[pct-l] Fw: Ursacks? vs OpSaks

[Edward Anderson]

Hello Mike Yanasak, 

The only way that I have discovered of protecting my food from mice and from all 
kinds of other critters on the PCT is to store it in an OpSak. From my 
experience it is 100% effective in preventing food smells from escaping. This is 
assuming that you are very careful:  1) That you don't get any food smells 
outside the OpSak,  2) That you are very careful to seal the OpSak according to 
the manufacturers instructions. Look it up on the web. 

The following is an old post that I made to this list:

On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 1:39 PM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> wrote:

I would like to let my hiker-friends know that there is a VERY important 
difference between Ursacks and OpSaks. Ursacks do not have an odor barrier. 
Critters can smell your food stored inside an Ursack and they will try to get it 
- and also, that smell will attract them to your camp. (This is also true of the 
Bear Canisters that are required in the three National Parks in the Sierra) The 
OpSak bag is 100% odor-proof. You can safely store food inside OpSaks in areas 
where rodents and bears are a concern. Just be carefull that there are no food 
smells outside the OpSak, on its surface. Be sure that your fingers are clean of 
food smells.
>
>The real test ( not planned ) was when I arrived at Beldon Town in Northern 
>California. About 10 days prior to my arrival I had driven ahead from Sierra 
>City ( leaving my horse there ) and cached my food and the processed feed for my 
>horse ( packaged in heat-sealed Food-Saver bags ) 1/2 mile north of Beldon. I 
>had planned taking a layover day and had buried over 30 pounds of feed right 
>next to the OpSak containing my food. This food would take us to the next cache 
>at Highway 36. On arrival, here is what I saw: All of the horse feed was gone 
>the bags shreaded. Not one grain remained. The OpSak, containing my food was 
>untouched. My 2 cans of V8 juice was also there. All in plain sight - the leaves 
>had been removed by a bear or by rodents - or by both. I cleaned up the plastic 
>from the FoodSaver bags and did not take the layover day as planned. 
>Fortunately, I had also cached 3 flakes of hay in a plastic garbage bag in the 
>horse corral with a note
> attached. People at Beldon gave Primo several apples,a head of lettuce and a 
>large box of corn flakes.  I continued north the next morning seeking grass for 
>Primo.
> 
>After that, as I rode north to Canada, all of the horse food was also stored in 
>OpSaks - at caches and in camp. I should also mention that I also used my "bear 
>charms" in camp. These are cotton tobacco sacks with mothballs inside. Bears 
>don't like the smell of mothballs and they stay away from your camp. I never had 
>a bear problem using this approach. Once, in Washington, after setting up my 
>tent I discovered fresh bear sign less than 10 feet away. The bear never visited 
>my camp that night. I sometimes noticed that the hikers were hoisting their food 
>high in the trees. I just leaned my OpSaks against the trunks of trees and 
>surrounded them, and my tent, with bear charms. This approach worked for me.
> 
>MendoRider

Post note 1-12-11:  This summer I plan to ride the part of the Sierra that I 
missed in 2008 due to too much snow north of the Whitney area. I will be 
using three Bear Canisters, as required, in the Parks - one for my food and two 
for the processed horse feed.  I will also use OpSaks inside the canisters - to 
keep bears from smelling the food inside and therefore from being attracted to 
my camps.
> 
>
>
>----- Original Message ----
>From: Kathryn Doiron <kdoiron at gmail.com>
>To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>Sent: Mon, February 8, 2010 7:31:34 PM
>Subject: [pct-l] Ursacks?
>
>Wondering if Ursacks are a good item to have in places that don't
>require the bear canisters.  Otherwise what is a good way to deal with
>food, and please no "use as a pillow" comments:-)
>
>kathryn
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