Question for Ursack Users

[Jeff Gerke]

I’m thinking about getting a Ursack. Have any of you had a bear try to get into your Ursack?  How bad was your food pulverized if not using the aluminum liner?  I really do not want to carry the aluminum liner around but am afraid my food would be destroyed inside the bag if I don’t have one.  How many of you use the aluminum liner with the Ursack? Seems like it would be almost as bulky as a bear can with the liner.

[bjc]

I do have the aluminum liner. I have used the Ursack, but have never used the liner so can’t help you there.  I probably have 2000 miles on the bag and have never had any incidents with bears or mini bears. It is bulky if you put in the liner but still half the weight of a bear vault.

[Jenny A]

I purchased the aluminum liner with my Ursack but have never used the liner.  Never had an issue with a bear, either, so can’t directly answer your question.  I do know that in the user guidelines they tell you to tie the Ursack to a branch as opposed to a tree trunk.  That way a bear can use the Ursack as a punching bag but would be less likely to apply its full body weight and pulverize everything in the bag.

[Jo P.]

I got an Ursack for $22 at an REI garage sale and I’ve been using it on my last few trips (no aluminum liner but with an OPsack). Nothing touched it, but I’m not sure how meaningful that is. I haven’t taken it into serious bear country yet, and what I’ve been reading around the web from people who have doesn’t make me that optimistic… there have been many breaches of Ursacks in the sierras, for instance, with everything inside consumed. We’re planning to do the Four-Pass Loop in August with Ursacks, but I feel like I probably should be bringing canisters.

If you don’t camp in areas where bears are used to getting food, you might be fine… but in those cases you might also be fine just putting food in an OPsack and putting it in the crook of a tree.

[Dave Heiss]

I’ve been using Ursacks for quite a few years (an Allwhite the last 4-5 years WITH the aluminum liner because I think its easier to pack/unpack it when the sides are fixed) and I’ve never had a bear yank on it. I use the OPsack vapor liner and I usually tie the Ursack 4-5′ up on a tree near my camp, or sometimes on a branch, and in the morning it’s always been there just as I left it.

My hiking is predominantly in the North Cascades and Olympics, and I know bears are around but (knock on wood) they have yet to try getting into my food.

[Gary Dunckel]

Jo P – are you certain that an Ursack is allowed on the 4-pass loop? RMNP ONLY allows canisters.

[Jenny A]

Jo P, Gary is correct:  hard-sided bear canisters required for Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, including Four Pass Loop.  Instituted 2 years ago.  That area and RMNP are so far the only ones in CO that require canisters, tho I suppose there will only be more in the future.

[Dondo .]

I checked with the Aspen Ranger District several weeks ago.  They are going with the recommendations of the IGBC task force which allows the Ursack. The ranger said that the Ursack is effective if used correctly.

[Gary Dunckel]

Thanks for that info, Dondo. I was thinking like Jenny. But the caveat is that one must use the new, or the retro-fitted version, of the Ursack to be fully compliant. That’s why I like the Indian Peaks, and YNP & Glacier NP – don’t need no stinkin’ canisters or Ursacks.

[Jenny A]

Dondo, that update is helpful, good to know.

I think the Ursack has more room for human error and that is one reason some entities are reluctant to approve it.  (On a side note, last week I noticed that the lid on my BearVault had not been completely screwed down after dinner; I only thought it was.  So there’s room for error with the hard-sided canisters, too, apparently.)

[Dondo .]

Good point, Gary.  I should have mentioned that the S29.3 AllWhite (IGBC cert. no. 3738)  is approved and not older versions.

Jenny, that’s also what I’ve heard.  Another ranger I ran into out there told me that the failures he’s heard of were due to human error.

For anyone thinking of using the S29,  here’s a video showing the right way to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQxPY8mD7l8

 

[Nick Gatel]

I have an older Ursack, light yellow. Never had an incident because I use it where it is unlikely to have a bear encounter (campsite location). When required I use a canister. Usually, when solo, where nothing is required I sleep with my food without a canister, hang, or Ursack. With a group I tend to bring the Ursack. Follow the rules because they are there for a reason and pick your campsites carefully and you should be fine.

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