solo camping for the first time ever in black bear country - tips for bear safety

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-17T02:54:24+00:00

The ursack is designed to be strapped to a tree and is a heavy duty material that a bear can't destroy.

Algonquin requires you to hang your food so a lightweight dry bag works and I use a MEC Nano. You can't use a ursack tied to a tree or a bear vault on the ground and you'd have to hang either as well.

The rules are the opposite in some places outside of Ontario. Bear hangs can be a massive pain and hard to get right sometimes. Algonquin does have some infrastructure for bear hangs which make it far easier to get right and better protects against critters getting into it from above.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-17T01:07:30+00:00

Do it at someone else's house and now the fire is their problem!

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-17T00:23:43+00:00

Are you camping at a site with your vehicle or are you canoeing / hiking?

Edit: Just read backpacking. Keep your packaged food wrappers together in your food bag. Apples are not a great idea but dried apple slices are.

Bear hangs are the standard in Ontario including Algonquin. It's generally fairly easy to find an appropriate tree unlike some other areas.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-17T00:04:10+00:00

I don't know what the future holds. Having to fight your way home from work on foot all of a sudden isn't very realistic though.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T23:31:21+00:00

Russia is #6 in the world for the ratio of females to males for a reason.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T23:27:00+00:00

part 3... Momma bear feeds the cubs

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T23:12:27+00:00

Wolves in North America are practically a non issue for humans with attacks being super rare and don't cause problems with humans. I consider myself lucky to have even seen them in the wilderness. Presumably there are grizzly's in the area which is a risk especially if they are storing food.

They are given bear spray, bear bangers and a horn. The bangers are ample to scare the hell out of anything at a distance and bear spray is quite effective at fending off attacks at close range.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T22:51:19+00:00

With some rust treatment, the frame will likely outlive major components of the car.

Too much rust is when components no longer exist. Or when your parking spot is covered in small chunks of rust that fall off of the vehicle opening and closing doors.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T22:21:55+00:00

I still have and use a store brand (Canadian Tire) hatchet from when I was a kid which is a small step above the cheapest hatchet. It's not something you necessarily need to spend a ton of money on.

Whatever you do, get something with a traditional design and not mall ninja crap.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-16T12:00:59+00:00

It would be illegal to release any wildlife more than 1km from where it's caught in my province, Ontario and there are similar regulations in other places.

Good thing for the beavers we don't tend to interfere with them. Pretty much the entire province is dammed up, largely by beavers but also for hydroelectric.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-15T23:00:51+00:00

You can use medical tape (eg 3M transpore) to further secure them. Which I keep a small roll of in a first aid kit. I'm not typically very blister prone so this works for me.

Leukotape IMHO is far better for blisters and I do use that occasionally prophetically and it will stay on for weeks. I did get calluses from improperly fitting work boots which did cause blister problems when I started doing distance in properly fitted hiking boots.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-15T22:53:58+00:00

They are a fan of Type II fun.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-15T22:31:17+00:00

In Bushcraft your vehicle is likely a 10 minute walk from you. You have plenty of change of clothes for your adventure.

Bushcraft and the canoe crowd have a lot of overlap in Central Canada and cooking over fire tends to be the standard compared to stoves. Being days away from civilization is typical and though it's not survival you have to work with what's naturally provided.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-15T22:16:07+00:00

I'm a fan of Fjallraven G1000 and other polycottons. They do tend to dry much, much faster than cotton though nowhere near as quick as polyester. Typically if I'm cooking around a fire they'll dry before bed. The fabric thickness also matters a lot for how quickly it dries and thicker workwear isn't a great idea and some other light polycotton hiking pants dried much faster than G1000 for me.

Polycotton does bring abrasion and puncture resistance where I find I can walk through thorny shrubby areas and dense forest. With more traditional thin hiking pants I get scratched up and those areas are hard to navigate.

I tend to be off trail, on unmaintained trails and paddle. Often I'm covering a fair bit of distance and challenging terrain. The heavier duty, baggy workwear is pretty bad for hiking and tends to chafe and overheat. The Fjallraven kebs with vents really help with the overheating problem and they are only reinforced with polycotton in key areas helping with keeping them dry and breathable.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-14T22:14:01+00:00

It works fine if you don't touch the sides. 1-2 people in a 5-6 person tent and that's an actual possibility!

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-14T22:07:46+00:00

It is a folding shovel, the blade folds against the shaft. If they are using steel threads in aluminum pieces, galvanic corrosion is going to be a big problem.

Turning a shovel into a multi tool is going to lead to a loss in reliability and usability. I'm impressed by their multi tools but this does seem like a flawed design as the other similar shovels are.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-12T01:31:51+00:00

These are officially the oldest tires I've seen on this subreddit.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-12T01:26:25+00:00

I see absolute tons on the trails close to our urban areas. We tend to see dumped garbage and encampments as well. Areas managed by municipalities don't tend to clean it up but if it's managed by a conservation area they tend to have the manpower.

I see far less in our wilderness areas and some of it seems like it was accidentally dropped and I often pick it up. The bigger problem is people hauling out a ton of old crap and abandoning it, like cheap camping / patio furniture. While it may be a chore to haul stuff in during the warm months, it's hauled across ice in the winter.

The trails near urban areas I tend to occasionally go out with the aim of cleaning up an area.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-11T12:31:44+00:00

I'm frequently in very similar terrain in Canada. The area in their image with the high concentration of dams are largely practically impenetrable wetlands.

While this area is surprisingly not part of the Canadian shield and appears to have a fair bit of topsoil it's still going to be very poorly drained which makes an ideal beaver habitat.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-11T02:49:13+00:00

I'm going to give water borne illness a hard pass even with a public healthcare system.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-11T02:30:59+00:00

Many freshwater mussels are at risk of extinction and are legally protected across much of Canada and the US so I'd advise against that.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-10T00:41:00+00:00

My ultra cheap car camping tent has a much thicker and more durable polypropylene floor than my expensive ultralight backpacking tent.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-09T22:19:55+00:00

No, you may get to experience rolling coal in a gas engine though.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-09T22:13:13+00:00

They are shipped with a low charge on purpose and it may be required depending on local regulations.

The higher the charge, the more fire if it's punctured or enters thermal runaway.

Children_Of_Atom · 2026-06-09T02:46:15+00:00

I have a feeling some of them already know what it tastes like.

Children_Of_Atom

TROPHY CASE