I’m planing my first thru-hike on the AT starting April 1,2012. In fact this is my first attempt at a long distance hike. I’m 68 and feel like I need to do this.
I read a lot on the forums, gleaning information on verious subjects, but have not read about protecting your food. Seem like a 3 lb. Bear Vault is heavy, and hanging your food 100 yards away is a pain. Any help is appericated.
Safari
Many of the shelters, particularly in the south, have cable that you can use to safely hang your food bag. Best to have a waterproof bag. If there are no cables at the shelter, you have to use a tree to hang your bag. Not much else you can do.
Ther are mouse hangers that hikers have rigged up on their own in shelters. These won’t do much for protection from bears.
swamp fox
Just sleep with your food next to you. The mouse protection cables in the shelters are right above you when you sleep. So if something wants your food, your going to wake up first. If your in a tent just sleep with your food in your tent. Nothing is going to bother you. Definetly dont wast the 80 bucks on the bear vault. They are not required anywhere on the AT, plus that extra weight is ridiculous. If you hang your food at a shelter from the cables that are provided, your stuff will get rained on all night alot. Plus in the morning your going to want to eat breakfast while still warm in your sleeping bag. It is much better to reach up above you and grab some from your pack, while your still in your bag, then to leave your tent or the shelter and figure out how to get your food down when its rainy or cold.
People worry to much about bears on the trail. You’ll see plenty of them while hiking, but your not really going to get bothered by them while you sleep.
Guino
Guino is a little too cavelier with his comments here (IMHO). While I agree that a bear vault is too heavy to carry for the risk you are running which is pretty low, for the most part I usually hang my food. I put it in a waterproof sylnylon bag and hang it from a branch when I’m tenting it. If I’m in the shelter I will hang it from the mouse hanger as I do not think that a bear will come into a shelter full of hikers. The exception to this is the smokies and shenendoah where the bears are not afraid of people but both locations provide bear deterent devises. I never leave food in my tent but hang it the best I can. On the AT even if a bear gets your food you are never more then a day from a road where you can resupply or get enough food from the other hikers to get you to a resupply.
Big B
Safari…I was out there this year and know of quite a few accounts of bears taking food off the bear cables that were supplied. The food snatching took prior to the Smokies. While I agree that the Smokies and Shenedoah are noted for food snatching, I feel better knowing that the food is not near me when I sleep. In 2007, I walked away from the fire pit for a sec just to have a bear walk up and take my water bottle that was by my side seconds prior.
I just believe the good ol’ rope hanging from a tree away from any tents and shelters is the best way to go. Plus, it’s always fun watching others trying to get the rope over a tree limb…misadventures in bear bagging. I guarantee you will have laughs with this. Me personally, I’d rather be safe than sorry. And another tip, the “mouse hangers” in the shelters, we made and used on the end of our rope while hanging our bear bags. We’ve had rodents get to our bags hanging from trees.
Stylin
Safari,
My two cents! 1. Use a dry sack for your food bag. It will protect your contents and be sturdy for hanging goods in the elements. It will also work to conceal any food odors. 2. Always wrap food in ziplocs or something like that, again, to help concela odors. 3. Carry 50+ feet of cord and a small sturdy caribiner to be able to hang your own food.
Here is a link to bear hanging techniques (I used the PCT Method) but all will work fine. Choose your favorite:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique.html
Doing these things will allow you to adapt on the trail and be ready for all situations. And you’ll figure it out and know when to hang your food, when to use supplied bear cables and devices, and know you are minimizing the amount of food odors.
I don’t know if Guino is just adding humor for the hikers reading this, but I never ate food in my tent. I definitely recommend taking all precautions to make sure your tent, sleeping bag, clothing, etc do not get food smells absorbed in them. Don’t want to attract any animals at all to your living quarters.
And Stylin is right. Hikers hanging their food is always entertaining … “hiker TV”.
Have a great hike! Adventure of a lifetime!
Mark Allen (aka Bison)
Bison
Not trying to be humorous just saying what I do as well as pretty much every other hiker who I met on the PCT plus what various guidebooks, like Yogis say to do. You can’t really mask smells from bears. Their noses are better then dogs. I ate dinner in my tent nearly every night I stayed in it on AT. It’s a great way to get away from the bugs.
Everything you have with you while hiking stinks like food to animals. You do keep your gear and food together in a pack all day and the odors get on everything. So your tent itself, your clothes and everything else smells like food anyway. On both trails PCT and AT there are a lot of bears. After a while you quit worrying about them.
Guino
i thruhiked the “at” several years ago and slept with my food every night and had no problems…lucky?..maybe…
make time
On the AT I agree with Guino and make time. I live on the AT in VT and am pleased every time I see a bear. If you sleep better hanging a food bag, then hang. There are places to take a bear canister but the AT is overkill.
