Bear Canisters? Really?

[pilgrimskywheel]

Bear canisters don't do much to stop bears from coming around (you smell like food) they stop bears from getting at your calories and becoming habituated. (I have not conducted extensive scholarly research to support this, just hiked around in bear country.) I bought a canister in Lone Pine for the Sierras (where I also mistakenly believed crampons and poles were required - they're not as it turns out: my B!) and I hated it so much I gifted it to another hiker and borrowed and ErSack for as long as I thought I could get away with it - then ditched it too. (Turns out rangers don't really care, or have any authority anyway I'm told.) I thought the sacks we're approved now, but am not sure - I do know they are way better than that stupid can which makes a great seat, and a drum too by the way. Where else are you going to put your "I'm a hiker" stickers when your Nalgene is covered with dogma? Don't worry - I'm sure the facts are forthcoming! Only 70 days of meteorological winter left!

[HooKooDooKu]

Bear canisters don't do much to stop bears from coming around (you smell like food) they stop bears from getting at your calories and becoming habituated. (I have not conducted extensive scholarly research to support this, just hiked around in bear country.) I bought a canister in Lone Pine for the Sierras (where I also mistakenly believed crampons and poles were required - they're not as it turns out: my B!) and I hated it so much I gifted it to another hiker and borrowed and ErSack for as long as I thought I could get away with it - then ditched it too. (Turns out rangers don't really care, or have any authority anyway I'm told.) I thought the sacks we're approved now, but am not sure - I do know they are way better than that stupid can which makes a great seat, and a drum too by the way. Where else are you going to put your "I'm a hiker" stickers when your Nalgene is covered with dogma? Don't worry - I'm sure the facts are forthcoming! Only 70 days of meteorological winter left!

While I can't say for all of the Sierras, in some parts, like National Parks, rangers are LEOs and park rules are effectively "law".
So it is a mistake to claim rangers do not have any authority.

Additionally, in most (if not all) sections of the Sierra where bear canisters are required, the UrSack has NOT been approved as a bear resistant container. The problem is that the sack still allows the bear to chew on the bag allowing food to mix with their saliva and provide the bear with something of a food reward.

[ScareBear]

Its a recommendation not a rule. Not everyone is well schooled in this, or other general recommendations the ATC makes that are designed to inform and advise novice hikers.

Wrong. Between Jarrard Gap and Neels Gap, including both shelters(Wood's Hole and Blood Mountain), it's the law. Not a recommendation.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...rdb5351875.pdf

[Alligator]

Wrong. Between Jarrard Gap and Neels Gap, including both shelters(Wood's Hole and Blood Mountain), it's the law. Not a recommendation.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...rdb5351875.pdf

Did you read that? It expired June 1, 2016. Has a new one been issued?

[Venchka]

.... waiting though to see if URsacks become legal in the sierra.

Don't hold your breath. California is a different universe.
Wayne


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[colorado_rob]

Don't hold your breath. California is a different universe.
Wayne

I know, I know. Still, I'll wait until I have to buy the $200 canister, one never knows.

By the way, I've used two canisters on previous long hikes, neither is any way odor proof. Bears can smell canisters a mile away. I guess they just learn very quickly that they simply cannot get to the food inside them.

[ScareBear]

Did you read that? It expired June 1, 2016. Has a new one been issued?

Still appears on the Chattahoochie-Oconee NF web page. You are correct, though. The order does seem to have expired June of this year....

I'll phone down to the Forest Supervisor and/or Info Officer tomorrow when they are at work to see about 2017.



FS LE Rangers carry pistols, shotguns and M4 rifles and drive marked units with lights and sirens and are both Rangers and Law Enforcement.

[HooKooDooKu]

I know, I know. Still, I'll wait until I have to buy the $200 canister, one never knows.

By the way, I've used two canisters on previous long hikes, neither is any way odor proof. Bears can smell canisters a mile away. I guess they just learn very quickly that they simply cannot get to the food inside them.

Correct. The whole idea is the bear finds a canister for the first time and plays with it for an hour trying to get into it before he gives up. The next day, a different camper comes by with a similar canister, sniffs it a few times, then moves on because he remembers wastin g an hour trying to get into one of these yesterday.
If all campers properly use the cannister, even in areas where there is a dense bear population, bears will quickly learn people are not a source of food and they done create a problem. At least that's the theory.

[AfterParty]

I like the idea of one I can't say I will carry one I would like to do the triple someday anyways so I will need on pct an CDT I think parts anyways. So I may just get the http://www.wild-ideas.net/the-weekender/ before my AT and be satisfied, maybe the bigger one? I like this one but I may wait to buy until I actually need it.

