How to Hang a Bear Bag — The PCT Method and Alternatives Explained

If you’re camping anywhere black bears live, your food is either going to be: (a) in a bear canister, (b) in a bear locker, (c) hanging from a tree, or (d) eaten by a bear — whether that’s today or three nights from now depends only on circumstance. Hanging food from a tree is a legitimate option in many backcountry areas, but it has to be done right.

This is the practical guide: the PCT method (the gold standard), the common alternatives, and when to skip hanging entirely in favor of a canister.

When Hanging Is Allowed (and When It Isn’t)

Bear bag hanging is prohibited in many national parks and wilderness areas. Some common no-hang zones:

• Most of the Sierra Nevada (bear canisters required above 9,000 ft in many zones)
• Yosemite backcountry (canisters required)
• High Sierra (Inyo, Sequoia, Kings Canyon — canisters required)
• Adirondack high peaks (canisters required)
• Most Alaska national parks

Check regulations before you go. The ranger station or trailhead information board will tell you. If canisters are required, don’t try to hang — both because it’s illegal and because the bears in those areas have been habituated to human food access and know how to take bear bags.

For areas where hanging is legal, read on.

The PCT Method — Step by Step

The PCT method is the gold standard bear hang used across the Pacific Crest Trail and most of the East Coast backcountry. It uses a counterbalance technique that’s bear-resistant and doesn’t require tying off knots in the dark.

What You Need

• 50 feet of cord (2.5mm reflective paracord) — reflective helps you find your bag at dawn
• A small carabiner (weight ~0.4 oz)
• A stuff sack for your food
• A small throw bag or rock (or tie your water filter pouch with a rock inside)
• A stick (~1 foot, found on the ground)

The Steps

1. Find the right tree. You want a tree at least 200 feet from your camp and 200 feet from water. Look for:

• A horizontal branch at least 15-20 feet off the ground
• The branch extending at least 6 feet from the trunk
• The branch thin enough that a bear can’t walk out on it (~2 inches diameter)
• Living wood, not a dead branch that’ll snap

2. Throw your line over the branch. Tie a rock or throw bag to one end of your cord. Throw it over the target branch. This takes practice — allow yourself several tries.

3. Attach food bag to one end. Tie your food bag to the end that’s now on the ground.

4. Hoist the food bag up to the branch. Pull the other end to raise the food bag until it reaches the branch.

5. Attach the carabiner to the cord. With the food bag up at the branch, attach a carabiner to the cord below the food bag.

6. Loop the free end through the carabiner. Pull the slack end of your cord through the carabiner.

7. Tie a slip knot loop at the free end. This is your access loop.

8. Pull the food bag down using the slip knot. As you pull, the carabiner slides up the cord toward the food bag.

9. When the bag is at about 12 feet, insert your stick through the slip knot loop at about chest height. This creates a counterbalance stop.

10. Release the cord carefully. The stick catches on the cord at the branch, leaving your food bag suspended 12 feet off the ground with no visible cord for a bear to pull.

In the morning: Use your hiking stick or a long branch to lift the stick out of the loop. The bag lowers as you release the cord.

Why This Works

Bears are strong and smart. A simple tied-off cord invites them to pull the cord and the bag comes down. The PCT method’s counterbalance means there’s no cord for the bear to grab — they’d have to walk to the end of a thin branch and then somehow reach 6+ feet down. They won’t.

The Alternatives (and Why They’re Usually Worse)

Simple Two-Tree Hang (Marriot Method)

Two trees, cord across between them, food bag suspended in the middle. Works okay but requires exactly the right tree spacing (rare) and the cord is still visible to bears.

Rock Counterweight

Instead of the stick trick, hoist your food bag up, then tie a rock to the free end, throw it over another branch, and hang both sides evenly. Heavier, harder to rig, and rocks fall off. Skip it.

Tree Trunk Tie-Off

Lazy option — tie the cord off to the tree trunk at chest height. Bears can just walk up, pull the cord, and pull the bag down. Don’t do this. It’s how food gets stolen.

Ursack (Not a Hang, but Listed for Completeness)

An Ursack AllMitey is a Kevlar food bag that you just tie to a tree trunk. Bears can try to destroy it but can’t get to your food. It’s IGBC-approved as a bear-resistant container in many areas but not accepted in all jurisdictions (most of the Sierra doesn’t allow it). Check regulations first.

Pros: Lightweight (7.6 oz), fast to set up, no hang needed
Cons: Not accepted in all areas, contents can still get mashed into inedible goo by a determined bear

When to Use a Bear Canister Instead

Hanging has real problems:

• Requires finding the right tree — in open alpine or burned forest zones, that tree doesn’t exist
• Takes 20+ minutes every evening and every morning
• Fails regularly — in popular areas where bears have learned the hang technique, they can defeat most hangs
• Requires skill — a bad hang is worse than no hang because it teaches you false confidence

A bear canister eliminates all of this. Set the canister 200 feet from camp, walk away. Total time: 30 seconds.

Popular canisters:

• BearVault BV500 — the standard. 2 lb 9 oz, fits 7-8 days of food for one person.
• BearVault BV450 — lighter (2 lb 1 oz), fits 4-5 days.
• Bearikade Weekender — premium carbon option, 1 lb 10 oz, pricey ($300+)

The canister is heavier than your food bag + cord, but the time savings, reliability, and regulatory flexibility more than justify it for most trips. See our bear canister guide for a full comparison.

Food-Handling Best Practices (Regardless of Method)

1. Never store food in your tent. Ever. Smells attract. Bears investigate. Tents are not strong enough to keep bears out.
2. Cook and eat 200 feet from your sleeping area. Food smell gets on the ground, the rocks, your clothes. You don’t want that near where you sleep.
3. Store everything smelly in the bear bag/canister. Food, trash, toothpaste, sunscreen, deodorant, chapstick — all of it.
4. Pack out all food waste. “Bears will eat it” is true and exactly the problem. Food scraps teach bears to associate campsites with food.
5. Wipe down cookware before storing. Residual food smell on a pot goes in the bag/canister with the food.
6. Odor-proof bags help. An OpSak or similar reduces smell transmission.

Related Guides

• Bear Canister Guide: Where, Why & Which
• Leave No Trace in the Backcountry
• Beginner’s Guide to Backcountry Camping
• Ultralight Backpacking Meal Ideas

Essential Bear-Safety Gear

Store your food right. Everybody sleeps better.