Balzaccom, thanks for the line suggestion. I have used the PCT method for hanging so far, which uses a carabiner attached to the bag, and a stick to keep the line from sliding back through the carabiner. It still accomplishes the goal of no line tied off to the tree like the counter balance method.

Lori, I'll look into the zing it. I actually read a bit about that while I was searching for info on this topic before and after posting the question here.

Gershon, those lessons have already been learned the hard way, but thanks for the warning. Hopefully someone else will read this and be spared. I really stress the dont stand on it part. You can usually dodge something coming on a predictable path at a predictable time, its that sudden jerk that will throw your timing off and get you hit :P.

Ringtail, the push up with your hands and hope for the best technique is what I had to resort to this time. I haven't heard of much bear trouble where we were, so I was mainly worried about the smaller animals. I would prefer a system that doesn't leave the end of the line tied off to the tree, because I've heard of animals knowing to cut the line to the tree to drop the bag. I have an idea of incorperating the pulley concept into the pct method, if I get it worked out I'll post a diagram.