Backpacker Magazine - Bears and Hammocks (Ask a Bear)

[Dutch]

We are pretty hard on BP mag and rightfully so. We really aren't the target audience for their mag. The same publishers make Runners World magazine and I have seen very similar articles on exercizes in both mags. It's a good magazine for doctor offices waiting room for those that don't want to read Good House Keeping mag. I got a cheap subscription and I like to take it to the gym. It is easy to read and look at the pictures while on the stair master.

[gunner76]

only good thing to come from them is the trail recipes

I have not found any I would eat. I thnk Babelfish5 has a better selection.

Tent - Bear Fortune Cookie

[nothermark]

They give away magazine subscriptions if you buy from places like Sierra Trading Post - been reading free for a year or 2. It's the only way I would read it as it is worth about what I pay for it.

[Great White]

No, they are not in the business of selling magazines... they are in the business of selling the ads IN the magazines. ...

Actually, they sell the readers to the advertisers to gain revenue. The value in the magazine are the people that read it. The articles are only a break from the ads present and an attraction for the reader. And they are produced at the lowest possible cost to maximize the advertising income.

I have not read the article, but I can assure you that it is targeted toward the largest demography that reads Backpacker Magazine so they continue to buy the magazine and keep the advertisement value up. The publisher then uses this value to sell these readers to the advertisers.

You can see this model at work in television. This is the reason commercial filled channels are free, the advertisers support the channel to gain access to the viewers. If no one read the magazine or watched the TV then there would be no reason to advertise on those mediums.

[Shug]

Most who read the Mag more than likely never go backpacking....just dream of it and buy gear.
Shug

[SkyPainter]

Most who read the Mag more than likely never go backpacking....just dream of it and buy gear.
Shug

===> Now, THAT is a likely scenario! Folks reading about hiking the South Rim of the Grand Canyon by a sponsored editor and camera crew, who will never get there, but check to see what was used, and then buying that IN CASE they ever wind-up there! LOL!

I work with a guy who is always talking about this or that in BP mag, knowing that I get out there in the piney woods, generally alone. I have asked him to come along numerous times, but could see the fear in his face at the prospect.

I just came back from a four day jaunt alone, and his first question was;
"Don't you get scared that something will happen?"

My answer: "I go hoping that something will happen! That is what makes life rich and worthwhile, and makes for the best memories!" (I also hope I get a picture of whatever happens!)

[Gary_R]

hrm, maybe the link took me to a different article than you guys are reading? I didn't see that they said hammocks are more likely, but that sleeping open air could increase the risk of being bothered by a bear.

Now I'm not defending the magazine, its ethics or the article, but maybe, just maybe a little too much is being read into it? At least I didn't get that vibe reading it.

I tend to agree
To me there not saying anything bad and people are misreading this article... To me you have the same chances of a bear screwing with a tent as you do with a hammock. But in a hammock that exploratory "feel" that the bear does, touches you because your against the tent material.
Vs in a tent it may shake the tent 3 ft from you and wake you up as they kinda said in the "scream and scare both you away" comment.
So if you look at it that way.. it is just slightly more dangerous.

And any article only has power because readers keep reading them and posting on blogs there opinions which spreads them even faster so more can read it!

[Buffalo Skipper]

I guess the question here is how many people have been attacked by bears while sleeping in a tent and how many have been attacked while in a hammock? Certainly there are more tents than hammocks, but I can't recall an actual report of a camper being attacked while in a hammock.

FWIW, I did read a report of a hammock being targeted by a black bear in SNP this summer. However, the hiker was not present and she admited that the bear was after some "smell" she left in her hammock. This goes back to bears are more attracted to smells, not hammocks or peoples.

[Law Dawg (ret)]

I was talking to a bear recently and he said that his nose is sensitive enough to smell out Truffles so he can certainly smell us in our tents or hammocks. He knows where we are by that sense alone (not to mention his keen sense of hearing). He was actually offended at some of our silly notions about his intelligence. Had to cut the conversation short as we were into the beers a bit much and he bagan ranting about how easy we would be to find, kill, and eat if he was of a mind to actually do so. Said something about Truffles kicking stinky backpackers to the curb anyway...

So some "writer" decides my hammock makes me better bear bait and I need to pay attention, why!? Because he has a degree in "journalism" (whatever that means these days) or something similar? Pssshaw...

[Mickey.223]

I guess the question here is how many people have been attacked by bears while sleeping in a tent and how many have been attacked while in a hammock?

Probably the same number of WMDs that were found in IRAQ. It's all hype... subtle marketing. Hammocking is gaining ground and poses a potential threat to future revenue (think satellite radio vs commercial radio). So, if I write an article by a bear, citing recent research suggesting hammocks increase my curiosity while simultaneously making me less fearful of you...the only message left to the reader is that hammocking really isn't safe because bears like exposed people flesh suspended and wrapped in nylon (read bear burrito and other euphemisms). smh


Cheers,
Mickey