Ursack Main Assessment

Backside Line

The Ursack Main is among the lightest and most handy bear-resistant meals storage choices out there. In contrast to cumbersome canisters, it packs down small and simply suits inside a backpack, making it best for ultralight hikers who prioritize minimal pack weight. Its robust cloth and high-tensile energy wire forestall most bears and different critters from escaping along with your meals, although it doesn’t all the time maintain contents intact. Persistent bears can crush or mash what’s inside and even tear it open occasionally.

Though it’s IGBC-certified for grizzlies, it’s not universally accepted in each park or wilderness space.

We’ve used the Ursack in rugged, high-traffic bear zones like Colorado’s Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, the place it supplied each comfort and peace of thoughts. For ultralight backpackers and skilled hikers who prioritize simplicity and weight financial savings, it’s a superb selection. For extra heavy-duty bear canisters, see our information to the very best bear canisters.

How We Examined

We examined the Ursack for quite a few nights throughout a number of backpacking journeys within the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, Indian Peaks, and different areas.

The testing included verifying producer specs, evaluating its precise packing capability, and evaluating many consumer reviews with our personal first-hand experiences within the backcountry.

Weight & Packability

The Ursack is a good way to shed weight whereas nonetheless retaining your meals protected from bears. The Ursack Main weighs simply 6.3 ounces and measures 12.5 inches by 18 inches when totally packed.

That’s simply two kilos lighter than a number of the lightest hard-sided bear canisters available on the market. Because it’s a smooth, collapsible bag, the Ursack can be a lot simpler to pack than a bear canister. It solely takes up as a lot house as your present meals provide.

Ease of Use

The Ursack is straightforward to make use of with out difficult or irritating locking programs. The Ursack is designed to be a robust barrier towards bears, not a puzzle to trick them. 

Holding critters out nonetheless requires a course of to be efficient. First, guarantee the 2 wire strands are crossing, then pull the drawstring shut and safe it with a double overhand knot. Bears aren’t the one animals after your meals, so it’s vital to have a good enclosure to stop small rodents from climbing in.

As soon as tied, you’ll have to safe the Ursack to a tree. A easy overhand knot across the trunk will suffice, however Ursack recommends utilizing a quick-release knot like a slip knot so you’ll be able to simply untie it after it has been pulled on by a bear all night time. If attainable, wrap it round a department just a few ft as much as make it tougher for a bear to get leverage.

Discovering the proper tree can generally be tough, particularly if the trunks are cluttered or branches are out of attain, however in most bear nation, a superb anchor is normally not distant.

A small however useful bonus: the reflective wire and tag make it simple to seek out your bag with a headlamp after darkish, so that you don’t waste time wandering across the woods searching for your meals.

Safety

The Ursack’s safety primarily relies on two elements: how properly you utilize it and the way motivated the native bears are. If you happen to ensure to tie good knots, it’s unlikely that any woodland creature will make off along with your whole meals bag.

The IGBC has licensed the Ursack as efficient towards grizzlies, although it’s vital to notice that their checks contain well-fed captive bears, not the hungry, pre-hibernation black bears you may encounter within the wild. These intelligent scavengers are notoriously persistent.

In follow, the Ursack normally holds its personal towards most bears, nevertheless it’s not indestructible. There are a number of reviews of persistent bears and different critters gnawing a gap within the UHMWP bag. Even when a bear can’t tear it open, it may nonetheless crush, squeeze, and pulverize your meals into an unrecognizable mess. You’ll nonetheless have your rations within the morning—however possibly not in edible type.

For greatest outcomes, we extremely suggest pairing it with an odor-proof liner like a Smellyproof or Opsack. This mix considerably reduces scent and temptation, retaining your meals safer—and hopefully much less smushed.

Allow CompatibiLity

The Ursack carries the vital IGBC certification for grizzly bear resistance—the important thing requirement to be used in most regulated bear nation. Nonetheless, it doesn’t have a separate certification for black bears, which are sometimes extra persistent and dexterous in terms of meals raids.

Even with the IGBC’s stamp of approval, the Ursack isn’t accepted all over the place. Some nationwide parks and wilderness areas nonetheless require a conventional hard-sided bear canister, so it’s essential to double-check native laws earlier than relying solely on the Ursack.

To make that simpler, Ursack prints a QR code inside every bag that hyperlinks to an up to date map exhibiting the place its use is accepted, restricted, or prohibited. It’s a useful function that helps forestall surprises whenever you attain the trailhead.

Capability

The Ursack is available in a number of sizes to accommodate completely different journey lengths and group sizes, together with the ten.6-liter Main, 15-liter Main XL, and the big 30-liter Main 2XL, which might maintain roughly two weeks’ value of meals for one individual. 

The Main is the most well-liked selection, providing sufficient capability for about 5 days of backpacking meals whereas retaining bulk and weight low. It’s giant sufficient to suit a SmellyProof Bag crammed with 14 Good To-Go meals, or as much as round 27 meals in the event you skip the odor barrier liner. This measurement is flexible sufficient for many backpackers on journeys per week or shorter.

The bigger XL and 2XL variations are perfect for longer journeys or small teams. No matter measurement, every Ursack compresses simply when empty and weighs solely a small fraction of what a bear canister does.

Ought to You Purchase the Ursack Main?

The Ursack Main is right for backpackers and thru-hikers who prioritize low weight, flexibility, and packability over most safety. It’s appropriate for these touring via bear nation the place Ursacks are permitted and who’re assured of their meals storage methods—equivalent to tying safe knots, utilizing odor-proof liners, and choosing good tie-off spots.

For light-weight adventurers, it gives an important stability of comfort and peace of thoughts, avoiding the majority and awkwardness of a tough canister. 

Nonetheless, it’s not your best option for areas that strictly require canisters or for these searching for a totally foolproof barrier towards robust bears. The Ursack is barely bigger than a typical bear canister, but when used accurately, it provides plenty of usefulness for a fraction of the load. For these keen to commerce some energy for a lighter, extra packable setup, it’s top-of-the-line bear canister alternate options out there.

What Different Bear Canisters and Backpacking Meals Storage Ought to You Take into account?

Our full information to meals storage choices covers every thing from security-enhancing equipment to tank-like bears canisters.

Smellyproof Luggage Assessment: Smellyproof Luggage (or comparable odor barrier) are important for any non foolproof meals storage technique. At simply half an oz, they supply added safety and peace of thoughts in bear nation. They may very well be the distinction that saves your meals and the bear’s life.

Adotec Ultralight Bear Locker: This ultralight bear canister different is one other soft-sided storage technique. Just like the Ursack, the Bear Locker advantages from the added safety of Smellyproof Luggage and straightforward packability.

Grubcan Carbon 6.6 Assessment: For hard-sided canisters, the Grubcan Carbon is the closest in weight to the Ursack. It features like different hard-sided containers however weighs lower than two kilos. Nonetheless, these weight financial savings for the safety of a hard-sided container come at a really excessive value.