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One week before my Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure and I'm still tweeking
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I'm new to all this backpacking stuff and trying to figure out which food storage system to go with is one of the most confusing parts. You have to worry about rodents, bears, people, and everything in between.
The most common method is hanging a bear bag and, usually, everybody just glosses over it leaving out a lot of contradictory details. Andrew Skurka's recent article on how bear bag hanging is a losing proposition confirmed my unsettled feeling about it from a pro's pro perspective.
I went by REI this past weekend to see if a bear canister would fit in my bag. It did, but it's heavy and with my food and water pushes me up close to the max suggested 35lb weight for my ULA Circuit backpack. Two of the REI workers came over and showed me pictures of their mangled "bear proof" kevlar Ursacks. They were camping recently and had to leave their camp in the middle of the night when an aggressive bear got to their hung Ursack's and eventually ripped them apart.
I think the effectiveness of the solution depends on which bear\bears you encounter. A momma bear with cubs can work together to get to a hung bear bag easier than a big heavy lazy male, but the big heavy lazy male probably appreciates an easily accessible Ursack or bear canister that he can use his raw strength against. Then there are the rodents, racoons, etc.
I'm hiking around with a bear canister this week to see if I can handle the weight. I kind of like the idea of the weight forcing me to go slow to start, but it also puts additional strain on my body. I have options to drop weight if I need to, but I don't want to hurt myself in the mean time. I crave "clean" solutions free of contradictions and inconsistencies.
Like with a lot of things, security is relative. True security is an illusion. You do what you can to deter the aggressor and hope they'll move on to easier targets, but a determined aggressor will usually prevail.
Bear Bag Pros: least expensive and lightest weight by far (4 oz)
Bear Bag Cons: time consuming to find perfect tree and hang, hard\impossible to hang properly, easiest to defeat if bad hang and have been defeated even if perfect hang, not rodent proof
Ursack Pros: much lighter (.5-1.5 lb) than bear cannister, easy to tie to tree\rock instead of hanging, takes a determined bear to puncture
Ursack Cons: heavier than bear bag, easier for bear to get when not hanging, bear resistant not bear proof, food can be mangled even if not punctured, only most expensive\heaviest Ursack is considered rodent proof
Bear Canister Pros: easiest to deploy - no hanging or tying required, rodent proof, can be used as seat, hardest to defeat and thus considered most responsible method for protecting bears
Bear Canister Cons: heaviest by far (2.5 lb), bulky and inflexible, hardest to get into especially with cold\gloved fingers, have been defeated by determined bears
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