[pct-l] Ursack Minor (or similar)

[Scott Williams]

I had no mouse problems on the PCT and used similar strategies to Miner's.
 We had one running over a person in his bag who was camped under an open
tarp in WA, but the rest of us who were in tents and tarps with bug nets
didn't have a problem and all of us were camping with our food in our
tents.  If you're in obvious bear country, it's probably prudent to hang
your food, unless you're in the High Sierra where a bear can is mandatory.
 But when cowboy camping, I just kept it all in its stuff sack and packed
it in my backpack and left it by my side.  Some folks love the security of
an Op Sack, but I've never needed one.  The main thing is to pick camp
sites that are not in major rodent run areas.

Shroomer




On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 2:51 PM, Sean Nordeen <sean.nordeen at gmail.com>wrote:

> If I was hiking the AT and staying in the shelters, then I found an Ursack
> Minor to be very helpful.  Mice would play with it for a few minutes before
> giving up and moving on to easier prey.   However, I didn't see any need
> for one on the PCT.
>
> On the PCT, I carried a large cuben fiber stuff sack by zpacks outside of
> the Sierra Nevada (and no the material had nothing to do with my success,
> it was just lighter for the strength).  I normally slept with my food when
> not using a bear can.  As I cowboy camped (ie. slept outside) all but 9
> days of the trail, I obviously did not store it in a tent.  Sometimes I had
> it in my backpack that I always keep by my head and some times I used it
> under my head when I was wearing more of my clothes to sleep in.
>
> My strategies to keep mice and such away was to carefully pick a camp
> site.  I never camp in meadows (too many field mice).  I try to avoid
> heavily used campsites (too many creatures are use to people having food
> there including bears).  If there is signs of burrowing in the area or
> holes in the ground nearby, I moved on (something lives there and best to
> avoid it).  Not related to food storage, but if I saw insects crawling
> around, I move on since I was cowboy camping.  I didn't have any issues
> with crawling insects when I slept as a result.  Twice I encountered mice
> running around the area in the evening after stopping for the night.  It
> quickly was apparent that they weren't scared of people and I could only
> chase them away for a minute or two before they came back.  I found it was
> easier to just stuff everything back in my pack and move campsites 1/4mile
> away rather than being annoyed by them all night.  Some people that didn't
> move and thought their tent would protect them, found a hole later in their
> netting.
>
>
> I see no reason to change how I did it.
>
> -Miner
>
> >I'm planning a PCT thru next year and I'm wondering if most people carry
> an Ursack Minor,
> >Ratsack, or similar device to fend off marauding mice and such (prior to
> bear canister country).
> >How did you handle food storage during the So Cal section? Food in tent?
> Op-Sacks? Finding
> >suitable tree branches for hangs? Other? What have you heard about the
> success (or lack
> >thereof) of the various strategies? If you happen to do the PCT next year,
> how would you choose
> > to handle your food storage? Thanks for your wisdom! Timberline
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