Food Hanging System

[jmez]

Was wondering what guys are using to hang food, if you could post pictures of you setups that would be even better. We pack in and hunt in a Grizzly area so have to hang stuff. Last year we used a cheap pulley and paracord. It worked ok but not great. Had to be very careful pulling up and letting down as the cord would jump the pulley and then bind. Looking for something better.

I've used a large, double pulley system when packing in with horses that worked really well. Too heavy to carry in on your back which is what we do now. Wondering how others handle this. It gets pretty heavy with 4 guys and 10 days worth of food and toiletries going up.

 

[Mike7]

I really like the MLDesigns bear hanging system (basically a cuben fiber rock bag and spectra cord), along with a Kifaru meat baggie for the food. The whole thing weighs less than 3 ounces with about 40 ft of cord before you load the food in the bag. You would probably need more than one for that many guys. If the meat bag is full then you can use a stick a few feet long to help push the bag up, while you pull the cord with your other hand. The cord slides over branches easily. You can use the same system to hang bags full of meat as well. With the MLDesigns system you can just hang the food regularly by attaching the cord to a nearby tree, or you can do the Pacific Crest Trail Hanging System (it comes with a small ultralight carabiner for this, and it helps to practice that at home first on a tree in the yard).

 

[quarbles]

all my dehydrated food, snacks and spoon along with garbage goes into a durable waterproof sealline black canyon dry bag and paracorded, tossed high and away from where i sleep. never had any problems..... similar to this (pct method as mentioned above)......
http://theultimatehang.com/2013/03/hanging-a-bear-bag-the-pct-method/
for that much food, why not just a clutch or series of hangings to break the weight up?

 

[Bonedalien]

i just use dry bags also . tie a rock onto the cord to get it over the right branch and far enough from the trunk. with 3 of us in camp we use 2 bags each for 9 days in.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Sea to Summit dry bag and paracord. Like already mentioned, tie the cord around a rock or stick and chuck it over a good branch.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Here is the system I have used for both backpacking and horse packing. The only difference is the size and weight of the food bag/food box that's going up.

Tie off to your bag/box to two ropes/lengths of paracord. Throw one rope over a solid tree branch or meat pole. Raise it up to about 8', higher if you can get it. Take the other rope and throw it over a branch on a tree about 10-15 feet away. Pull that rope tight. It will pull the bag/box out away from the other tree and will raise it up also.

You can easily meet bear storage requirements doing this.

 

[fire arrow]

I use a sinch sac from REI and paracord. Use a rock and toss I over a limb that is at least 4 feet away from the trunk. Then pull it up as far as I need.

I like the idea about apposing trees and using the other tree to pull it away from the tree.

 

[jmez]

No trees where I hunt that have branches big enough to support the bag of food 4ft away from the trunk. That's why I haven't just tossed it over a branch.

 

[Jason Snyder]

No trees where I hunt that have branches big enough to support the bag of food 4ft away from the trunk. That's why I haven't just tossed it over a branch.

Maybe my explanation didn't make sense the way I described it, but that is exactly why you use two ropes. The branch doesn't have to support the weight of the food 4' away from the trunk.

Think of two ropes making a "V" shape. The food is at the bottom of the "V" and is 4' away from the tree and 9-10' off the ground.

 

[Backyard]

Bear Bag Hanging Systems;

Most backpackers visiting wilderness areas, and camping below the tree-line, where bears are either not particularly habituated,
or where bears are habituated but bear canisters are not required, employ some sort of bear bag hanging system, that usually
consists of a stuff sack and a rope. The most common method, as theoretically - and quite simply - described in many
backpacking how-to books, goes something like this in real life:

1. Put your food in a stuff sack.

2. Tie one end of the rope to the stuff sack.

3. Tie the other end of the rope around a rock you find on the ground that happens to be the only rock within a three-mile
radius and is perfectly spherical with a coefficient of friction akin to Body Glide.

4. Select your tree of choice, which Murphy’s Law dictates is at least four miles from the nearest comfortable campsite and
has only two limbs that can support your food weight: one at eye level - high enough to keep mice and beetles at bay -
and one high enough that if you hung an orange stuff sack up there, it would serve as an emergency signaling device,
visible by spy satellites.

5. Find another tree with a sturdy branch about 15 feet off the ground.

6. Throw the rock towards the branch. Line gets tangled around your ankle and rock makes it only six feet high before
slamming back into the ground with a thud.

7. Retie your complex knot. Then, lash the rope around the slippery, spherical rock, and try your throw again. This time the
rock sails successfully over the branch, but the end of the rope has slipped off and remains in a crumpled pile at your
feet. Your rock ends up in the next county, never to be seen again.

8. Find a new rock.

9. Repeat Step 7 until the rope is successfully hung over the tree. This could take several hours, so have your headlamp
ready, and maybe your cooking supplies, so you can take a dinner break.

10. Pull your food up over the branch, tie the other end of the rope to the tree trunk, and go to bed - exhausted - but proud of
your significant accomplishment.

11. Wake up in the morning and learn that a black bear has chewed through the rope, dropped your bag, and had a feast,
leaving you three days from the nearest road with a Clif Bar wrapper and some peanut butter on the inside of your now
shredded stuff sack.

12. Make a commitment to learn the counterbalance method of hanging when you get home.

 

[jmez]

I get it Jason, thanks. Sounds like that will work.

Good post backyard, I've experienced all of that but the bear chewing off the rope.