If you have been looking for a better way to hang your food while backpacking, well here it is. In this video Joe Brewer teaches you how to hang a bear bag PCT Style (in case you are wondering, PCT stands for “Pacific Crest Trail”).
The items needed to hang your bear bag using the PCT style are:
- Food bag
- Carabineer
- 50’ of rope (longer if you know the trees are taller)
- Small Tyvek bag (tent stake bag works well too)
- A couple of small rocks
- A stick
Make a loop using a bowline knot at one end of the rope. Using the loop in the rope to make a Lark’s Head knot, secure the rope to the bag. Feed the top of the bag (with rocks in it) through The Lark’s Head Knot and cinch it tight.
The next step is to throw the bag over a tree limb. You want to find a limb that is at least 25’ off the ground, and hang the rope at least 6’ from the tree trunk. Once you have successfully tossed the bag over the branch, remove the bag and replace it with the carabineer that is attached to your food sack. Take the other end of the rope and feed it through the carabineer. Now raise the food to almost to the branch. Using the stick, make a clove hitch and run the stick through it. Now is the cool part. You slowly let the stick slide back up and it will catch on the carabineer. This concept is awesome because toy don’t have tie off the rope. There are a lot of smart bears out there that will cut your rope. Using the PCT style, there is no rope for the bear to cut.