Plan
- Who has set up a bear bag before? What technique was used?
- If nobody knows how to rig a bear bag, how can you learn this skill?
- Find a location to practise this skill (preferably a place with some mature trees)
- Who will gather the needed equipment?
Do
- Bear bagging isn’t a skill you want to learn on the fly, so it’s a good idea to practice doing it before you leave on a trip.
- Divide into teams and practise rigging bear bags.
- Experiment with different methods of rigging the food bag so that it is at least three metres off the ground and three metres from the any tree trunks. If a food bag can be rigged higher up and farther out, all the better. If not, what is the best you can do with the resources you have on hand?
- Try rigging between two trees. Are there rock features that can be used to rig your bear bag?
- After every team has successfully stowed its food packs high off the ground, compare experiences. What technique did each team find worked best?
Review
- Were you successful? Why or why not?
- What do you know now that you did not know before?
- Did the group work as a team? How so?
- Did you have fun? What were some highlights?
- How did you feel before, during, and after this activity?
- What would you do differently in the future?
- Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map
Keep it Simple
- Break down the process of bear bagging into steps, rather than trying to do everything at once. Practice hanging your bear bag on a soccer goal or something similar to learn techniques for raising and lowering the bag. You can also try using a tree for target practice to practice throwing the rope over a branch.
Take it Further
- Find a creative way to teach bear bagging to another Section! Create a comic, make a video or put on a skit to share your best bear bagging tips!