View Full Version : Bear Canister Vs. Bear Bag
Having hiked in Yosemite where canisters are required, is it recommended to bag vs. can? I own the BV 500 and was wondering if I should use a bag vs. the can for size weight benefits?
taildragger
12-14-2009, 20:23
Neither, just skip the shelters or heavily camped areas and you should be fine, sleep with your food or do the old pct style of bear bagging and you won't have to worry about the mini bears
A lighter option you could consider is an outsak (http://www.simpleoutdoorstore.com/Outsak.html) or grubpack (http://www.grubpack.com/) --- not bear proof, but fairly rodent proof.
I had been planning to bring my Ursack, another lighter-than-a-bear-can option, but on reflection I think I'll start without it and ask my wife to mail it out if it turns out that rodents are enough of an annoyance to pay the 8 oz weight penalty.
Lone Wolf
12-14-2009, 21:12
Having hiked in Yosemite where canisters are required, is it recommended to bag vs. can? I own the BV 500 and was wondering if I should use a bag vs. the can for size weight benefits?
bag.............
garlic08
12-14-2009, 21:14
A silnylon stuff sack and 50' of paracord is all I've ever used everywhere except the Sierra Nevada. I usually hang the food, to keep the mice out of my tent more than anything else.
stranger
12-17-2009, 02:44
You don't need a Bear Canister along the AT, learn the PCT method of hanging food and make sure you get a roll-down stuff stack, that's large enough to have all your food and cooking stuff if you are concerned.
daylaandjasper
12-18-2009, 17:40
I agree a bear can would be needless weight on the AT.
SouthMark
12-18-2009, 17:47
I hiked a section of Maine this summer with a lady that only needs 165 miles to complete the trail and she, like Lone Wolf and others has always slept with her pack and food in her tent with no problems.
wcgornto
12-18-2009, 21:28
I had been planning to bring my Ursack, another lighter-than-a-bear-can option, but on reflection I think I'll start without it and ask my wife to mail it out if it turns out that rodents are enough of an annoyance to pay the 8 oz weight penalty.
I started out going SOBO from Katahdin Stream campground with an Ursack this year. It didn't make it past White House Landing because of the weight penalty. I converted my much lighter pack liner into a food bag and used it for the duration of the hike. My Ursack was the most expensive item that I left in a hiker box this year and I am sure that someone was pleased with the find. As for my sil-nylon pack liner / food bag, it performed perfectly for the whole hike and I had no issues with mice or other critters chewing through. I used bear boxes / cables / poles where present and hung in the shelters form the cords with tin cans otherwise. No problems wharsoever.
mweinstone
12-25-2009, 18:44
bearcans are the envy of all when stuggeled with to carry,.....when they become the best chair. but they fail as a bear can. sleeping on my food as my pillow till i die. hanging when others make me. i make mice soup.eat bears and laugh at pillowless hikers. ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Toolshed
12-25-2009, 19:07
Carry the Garcia BV500 in the DAKS (required) otherwise, I hang if in populated trail areas (near shelters) or sleep with my food and pack when not in populated areas. Garcia sent me one of their new lid designs 2 years ago to test in the DAKs, but no bears came forward to volunteer....