Marti /Swannee
On the AT, I have always used my food bag as a foot pillow unless it was so cold that my regular pillow with spare cloths becomes depleted…then I use the food bag as a head pillow. Only bear to visit so far was one that wandered over to a stealth campsite just past the restaurant in the park north of Waynesboro, but he ran off when I flashed my red photon® light in his direction. Your fear of bears may originate from a manifestation of the general fear of the unknown. Rest assured, the AT is well marked, with ample company along the way, road crossing are usually never more than a day away if an emergency should happen to arise, trail angles will appear when you least expect them, and the wildlife is shy of hikers/people. What knock most people off the trail are not the bears but carrying too much food and/or gear and travelling too far per day especially in the beginning of the hike. No need to rush a wonderful adventure.:cheers
stealthblew
“I use the food bag as a head pillow.”
Spoken like a true idiot. Lots of people have been injured by bears because of brainless food storage.
Hedry
"“I use the food bag as a head pillow.”
Spoken like a true idiot."
If you wonder why two people who have each spent hundreds of hours in the wilderness could have such diverse opinions, ask yourself where their experience (and therefor, expertise) lies. The best ways to handle food and bears vary GREATLY depending on location and situation, and after my own 4000 miles or so i’ve found it’s wisest to do as the locals do. If it’s an area where thru-hikers know best, do what the thru-hikers do, even if it’s sleeping with your food as a pillow. (Though personally i always put it under my knees…more comfy that way.) If it’s an area where non-thrus spend lots of time, like the Smokeys or Yosemite or whatever, pay attention to the local protocol. Lots of times thru hikers just do the same thing all the time, even though there are certain areas like the Smokeys where they really should change their habits.
When in Rome…
markv
Has anyone tried out the LOKSAK OPSAK (odor proof)? I got a package from REI, but haven’t tried them as yet. Reviews seem pretty good. :tongue
Lady Di
There are lots of black bears where I live in Colorado. Our experience is that once bears grow accustomed to human food, they keep coming back until they become a nuisance. After a couple of interactions they are destroyed by the wildlife experts. A dozen or so are destroyed annually in the county I live in. Almost always their misbehavior is attributed to unsecured food or garbage. (One was destroyed this year after it was caught feasting on a homeless person who most likely died of natural causes.) I am on the side of the bears in this and I always hang my food rather than take a chance on them getting killed because of my indifference or laziness.
We encountered bears in every state along the CDT and always hung our food except in Rocky Mountain National Park where canisters are required. There are permanent hanging cables and assorted other devices in the designated campsites in Yellowstone and Glacier. Some of the trees that the cables are strung between show deep claw marks and scars from bears unsuccessfully trying to get to food.
We usually used a double line hanging method where lines are placed in two trees 15 - 20 feet apart then hoisted in the center to be 10 feet off of the ground and at least 4-5 feet from either tree. This worked great and we never lost food to any animals.
bearcreek
I agree with bearcreek. On my thru hike of the CT this year I hung my food and all smellables. I never had food where I slept(in my hammock) and I always tried not to get food on my clothing. I also allowed the body oder to increase in between town stops. I did not see one bear while hiking the CT.
It’s a shame that we put bears down due to our own laziness and selfish actions. They are just as curious about the smell of food as us humans are.
Pacemaker
Safari - At the few places along the AT where you need bear protection, there are poles provided for hanging your food. At the many places along the AT where you need mice protection (all the shelters and their general vicinity) there are “mouse foils” provided within the shelters (a rope with hangar that mice can’t reach). If you choose to camp away from established areas then most of the time you can get away with keeping your food nearby at night, not needing to hang, and not needing any special food storage container. In short, there is absolutely no need to worry about the subject of food storage, and no need to carry anything other than a lightweight nylon stow sack. Amazing how people can get sidetracked on a thread like this - just look at all the headspinning, off-topic, wrong-trail, etc. banter above!
tron
I would have to say that I fall into the camp that hangs their food bags. I carry a rock covered with duct tape with an hole in it. When I’m tired it’s always easy to just put my cord through the hole in the rock and wing it up in a tree. I keep the rock with me and am now pretty good at hanging my food bag. Never have had any problems with bears but why tempt it?
Thatguy
Sorry Thatguy, how can anyone take advice from a guy who carrys a rock in his pack? 
bamboo bob
“- just look at all the headspinning, off-topic, wrong-trail, etc. banter above!”
Tron - this is the reason why most westerners would prefer it if you east coast types just stayed home. You ruin it for everyone else with your sanctimonious attitude.
longhiker
Way to personally flame me, Longhiker! And thanks for your invaluable insights. Although I’m not sure if I’m supposed to stay home, as in stay on the AT and related discussion forums, in which case it would appear that I’m not the hypocritical one, if you mean stay home as in sit in front of my computer and write on message board subjects I actually know something about, in which case I’m not the hypocritical one either.
tron