I kinda agree BearBait. I’ve never hung my food except in a shelter. I never stay in them anymore. I tent and always keep the food in it. Never a problem in 17 years.
Wolf
Hanging food - Appalachian Trail
system
#22
If you have never had a bear incident, then either you have never been in bear country, or have been very lucky.
Talk with the ranger at Lake Coldin in the Adirondacks.
Having said that, bears know where the food is. So, they look for it around the shelters. If you camp away from shelters (like maybe a mile or so), you should not have a problem, even in places like Georgia and New Jersey.
They put bear lines and bear boxes in because there have been numerous problems with bears.
Myself, I look around and I read the shelter journals. If there is a bear problem, it’s usually in the journal, or there is a bear box or a bear line. So, I use it. If a shelter has the mice hanger, then bears usually are not a problem, and I hang there. When camped not near a shelter, then I throw a quick line up over a branch. That keep the critters out. Not that hard to do. I’ve seen bears numerous times. Haven’t had a problem yet.
Peaks
system
#23
I agree with peaks, get real. I’ve been with my sister and we canoed in the back of Algonquin Park. Hang the food most nights but my sister decided one night to keep the cool-aid in the tent with us. This was a 1 week trip and we smelled bad, this being the 4Th night. I was awakened in the middle of the night by sister, she had a raccoons head in her hands through the side of the tent. I had to go out scare it off and remove the cool-aid from the tent. We had no further problems that trip and thank god the raccoon hadn’t bite my sister, rabbies shoots are a **tch!!!
For my planned hike I’m bringing a bear cannister and hanging my stuff cause I’m not getting bitten, killed or mauled, or having problems just to show off or because I think I know it all.
Andrew van Ees