Securing Food

[Telna]

What is the best way to secure food when you are camping? It seems easy if you have a car with you, but if you don't it's much more difficult. I have seen people on tv hang their bags of food from a tree but I would think that an animal set on eating your food could get to it anyway.

[limbs]

Your right, still if you make a pulley system with the rope then you can get it pretty high. You want a thick cloth like burlap. The hope is no animal of the night will smell it.

[Grandpa]

Some areas REQUIRE bear proof cannisters. There is also a bag called an Ursak which is "supposed" to be bear proof. But for most areas, hanging a food bag is still satisfactory as long as it is done correctly.

Squirrels etc still do more food raiding than bears so we hang everything when we can

[orchard]

"The hell away from me" comes to mind but I doubt thats what you are looking for.

We have tried a pulley system a few times with two of those times either having the line break and snap so food scatters to the ground then the other time it actually got stuck and someone had to climb a tree to unhook it. Camping, oh the memories!

[Grandpa]

My bear rope is a simple 50 ft sash cord and an old sock. ( my food sack will never exceed 15 lbs so the sash cord works fine.) I just put a rock in the sock, tie the cord on with a slip knot and throw it over the best limb I can find. I use a ripstop nylon bag for the food. If the sash cord isn't strong enough, use paracord. If that isn't strong enough, take the dutch ovens out of the bag first. No pulleys necessary.

Ideal is a limb 10 ft off the ground and as far out from the tree as the limb will hold. At high altitudes we just lower the bag over a cliff or big rock.