I do the same thing - 50 feet of nylon cord attached to a small bag some tiny piece of gear came in (pillow, hand towel, collapsible trowel, or some such thing), with a mini-biner for attaching food bags. Bears aren't a problem most places I go, so I don't always need a perfect branch - just something 10 or 15 feet high and strong enough to hold the bag, so I can keep it out of reach of the raccoons and other bandits.