How long of a rope and what type/kind do you carry for bear bagging?
_Fa·ce·tious_Bear Bagging Question?
system
#2
After trying this and that, ultralight, etc, my favorite rope is a plastic-y cheap $5, 50 foot "rope" from Walmart. You can get them in a selection of colors in the "tie crap down in your garage" section.
It’s probably 1/4" thick, doesn’t mildew (unlike the nicer bear lines I’ve used), doesn’t tangle, and doesn’t cut into trees. Love it.
_Mrs Joy_
system
#3
After trying this and that, ultralight, etc, my favorite rope is a plastic-y cheap $5, 50 foot "rope" from Walmart. You can get them in a selection of colors in the "tie crap down in your garage" section.
It’s probably 1/4" thick, doesn’t mildew (unlike the nicer bear lines I’ve used), doesn’t tangle, and doesn’t cut into trees. Love it.
_Mrs Joy_
system
#4
You'd be lucky to see a bear on the AT. Not that you want to "feed" them. You may have to worry about mice more than bears as you're guaranteed to see mice. Mice bag.
_Marti /Swannee_
system
#5
If you're thru hiking, you'll see a bear somewhere. Miss Janet just had her bear bag taken Mar 31st in GA on Slaughter Mt. She slept with her food, didn't say what she had in the bags. Looks like she did everything right, not sure how the bear got it down. Sounds like maybe the bear just tugged on the line long enough and broke the carbiner. I'm thinking if you use the PCT method, get a better carbiner than the cheap key chain type.
_Bear Bag Hanger_
system
#6
Just make sure your rope is synthetic since other materials will rot. Para cord works fine even if it seems a bit thin, and a 50' length should be plenty even with PCT hang. We used a Nite-Ize S-biner for a modified PCT hang (the "PVC hang"), and that worked really well. We ran into trouble with fully loaded bear bags being hard to haul up on the para cord because it actually cut into one of the trees, so a larger rope would probably avoid that.
_Ani_
system
#7
I have always used 50ft of parachute cord as it is light and very strong. It has also come in handy to replace a broken shoe lace, temporarily repair a broken pack frame and a hiking pole, and finally to add additional tie downs for my free standing tent on some "non-traditional" set-ups.
I have also noticed that with a heavy pack load it will bite into the tree limb. But all things considered I think it is a very good choice. I bought a spool of it from The Sportsman’s Guide about 10 years ago and have been able to replace the rope every year or two plus give a lot away and still have half the roll left.
_Big B_