Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Ursack passed the IGBC test.

According to Ursack, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC)has just retested their bear resistant container and it passed. Hopefully, this will lead to it's acceptance in the areas where it is currently not deemed acceptable.

Would like a link for that. Maybe the BRC should be tested against the Drop Bear.

That's great news. I have to admit, I was betting on the grizzly for this test with the sack left lying on the ground instead of being tied off. And it made it through 2 hrs - double the required time.

Now to see what the NPS does with this certification.

A total of 7 Bears had at their sack for about 2 hours and were unable to breach it.

This is what Ursack posted:
April 18, 2014

We are still awaiting the official certification letter and number from the IGBC, but can share some of the details. At IGBC insistence, we baited an Ursack S29 AllWhite, knotted it securely and placed it on the ground with no aluminum liner and not tied to a tree. The first two grizzlies went at it for an active 57 minutes. One of the bears was nick-named "The Destroyer," but neither he nor his sister were able to compromise the Ursack. The Grizzly Wolf and Discovery Center rotates bears in and out at approximately one hour intervals. So the Destroyer went back to his quarters and five, count 'em, five more grizzlies came out to work on the same Ursack. The IGBC testing protocol requires a total of 60 minutes of active bear encounters, so even though we needed just a few minutes more to pass the test, there was no way to get the Ursack out until the five bears finished their shift. Not to worry. Ursack made if for another hour. A total of seven grizzly bears and two hours of active clawing, biting and scratching--yet Ursack survived. After washing the Ursack one could barely (bearly?) tell that it had been attacked.

Makes me chuckle at what must have been quite a scene with all those bears trying to get into the bag. I'm wondering what sort of food was inside.

I'm going to guess that after that much mauling, and without the aluminum liner, whatever was inside was pretty mangled and mashed. I think I'd want to include the aluminum liner to help insure the food was not mashed to smithereans.

It is really good to hear they did not get the "food reward", since that is what would keep a bear coming back and trying every hikers camp. Without the food reward, they will leave hikers alone.

Bottom line, though, is that S29 AllWhite might be on my list pretty soon. The other thing I'd add to my equipment, too, is some bear bells. I want to know if a bear is messing with my gear. I think I'd tie it away from my camp, but close enough to throw rocks at the bear if I hear the bells.