Bear Bag Technique (The PCT Method)

Hey there,

I read an article on backpackinglight.com about a new way to hang a bear bag called the "PCT Method"

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bear_bag_hanging_technique.html


Has anybody tried this technique in the backcountry or have any opinions about it?

I tried it in my backyard and it was really straightforward. Of course I don't have bears roaming around there.


-Shayne

Looks like a great approach. I've never tried the PCT Method, but have mucked around a lot with counter-balanced food bag hanging. I'm gonna give the PCT Method a go next time in the woods. Thanks for the post.

To retrieve your food, simply pull the rock sack end of the cord and reverse the process.

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Am I the only one who thinks that it would be way too easy for a bear to do the same exact thing?

Maybe I'm not understanding the set up, or maybe I'm just used to the Marcy Damn bears who, I am convinced, could hack a computer if it meant they'd get food.....but doesnt leaving a rope dangling from your food bag that can bring down your hang seems like an invitation?

Forget about the PCT method. I thought that site had invaluable and very funny explanations of what I have been through many times.

They left out throwing the rock over the branch and having it come circling back and hit you in the head. Or having it wind around and around the branch so you can never get it down. I could go on but that was one great site.

Pb

Nifty idea - I really like it. I will give it a twirl
I usually have the rope through the Carabiner and tie it off on another tree 20-30 yards away, so the rope is at a steep angle and the bear bag slides up it until it is about 8-10 feet from the branch - It does requrie carrying abit more rope though.

Correct me if i'm wrong but without an opposable thumb a bear couldn't grab the dangling rope?
(the rope would also be about 7 1/2 feet off the ground, for me).

They could swipe at it but wouldn't that just swing the rope?


-Shayne

I'm skeptical this method is much better than a traditional bear bag hang. You still need to find a good tree for your bear bag. This step alone can waste a lot of time (which they point out under Bear Bag Hanging Systems)

The PCT method also doesn't address the problem of other food thieves like red squirrels which just leap on your bag and rip it open.

I'm also not so sure the bears wouldn't figure out very quickly to bite on the spare line and pull it until it snaps bringing the whole system down. The High Peaks bears are fast learners.

Lastly, the web page takes a hit in the credibility department when they describe the process of finding a tree and getting a line over the branch to be so much easier with the PCT method. It's hard for both methods! OK, they use a rock sack, but they didn't invent this technique. I've been doing that for years.

If anyone tries this, let us know how it goes. I'll stick with my canister for now.

Keep in mind that the article was found on backpackinglight.com. Carrying a canister adds 2 1/2 lbs to your weight so it wouldn't be the first option for the ultralighters (I'm not one of them).

One of those special bear bag stuff sacks would probably solve the red squirrel issue.

If the ADK's make canister's mandatory then it's all a moot point.


-Shayne

They say with respect to the counter balance method that in order to hoist the second bag up you have to push it skyward from below. I've always simply looped a rope through the first sac and pulled down on the doubled line in order to hoist the other bag up. Then by pulling on one end of the line I would remove that rope from the system.

However, the counter balance system requires good, cooperative trees and if the rope is too thin it can easily get stuck. Last summer I pulled hard on a stuck line and when it came loose beaned my partner with the rock.

The cannisters are heavy but they're no-brainers. Anyway, I'll never carry a full pack over the great range again, ever.

Correct me if i'm wrong but without an opposable thumb a bear couldn't grab the dangling rope?

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my cat doesn't have thumbs either, but has no problems latching on to a swinging rope.

How does a 5 minute walk down the trail solve the bear problem?

-Shayne

Makes sense. My dog knows where his food is kept.

But wouldn't they still sniff out the food that was kept 1000 feet away?

Are you saying that the PCT method would be good as long as you put your food 1000 feet away from the tents/leanto's?


-Shayne

Regarding their sense of smell I found this on a website with a quick search

Is it true that a bear's sense of smell is 7 times greater than that of a bloodhound?
Indeed it is. There is perhaps no other animal with a keener sense of smell. Bears rely on their sense of smell to locate mates, detect and avoid danger in the form of other bears and humans, identify cubs, and FIND FOOD. Although the region of the brain devoted to the sense of smell is average in size, the area of nasal mucous membrane in a bear's head is one hundred times larger than in a human's. This gives a bear a sense of smell that is 7 times greater than a bloodhound's. In addition, they have an organ called a Jacobson's organ, in the roof of the mouth, that further enhances their sense of smell.
Here are some accounts of how truly well a bear can smell:

"A black bear in California was once seen to travel upwind three miles in a straight line to
reach the carcass of a dead deer."

http://www.americanbear.org/senses.htm

I can't speak for AlpineSummit but the logic behind placing food a ways away from the campsite goes like this: The bear is habituated to finding food in virtually the same place virtually all the time, it becomes ins essence a creature of habit. It's learned that the easiest food to be had hangs from a rope from a tree, which is why it's ignoring the grubs in the ground it treads on. If you're a hunter and your using a lure, you place it on a known thru way for the animal your after, not a ways away, counting on the smell to attract it.

There's also a big difference between a sealed jar of peanut butter and a rotting deer.

By my above logic the a ways away method would be less effective during the week in late fall when there's less people and the bear is gorging itself in preparation for winter.

It's not fool proof, but it certainly helps.

I totally agree, hanging your food 1000 feet away from your camp is a great idea.

All I was trying to say is that wouldn't the bear's sense of smell be able to sniff it out there as well leaving you without food for the trip? It's great that the bear doesn't tread into your camp.

And more specifically, would the PCT method 1000 feet from camp be effective, versus the counterbalance method.

And I totally agree that peanut butter is not the same as a rotting dear.


-Shayne

Holdstrong said:

Maybe I'm not understanding the set up, or maybe I'm just used to the Marcy Damn bears who, I am convinced, could hack a computer if it meant they'd get food.....

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They're probabaly reading this thread right now and plotting how to foil this latest attempt to keep them from the buffet.

Wouldn't wrapping a food bag in a well-used Capilene shirt mask the food odor enough to keep bears away?

jfb said:

Wouldn't wrapping a food bag in a well-used Capilene shirt mask the food odor enough to keep bears away?

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Yeah, that would work.

But if you used my capilene shirt it would also make the food inedible...

carabiners

I have always been averse to using non locking carabiners on my bear hangs. Seems too easy to pull it to where it catches the branch and makes your bag a permanent non- conforming structure on the tree limb.

My quick dry shirt smelled so bad on my last hike I had to tie it to my roof racks for the drive home.

Oddly enough, no bears attacked my car.


-Shayne