[MuddyWaters]

Correct. The whole idea is the bear finds a canister for the first time and plays with it for an hour trying to get into it before he gives up. The next day, a different camper comes by with a similar canister, sniffs it a few times, then moves on because he remembers wastin g an hour trying to get into one of these yesterday.
If all campers properly use the cannister, even in areas where there is a dense bear population, bears will quickly learn people are not a source of food and they done create a problem. At least that's the theory.

And it works .
Bear cannisters reduced human-bear interactions in sierra by 95%

[ScareBear]

Still appears on the Chattahoochie-Oconee NF web page. You are correct, though. The order does seem to have expired June of this year....

I'll phone down to the Forest Supervisor and/or Info Officer tomorrow when they are at work to see about 2017.



FS LE Rangers carry pistols, shotguns and M4 rifles and drive marked units with lights and sirens and are both Rangers and Law Enforcement.

It seems that the FS offices are closed today. I will try again Monday...

[colorado_rob]

I like the idea of one I can't say I will carry one I would like to do the triple someday anyways so I will need on pct an CDT I think parts anyways. So I may just get the http://www.wild-ideas.net/the-weekender/ before my AT and be satisfied, maybe the bigger one? I like this one but I may wait to buy until I actually need it.

that's the model I will buy as well, assuming ursacks don't become legal in the sierra by next september when we attempt the sierra high route. My wife borrowed one of these on our first jmt thru, she managed 7 days food in it, very tightly packed.

[HooKooDooKu]

It took getting a little creative, but I managed about 9-10 days food in a Bearikade Expedition (~1,000cuin) at ~4,000 calories per day.
What I loved about the Bearikade is how easy it is to get into (so long as you can keep up with a coin).
On the 2nd morning of my JMT thru, a neighboring camper came over to my camp asking for help to open a BearVault they were using. It took two people to open that BearVault that morning... one to squeeze the side in to get past the tabs while the other turned the canister.

[Tipi Walter]

It took getting a little creative, but I managed about 9-10 days food in a Bearikade Expedition (~1,000cuin) at ~4,000 calories per day.
What I loved about the Bearikade is how easy it is to get into (so long as you can keep up with a coin).
On the 2nd morning of my JMT thru, a neighboring camper came over to my camp asking for help to open a BearVault they were using. It took two people to open that BearVault that morning... one to squeeze the side in to get past the tabs while the other turned the canister.

I was out on a trip a couple years ago when a black bear worried my bearvault to death but didn't reach the food!!!


Food 1, Bear 0.


But he did get to my Thermarest, dangit. Bear 1 Thermy 0

And you're right, BearVaults can be a . . . uh . . . bear to get into esp when cold. It kills the fingers trying to turn the lid while pressing in.

Bearikade can make any size you want as a custom order (not cheap) and so you could always carry a behemoth canister and probably get in enough food for a 15 day uninterrupted trip. Plus, imagine filling the thing up with raw foods like unpackaged oatmeal---just start pouring in the dehydrated foods without any packaging and spoon it out when needed. Who cares if your oats are mixed with your mac and cheese mixed with your chili beans mixed with your ramen noodles? It's all going into the same cathole eventually.

[wannahike]

[QUOTE=ScareBear;2113795]Still appears on the Chattahoochie-Oconee NF web page. You are correct, though. The order does seem to have expired June of this year....

I'll phone down to the Forest Supervisor and/or Info Officer tomorrow when they are at work to see about 2017.

It has expired in June every year it has been in place. I think it starts in March with thru hikers and ends in June.

[Hosh]

I was out on a trip a couple years ago when a black bear worried my bearvault to death but didn't reach the food!!!


Food 1, Bear 0.


But he did get to my Thermarest, dangit. Bear 1 Thermy 0

And you're right, BearVaults can be a . . . uh . . . bear to get into esp when cold. It kills the fingers trying to turn the lid while pressing in.
.

Use a credit card or a small knife blade

[B.j. Clark]

Use a credit card or a small knife blade

Here's a good visual of the easy way to open a vault, even when it's cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YUTs_w6_pA

[Greenlight]

It's all going into the same cathole eventually.

I like your style


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[rocketsocks]

I like the idea of one I can't say I will carry one I would like to do the triple someday anyways so I will need on pct an CDT I think parts anyways. So I may just get the http://www.wild-ideas.net/the-weekender/ before my AT and be satisfied, maybe the bigger one? I like this one but I may wait to buy until I actually need it.

just on general principle I'll not pay that much...surely there's a better/cheaper mouse trap out there somewhere, I had no idea these were that much, I'm shocked!

[Sarcasm the elf]

Here's a good visual of the easy way to open a vault, even when it's cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YUTs_w6_pA

Appreciate you posting this.

I'm not a canister person, never used one before, so when I was at REI today I noticed they had a BV450 out on display and I decided I'd try to open it because of some of the comments on this thread. For the life of me I couldn't get the darn thing open with my bear hands. .