[pct-l] Bear encounter before Kennedy Meadows

[Elisabeth M. Chaplin]

Hi MendoRider, I'm this Liz you speak of.

While I never intended to participate directly nor indirectly in one of the
PCT-l's infamous discussions, I originally felt compelled to say something
in response to someone because I did indeed have an experience that left me
less than confident relying on OPSaks as a foolproof method to deter
critters from getting into my food -- an idea that would be much more
convenient if it were absolutely true. I have no interest in furthering the
PCT-l debate, but I wanted to reply to you because I recognize how valuable
your contributions to the list have been and as an actively participating
member of the list forum, you could really have some sway with people
asking those kinds of questions -- and I feel like you are trivializing my
experience and further, you are trivializing me personally on to some
degree by asserting that I failed to use or understand how to use the
product. Had you been present at the time or even asked me directly about
the circumstances, maybe you would be able to make those assertions fairly.

As confident as you are that they always work in your repeated tests, I'm
confident that they aren't guaranteed to always work in the field. This was
MY real world experience. Even if you have not had that same experience, it
does not mean that how I used my gear was unreasonable and somehow flawed.
I assure you, I understand how to zip an OPSak, and I acknowledged on the
list that there is NO way of knowing in a real world setting if I had
somehow contaminated the outside of the bag despite my best efforts not to
-- so then, I think that makes me a great example of the average,
thoughtful user. From where I stand, my experience had a result that should
not be discounted only because it counters your results. My result should
be considered from a practical stance: If I am an average user, then other
average users might expect similar results. One night out of dozens of
nights in a row I experienced a problem, and in the big picture, that's
nothing to sweat over.

There's also a backyard testing thread going on over at BPL regarding the
OPSaks, and I quote my reply to it below. Perhaps it more thoroughly sums
up what I was trying to communicate on the blog comment that was thrown
into the mix on the PCT-l. To clarify: in that blog comment, which I made
on an external site, I discuss two incidences of mice -- one was concerning
the new OPSak, when a mouse chewed through; the second was the last night
on the trail, when a mouse chewed through my tent to try to get to the food
bag -- I never specified that I was using an OPSak at that point, though I
was using a tattered one, as I had otherwise been hanging my food on a
critter line throughout WA. I wouldn't have expected an OPSak in such used
condition to accomplish anything except hold my food in one place. I was
simply illustrating that mice are a real force to consider while on the
trail.

All of the is it/is it not odor-proof debate aside, I think the following
quote, quoted from another BPL member's comment on the same thread, sums it
up the real issue about OPSaks:

"
*"Your gear may be perfect for any job, but if your procedures for using
the gear are flawed or impossible to implement then it doesn't matter."*"

That's how I see it too.

Simply put, I have had a mouse chew through a brand new OPSak, first night
out of Kennedy Meadows on my PCT thru hike while it was in my vestibule.
While there is NO way of knowing if I got food odors on the outside of the
bag while handling it (and yes I did zip it properly -- I'd been
backpacking for over two months straight at that point, and had nine days
of food heading into the Sierra in a high snow year, you bet your buttons I
was a bit food obsessed/paranoid), the real point of it is that the OPSak
was as clean and unscented as it was ever going to get at that point! The
more meals I pulled in and out of it, the less unscented it would become.

In theory, odor proof, but in practicality it's really hard to keep gear
clean -- so to rely on them because you've luckily never had a problem, or
to put your faith in them because they're advertised to be odor-proof seems
a bit eager in my opinion. They are awesome to hopefully reduce the chance
that a critter would even take note of your food bag, and I still carry
them on my trips for that reason. But I wouldn't be surprised if it
happened again, and I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket without some
skepticism and understanding that I'm taking a risk, even if it's hugely
less than not using an OPSak in the first place. For me, they're part of a
system, not my one size fits all solution.
"

All the best, Liz.
Class of 2011.