+ years of service I picked up a Granite Gear Zippity. Two handles and a zipper so I don’t have to always dump the entire contents on the ground to find something. 8″x7″x13″ and holds about 9-10 days of food for me which covers 90% of my trips.   They make a silnylon version and a heavier Oxford version that is more abrasion resistant for rock hangs, which are the bulk of my campsites.

After watching Joe Brewer’s videos on YouTube I just picked up the OR zippered bag similar to what John has above. Going to give it a trial run this weekend.

If it takes more than 10 minutes to find a suitable branch and complete a hang, the ursack/canister weight is convertible to time savings, more miles, and less stress.

The ursack has been a big time/hassle saver for me. I frequent places with few if any good hanging options.

KT, it was Joe’s videos that got me thinking about something different as well.  I didn’t see the OR bags in my search but will have to check them out.  My wife was eying my GG bag as a makeup, blow dryer, hair stuff travel case.

Ian B said:

More often than not, I end up using a modified/reverse PCT hang so I can pull the food bag away from the tree.

Ditto. Most of the old growth in the north Ga mountains was clear-cut up to about 60-70 years ago, and what was left or tried to re-establish has been devastated by various blights since then. Very rare to find a good branch for hanging.

Whatever hang bag you get I suggest it’s waterproof, nothing more fun than waking up after an overnight storm, you’re all dry and comfy, only to discover your food is water-logged. I thought about the Zpacks bag but ended up with a S2S roll-top ultra sil, weighs only about 4 grams more but one-third to one-quarter of the price.

I’m with you, JR–a waterproof food bag for me now. 2 years ago I decided to teach myself how to make cuben fiber drawstring and roll-top bags, which I insert into an Outsak mesh bag. The roll-tops are completely waterproof, and the drawstring ones can be fortified to be so by covering the top hole somehow. My setups weigh between 3.6 and 4.6 oz., depending on the size–lighter than an Ursack. Rodents can’t seem to bite through 1.43 oz./yd. cuben, nor is it easy for them to get into an Outsak (Valerie’s Grand Canyon raven nothwithstanding). I vacuum-seal most of my meals to reduce odors in bear country, and this also serves to make them waterproof. This all might seem to be vast overkill to some of you, but I am of the school  that detests a critter breaching the food storage setup miles from my truck.