Improve Bear Bagging with This Cord Winder

For years I’ve been stuffing my bear bag rope into a stuff sack or throw bag for storage or winding it around my hand and then placing it in in the bag for storage. At the next campsite, it inevitably becomes tangled as I take it out. I’ve discovered a product that prevents the tangly mess of bear bag ropes. It’s the Cord Winder by Hilltop Packs. The best part is that it is only $5. I bought two for reasons explained below.

The concept is simple. Take the idea of line winders for kites and apply it to bear bags. That’s exactly what Hilltop Packs did when making the Cord Winder. It couldn’t be simpler to use. You just wind your rope around the device. There are a couple of slots that you can lock the tails into to prevent them coming undone in your storage sack. It actually took me longer to explain how to use it in words than just to look at it.

It works best with thin arborist’s throw lines, such as 2.2mm rope by Zing-It and Notch. This stuff has a tensile strength at or over 650 pounds. It’s crazy strong for the size. It’s also slippery, which helps it glide through the trees. Ultraglide Bear Line (50′ Hank) by Lawson Equipment is a good choice if you don’t want to buy more than 50 feet.

I like to carry two sets of ropes for using in Boreal forests that don’t have good trees for doing a PCT style bear bag setup. Instead I’ll do the single tree and pulley method of bear bagging. I substitute a small carabiner for the pulley, and the line slides so easily through the carabiner that you don’t need a pulley. Each set has 50 feet of rope and one cord winder. If you use two of these, then it’s much better to buy in bulk rope than individual. You get a full extra 80 feet than you need.

The cord winder weighs just 0.4 ounces, and to me it is worth the weight. With the rope, it’s 2.4 ounces.

This product is one of those simple ideas that costs almost nothing, weighs nearly nothing, and improves my camping experience so much. It’s hard to believe that it hasn’t been made specifically for bear bagging before now. Using this, I don’t need to worry about tangled ropes anymore.

Get it at Garage Grown Gear, a small company devoted to lightweight products based right here in Minnesota.