Food in the tent

[TNhiker]

, the only stories I've heard/witnesses about bears getting food hung on the bear cables is from the rare bear that learns that if you bounce the cables, a bag simply hung over the hooks might bounce off

along with this------bears have learned that brightly colored objects---like packs and tents-----potentially could have food in them.....

hence, the incident at spence field earlier this year...

also---the shelters have "resident" bears that will hang around and if they see an unattended bag----they will grab it and run off...

Patman had this happen to him a few years ago and lost some of his gear as a result........

many of the shelter registers (logbooks) have stories about people having their packs "stolen" by a bear......

[-Rush-]

I don't suggest sleeping with food. I'd rather not be worried about that sort of thing when trying to sleep. I try to eat dinner about 2 miles or so (at a water source preferably, but not required) before I hit my end destination. This gives me the following benefits:

1. Food is prepared away from camp
2. Food is prepared in daylight
3. Food is all packed away properly
4. I have rest and energy for those last few miles (which are always a PITA)
5. When I get to camp I can relax, socialize, and build a fire if wanted.
6. If bear cables are there great, otherwise I tie my Ursack Major to a tree (Figure 8 Knot) a good distance from camp.

[PabloAndreus]

I am new to the site & plan to thru hike next year. It sounds like hanging the food is at least the best chance at minimising risk but nothing is 100%. Would anyone say it would be more dangerous to start my hike early..say in March? My reason for asking is with it being colder it may be the bears are hungrier as no fruit on the trees, there'll be less hikers or tourists so less food left around (the ones who don't follow precautions) and they might have just woken from hibernation & i don't fancy being it's first meal. Thanks for your help.

[Venchka]

Rush,
My Ursack Major arrived yesterday. Lots of space as far as I can tell. Looking forward to using it out west next summer.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Del Q]

I used to hang, pretty hard with low pine trees..........that aside, yes, some of it is laziness but I sleep with food bag.

Agree with Jester 100%, everything smells like food......what we cannot smell they can.

To me the bigger issue is mice, skunks, etc.

[NoChance]

the 'bear biting' activity is posted on the ATC website. feel free to read it. ATC now recommends everyone on the AT uses a bear canister. Everyone. Everywhere. on the AT.

Why, because your previous AT hiking buddies are slobs and do not understand the meaning of 'hike it in, hike it out'.

Aggressive bear activity has become the norm.

Do not put food in your tent.

That is just friggin' stupid and ignorant.

I had a bear attack my tent. Not because there was food in it. Simply because it was a tent and recognized it as a possible food source.

Just saying'...

[NoChance]

my advice is to get ahead of the crowd. i made the mistake of hiking after the major crowd went thru the smoky mountains, and there were aggressive bears everywhere. multiple shelters were shut down, bears attacked tents (see my note below). i hiked alongside a section hiker who 'lived in the area', said he never saw a bear in the 20 years he had hiked. I hiked for 480 miles and saw 6 bears, and had one attack my tent. Always give yourself time to hang a bag. the ignorance, flippant and dismissive attitude of some of these posts is shocking to me. its possible the recent fires in the GSM may have possible reduced (killed) bear activity. All i know is, that i will never hike thru the Smoky's ever again.

[Offshore]

I'm all for sleeping with my food in areas that don't have bear problems, but why the heck would you do it in or near the smokies?

It seems that for some folks, being a contrarian is more important than acting in their own best interests.

[bamboo bob]

National parks have most of the problem bears.

I think that's because bears in parks are not hunted so they don't have the same fear of people as hunted bears'

In any event, if I see a bear sign on the trail before I camp then I will hang my food bag. If not it's my pillow. Also in many places on many trails there are simply no suitable places to hang food.