While packing for my most recent backpacking trip I realized I didn't have a very good line in my gear collection for hanging food. The line I had in my gear and was accustom to caring was a bit on the short side and with the recent reports of Bear activity on Grand Island where we were headed(http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2014/08/bear_feeding_problems_on_grand.html) I wanted to have long line to ensure I could get our food hung up high. And since it was the night before I was to leave for the trip. And I still needed a few last minute grocery items, I headed to our local open 24 hours 'super store' Meijer to see what I could find. I looked around for a bit in the Sporting goods and Home repair areas and the following items are what I came up with to use for my Backpacking Food-Hanging line:

- 50 foot 5/32" polypropylene reflective line for $3.99

- 3 pack of carabineers for $3.79

- Neoprene camo sunglasses case on clearance for $4.99.

So for 12.77 plus tax I had every thing I needed plus two extra carabineers, and I'm sure I'll find a use for those.

Step 1: Putting It Together

I used the sunglasses case as a place to store the line in. The neoprene case stretched just a little to get the whole 50 feet of line inside, but it wasn't stretched too tight just nice and snug. I found wrapping the line around my open hand got the loop size about the right size to fit inside the case. When its time to hang your line, the case acts as a pocket that can be filled with rocks or other heavy items to throw the line over a high branch. The glasses case had a clip connected to a loop that is on the case, so I carefully cut the clip off using a wire cutter. I then tied the polypropylene reflective line in a loop to the loop on the glasses case. I made sure to make a loop at the end of the line for connecting a carabineer. Be sure to connect the carabineer to the loop on the line, not the loop in the case. And since my food bag is purple, I made sure to pick a pack of carabineers with a purple one in it and used that one because in my mind it just made sense to match it to the bag. ;)

On the first night of our trip I was able to try using it for the first time. I was able to toss it over the branch I wanted to on the second try. Duplicate results are not guaranteed. The 5/32" line managed to hold all the food that 4 of us had backed along for the trip, and we eat well! And the reflective line made it really easy to see and find the line back at night while wearing a head flashlight.