[pct-l] Bear Canister or Ursack

[billbatch at cox.net]

Perfect.  That is what I am going to use.  Thank you


---- Carol Freed <robert at engravingpros.com> wrote: 
> I had bear encounters with my Ursack. The Ursack comes with a four liter zip lock type bag for the smell and the sinch cord for the bag is Kevlar. You just tie it to a tree and there is no way a bear can run off with it. The problem is that in Yosmite you are not allowed to tie it to live trees. The theory being that a bear will tear up the tree trying to get the bag off. I always seemed to be able to find a dead and downed tree or what not to tie to.
> 
> Bill Batchelor <billbatch at cox.net> wrote:   I am intrigued with this Ursack approach. However, the "running off with it
> in their mouths" comment is a drag.
> 
> Seems to me that the bear container should be 
> 1 bear access proof (or highly resistant)
> 2 preferably be a barrier to smells (avoiding interaction to begin with)
> 3 not be able to be carried away
> 
> I am guessing that the bear canister does all three. However, I am not sure
> if the smell barrier is valid or not. I am thinking by the time you open
> that up over and over again, handle food, handle the canister, cook and have
> smell in the pot, etc. that there is just too much smell going on. However,
> I could also see an argument that an uncanistered food source still smells
> WAY more than a canistered food source even with all the above smells in the
> mix.
> 
> If the bear canister has value as a smell barrier, that leaves the Ursack
> really only helping on item #1. And resisting access does no good if they
> can easily be carried away. I could see a bear taking that bag for miles on
> end trying to get into it before giving up. This leaves the hiker with
> esentially the same problem - no more food. I have a hard time imagining an
> encounter where the bear would NOT pick up the bag and go some distance with
> it.
> 
> Again though, I really like the idea of a light and flexible solution.
> However, if an encounter looks like you are likely to lose your food on a
> run-away, what good does it do the hiker. I can see it helps the bear
> situation because failure to open the bag would train the animals against
> the attempt. So, it helps the bear habits - a big win, but does it do
> anything for the hiker?
> 
> BillB
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
> On Behalf Of dsaufley at sprynet.com
> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:05 AM
> To: Carol Freed; pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] bear canisters
> 
> Below is what their site says. I, too, used the Ursack with the aluminum
> liner, and liked it very much. I did hear of people having problems with
> rodents chewing holes in them, but the biggest issue was bears grabbing the
> knotted end and/or the string in their mouths and running off with the
> entire Ursack, never to be seen again.
> 
> http://www.ursack.com/ursack-update.htm
> 
>