My Sainted Wife refers to my rig as the Bear Burrito.
S
My Sainted Wife refers to my rig as the Bear Burrito.
S
Backpacker Mag is discusting. Their fear mongering eadlines make me think of National Enquirer journalism. Although, they do sometimes have some nice pictures.
Mike
"Life is a Project!"
I camp in bear territory all the time, surrounded by habituated bears. They want your food, not you or the hammock. They know packs can contain food, leave out a pack and they'll go after it. A bear walked by my hammock on the way to harass the canisters more than once.
A tent will NOT keep a bear out. If it smells food or something it thinks is food, its coming in. I was on a trip w/ the scouts and told the boys NOT to store food in the tents. I didn't care what food they had with them on the trip, just not to keep it in there. No problems with the bears.
Sounds like the only "bear" to worry about is "bare naked"!!lazy river road That article made me laugh. I think a hammock is actually safer. From a tent I gotta get up un zip and stand up. No net hammock swing out feet hit the ground and I do the first thing I'm not supposed to and start running in my skivies for my life
I'm a member of PETA!!!!
People
Eating
Tasty
Animals
Regarding the article, I'd say the idea that a human can "speak for bears" is hubris, at best...
I think I will be applying for a Federal Grant to study Bears' human wrapper preferences!! Probably be a little expensive, as I will need to test over a two year period on the AT, Yellowstone, Glacier, and several sites in Alaska.
About all of my camping is in grizzly bear country. There have been a few people killed by grizzlies while camping in the past two years. The last guy had followed all the rules about food storage, yet the bear killed him at 2 AM, dragged him out of his tent and fed him to her two cubs. Two other people were mauled a little by the same bear that night in the campground, but survived by playing dead. Tough act to accomplish while a 300# + animal is chewing on you.
Basic rules apply besides the food, toothpaste, shampoo stuff. If attacked by a grizzly, play dead. If it's a black bear, fight like hell cuz they prefer dead stuff. How do you tell a black bear from a grizzly at two in the morning? Your call.
Check out your camping area before you set up. Look for bear scat and scratches/claw marks on trees at eye level or above. Pay attention to posted warnings. There are now areas just east of Yellowstone Park towards Cody, WY, that are now hard sided enclosure camping only.
Love is blind. Marriage is an eye opener.
I remember this, that man was from Grand Rapids, MI. They believed that bear had developed predatory behavior, they set a trap for her at the same site and she came back to maul another tent there they had set up. A teenager was attacked as well as a woman who was attacked while sleeping in her hammock! Proof that it doesn't matter if it's a tent or hammock.
Backpacker magazine is my go to toilet reading... nothing more.
Where I camp we only have black bears and they are hunted pretty regular, even in the summer the locals have the dogs out driving around. I didn't see it mentioned here and it may not be popular with the hiking crowd but I generally carry a sidearm. Not something I would use unless absolutely necessary but its there if I need it, really more for protection from the wrong kind of people than animals.
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