Camp alarms?

[wordstew]

Just put a rock next to you when you go to sleep. It has zero weight penalty

[GaryM]

Step 1) Alarm goes off.
Step 2) ????



And when the alarm goes off what are you going to do? Are you going to wrestle the bear or bad guy? Do you have an effective weapon? Are you camping with someone who runs slower than you? Do you have a priest on call to give you your last rights? Who you gonna call? 1-800-555-2368 or 867-5309

Ummm.. same thing a person would do anytime a bear strolls into camp? Throw rocks? make noise?

ETA; assuming the noise/light didn't already run it off.
Probably work for ******* hikers too.

[FreeGoldRush]

Once I saw trekking poles laying on the ground in a perfect X at the entrance to a tent. Wondered if it was intended to be the bear alarm.

[Dogwood]

Easier to set up a perimeter alarm system based on motion sensors. Triangulate three sensors with your camp centered in it and connect to an alarm app on your smart phone. I've installed similar motion detectors as part of landscape and ground security protections from deer and the 2 legged animal species. As motion is detected a sprinkler comes on or a dog recording or You Are Now Trespassing: the Police have been Notified audibly engages.

I've seen similar detection systems based on taking photography or a video. It's what traffic LE uses to catch speeders and those who run through red lights. I've seen them sold for about $80+ in Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops marketed to hunters. Legal Cannabis agricultural growers use such systems to protect their outdoor crops. At HD and Lowes you'll find similar based residential security systems.



On several farms(non cannabis) we had perimeter electric fences to contain stock and keep out predators.

[imscotty]

I've considered making a backpackers electric fence. Wouldn't be all that hard to do. Can probably keep it under a pound.

Them 12 volt car batteries are mighty heavy Slo...

[blw2]

Ultralight electric security fence for bears? About 3.7 lbs https://www.cabelas.com/product/UDAP...ce/1242284.uts

It's shocking what people will buy

Setting up an NDP (Nightime defense perimeter) for bears is pretty absurd for the AT where ticks are the most dangerous critters and the biggest animal dangers are dogs. Some parts of the western US, especially thinking of Alaska, might warrant such extremes, but if bears are that much of a threat, it becomes a whole different preparedness level - one that should include a 12 gauge loaded with slugs as well.

I think it was a Survivorman episode a bunch of years back. He used something just like this on a horseback adventure. Used the fence for the horses....I think it was bear country and if I'm remembering correctly it was to keep the horses in AND to keep the bears out.

[tdoczi]

Ummm.. same thing a person would do anytime a bear strolls into camp? Throw rocks? make noise?

ETA; assuming the noise/light didn't already run it off.
Probably work for ******* hikers too.

i have little doubt the odds are fair that one night while i was asleep in my tent a bear may have passed close by, perhaps even stopped and checked it out.

its really best for all parties potentially involved that an alarm didnt go off and wake me up so i could throw rocks at it.

[shelb]

Had to check if this one was in the humor section....I have sat and given it some thought of what would be required to setup a security station around my tent...String and soup cans is all I can imagine in my head. It would also require a great deal more fear of wildlife then I personally have. my short answer is...no.

Ditto!

Hang food...
Don't piss off fellow hikers...
_______________________
Fine!

[bighammer]

If you're too scared of bears seriously you need to stay home. You won't have fun.

bears gingerly step over your tent guy lines when they circle your tents sniffing you , trying to figure out how to get it that Snickers bar in your pocket. what makes you think they're going to hit a trip line?

I kept my food in a Lok-Sak in my tent. It worked great except for one night when I remembered a partial bag of peanut M&M's and got them out. Very short time later I heard a bear circling my tent so close, I thought it would trip and bring it down.

[rickb]

I googled it too, came up with nothin

it’s all Greek to me.

[Leo L.]

Leo - Danean Present? A present that really isn't a present, wanted or appreciated?

Google doesn't even know.

Sorry, I've got the word wrong, its called DANAOS in English.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeo_..._dona_ferentes
A Danaos Present is a gift that looks good at the first glance, but has some hidden bad points.
Like the Horse of Troy, which gave the name for this.

[Traveler]

I liked the siren idea, perhaps a nice dual tone, 156 db, omni-directional siren with klaxon horn partition between cycles would suffice for adequate warning of most anything that comes into camp from a chipmunk to a Force 5 tornado. I'm sure those within a 4 mile radius would appreciate your concern for intruders.

As an aside, I didn't know the Trojan Horse was named "Danao". The only "Danao" I had ever heard about was a nebbish in the TV show Hawaii-50 who was unceremoniously handed criminals to book incessantly as Steve McGarrett looked steely eyed into a setting sun, plotting his next move against Wo Fat.

[Cheyou]

If worried bring a dog .

Thom

[bigcranky]

My first thought when I read the original post was "Claymore mines." Man, that was a long time ago. I was too young for Viet Nam, we worried more about the Russians and the N Koreans. The more things change....

[Traffic Jam]

I kept my food in a Lok-Sak in my tent. It worked great except for one night when I remembered a partial bag of peanut M&M's and got them out. Very short time later I heard a bear circling my tent so close, I thought it would trip and bring it down.

What did you do with the M&M’s? Take them out of the Lok-Sak or put them inside? Or maybe you ate them? That’s what I’d have done.

[TexasBob]

I saw a show on TV about some folks who were doing some scientific work in serious polar bear country. They had a wire set up around their camp that would set off shotgun shells to scare off a bear if a bear tried to cross the wire.

Kind of like this : https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com...arm-fence.html

[Gambit McCrae]

I was just thinkin, 1 could gather up a handful or two of live rattlesnake. Place them around their campsite and they will wake ya up if there are any issues in the night. tread lightly for bathroom breaks of course

[rmitchell]

The Rocky Top trail crew that I worked on in 2016 used an electric fence around the kitchen area. It was charged by a 12v marine battery. It didn't encompass the sleeping area. Just the important stuff (food).

We had the luxury of a weekly resupply by horse.

No bear problem the week I was there.

[Gambit McCrae]

The Rocky Top trail crew that I worked on in 2016 used an electric fence around the kitchen area. It was charged by a 12v marine battery. It didn't encompass the sleeping area. Just the important stuff (food).

We had the luxury of a weekly resupply by horse.

No bear problem the week I was there.

Now that I think about it, they do this in Roan, and the smokies as well I have seen in it Grayson Highlands for tenting, shelters, and food storage locations

[MtDoraDave]

Has anyone every used any sort of camp alarm? Either trip wire around tent or pressure release switch activating a light or siren to warn against bears or whatever? Obviously a horrible idea at a shelter but for those who like to set up in out of the way places I can see it having a purpose.

When I first started hiking, I hung my food bag with bear bells dangling from the bottom of it. I was more worried about raccoons getting into my food than anything else, and my thought was that I'd hear the bells and wake up, then run off the offending critter.

I slept poorly for the first several trips on the AT, my heightened sense of hearing focusing in on every squirrel jostling leaves, every acorn or branch falling out of a tree, the mysterious sound of trees rubbing together when the breeze kicked up a bit, and other unidentified noises - each time wondering if it was a bear.
Eventually, after reading a LOT about it here and through links, as well as getting some experience out there, I have come to accept that bears aren't really something that I need to lose sleep over... and raccoons only seem to be a problem in busy car camping campgrounds.