[pct-l] Fw: Ursaks

[Kevin]

Ed

What about surrounding a campsite with mothballs?

Honestly, I probably won't be carrying opsacks. I looked, and thy don't appear to be very big. How many would I need to hold 7 or 8 days food? I've never used a bear can either though. The times I've been in bear areas, I've had dogs with me. No way a bear would get within 1/4 mile without them alerting me. The time I spent in bear country without a dog was before the bear can rules. We hung our food and never had trouble. 

I'm planning to use a bear can from KM to Echo Lakes, so I'm not real worried about bears for my thru hike, but moth balls are light and might add some extra insurance north of Tahoe. 

Do they work? I saw some people using them in the Rockies. I wasnt sure if they were for bears or rodents. My suspicion is both ;)

Misspellings and typos brought to you by iPhone.

On Feb 14, 2011, at 7:55 PM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> From: Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>
> To: Melanie Clarke <melaniekclarke at gmail.com>
> Cc: pct-l at backcounrty.net
> Sent: Sun, February 13, 2011 8:11:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Ursaks
> 
> 
> Rodents never got into my OpSaks.  They navigate by smell.  No food smells, no 
> rodents. Just be careful that you don't get food smells from your fingers on the 
> outside of the sack. And, of course, seal it properly.  These saks worked with 
> bears too.  In the Cascades of Washington, where concerned hikers were hanging 
> their food sacks high in trees. At night  I just stored my food and my horse's 
> food in OpSaks at ground level along with my saddle and packs and covered all 
> with a tarp. I also surrounded that pile and my tent with bear charms (moth 
> balls - bears don't like that smell).  I had no problems with either bears or 
> rodents. 
> 
> If you put your food inside an OpSak and that inside your Ursak, you would solve 
> the rodent problem.
> 
> MendoRider
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Melanie Clarke <melaniekclarke at gmail.com>
> To: dvsteven at hotmail.com
> Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net; esmith11 at my.whitworth.edu
> Sent: Thu, February 10, 2011 7:57:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Ursaks
> 
> Dear PCT,
> 
> When I left my Ursak on the ground (once), the rodents got into it.  When I
> tie it up to a tree it always stays safe.
> 
> Melanie
> 
> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 7:21 PM, Steven dvsteven <dvsteven at hotmail.com>wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Hi Ethan,
>> 
>> I use Ursacks, I believe that they are around 650 cubic inches and I used 2
>> for 10 days of food (lots of food) on my Wonderland hike, so 5 days per
>> sack.
>> 
>> I hang mine upside down inside another waterproof bag that holds my food
>> and anything else with fragrance.
>> 
>> Hope that helps,
>> 
>> Flying Tortoise
>> 
>> -Forwarded Message Attachment--
>> From: esmith11 at my.whitworth.edu
>> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>> Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:02:39 +0000
>> Subject: [pct-l] Food Rehydration Strategy
>> 
>> For those of you who do decide to go stoveless/cookless, but choose to
>> rehydrate food that ordinarily would be cooked, what kinds of
>> dishware/rehydration containers do you use?
>> 
>> Also, in regions where bears are not a concern so much as rodends, does
>> everybody use opsaks/ursaks? If so, how many are needed for 4 - 5 days worth
>> of food. Where are they placed at night relative to your tent/tarp? I have
>> always hung my pack, but that does not appear to be the favored method for
>> even rodents, so I am trying to learn some things!
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Ethan
>> 
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