stupid question about bear canisters

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so you got your bear canister, you have all your food in it. great. Now what? what exactly do you do with it? sleep with it? put it outside you tent?

i thought if you put it outside your tent, and a bear takes it - well great, he can't get into it, but can't he smack it over a cliff or into a river while trying to open it? it's still gone either way.

i thought of hanging the bear canister, bu that was just ridiculous and made me laugh at the idea.

so what do you do with the canisters after you have your food in them?

i know, by the way, that i will not need a bear canister on the appalachian trail to protect myself - the rocket launcher i'm bringing should do just fine - but i'm thinking ahead to the pct.

thanks

TV

[Berserker]

I bought one for use in the Sierras, and I use it around here sometimes when I'm on a more relaxed trip. I usually just set it in some bushes or undergrowth. Just make sure you set it somewhere such that if it rolls it rolls away from things like streams and cliffs and not into them. I haven't had a bear mess with mine yet (either here or in the Sierras)...the keyword is "yet" of course.

[Snowleopard]

Ideally, you put it a couple hundred feet from your tent in a spot where the bear can't roll it away, knock it into a river or over a cliff. Where I've used it (Adirondacks, in forest) it's pretty easy to find hollows or low spots where the bear can't knock it away. Putting it far from the tent is more important where there are grizzlies.

[Tipi Walter]

It's not so easy finding a place to cache or keep your bear vault where a bear can't move it. They can move almost anything. I had two BearVaults pulled out of a rootball cache and swatted down a hillside 100 feet, gnawed and worried to death, but never opened. In camp? If discovered a canister will be moved.

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thanks for the replies.

i guess the only certain way to make sure a bear does not get to my food before i do, is to eat it all first. let him spend half the night swatting an empty canister around specifically for my evening entertainment.

thanks

TV

[ChinMusic]

If Griz country......think triangle. NO NOT put it in your tent as some do on the AT (including me). Sleep at one point, eat at another point, and store your can at the third. Bears WILL smack the can around....that is the plan. They won't waste a lot of time messing with it if they have seen one before. They just smack it around in hopes the lid isn't put on properly (they may have been rewarded for their efforts in the past).

You do not have to place food in your can that you will be eating before your first night. Bulky items are a common meal for day 1.

I place my can in the open, in an area away from a water source or cliff. I expect them to smack it around at night. They cannot carry it away or hold it in their mouths. That is part of the design. They will get bored of kicking it around without reward. You will find it in the morning. The more scratches and teeth marks the better.

[The Old Boot]

Is there any point in tying the canister off to something like a tree?

Just enough that a bear could play around with the canister but wouldn't be able to send it skittering down a hillside.

[LoneRidgeRunner]

I think..what's the point?...I think I read in Tipi's Trail Journal that a bear once rolled his vault about 150 yards away into some weeds..fortunately he was able to find it and still had his food... The point is..If you can't find it it's little consolation knowing that the bear couldn't actually eat your food..If you can't find it you're still gonna go hungry..so why carry the extra weight of a bear vault when many of you won't carry a band aid because it's just too heavy and after all..many people say never to carry anything unless you use it every day.. When I back pack Deer hunted I didn't use my rifle every day but I still took it along...Same thing..If a bear doesn't slap your food canister around every day..why take one?

[hikerboy57]

Is there any point in tying the canister off to something like a tree?

Just enough that a bear could play around with the canister but wouldn't be able to send it skittering down a hillside.
Yes, put canister in bear bag and hang from tree where its safe(read article on proper hanging )

[Snowleopard]

Is there any point in tying the canister off to something like a tree?

Just enough that a bear could play around with the canister but wouldn't be able to send it skittering down a hillside.

No, because you don't want anything that the bear can get hold of and drag your canister off. Bears can't get hold of the canister itself, but could snag the rope or strap you use to tie it off and drag it a long way.

There have been recent cases in the Adirondack of a fast sneaky bear making off with some of the contents of a canister when it was open, so don't leave the canister open.

[rsmout]

Out west and in Alaska, we used the three-point method described by ChinMusic for our bear canister. We put the canister in the crotch of a downed tree and a big rock to anchor the canister in the crotch; a three-point jam, if you will. We then put a stack of our clean pots, pans, and dishes on top, and then put a rock on top of that (not so big as to wreck our cooking gear). If the bear messed with the stack, we would hear it and make enough noise to drive the bear away, if he could be so compelled. If not, then we would watch and wait to see what would happen next - this was the plan. In the three or four cases that I remember, the bear (all of them black bears) took off after we yelled at it. With the canister stuck in the crook, the pots and pans clattering around, and a bunch of a noisy humans hurling insults, the prospect of a difficult score was more than the bear could bear. ;-)

[Tipi Walter]

I think..what's the point?...I think I read in Tipi's Trail Journal that a bear once rolled his vault about 150 yards away into some weeds..fortunately he was able to find it and still had his food...

What I couldn't figure out is why the bear didn't wait for me in the high weeds where he rolled them and where I went looking---he would've eaten like a king.

[The Old Boot]

Yes, put canister in bear bag and hang from tree where its safe(read article on proper hanging )


Sorry, but MY reason for carrying a bear canister is simply because I CAN'T hang it. I am fully aware of my limitations and know that throwing a rope successfully just isn't going to happen hence a bear canister is not an option.

[TIDE-HSV]

Sorry, but MY reason for carrying a bear canister is simply because I CAN'T hang it. I am fully aware of my limitations and know that throwing a rope successfully just isn't going to happen hence a bear canister is not an option.
I'm a bit puzzled. Most folks don't hang a bear canister. Most leave them in the open away from the campsite. I've often thought, when forced to carry one, that I'd remove it from the campsite but tether it to a tree...

[Ender]

Ideally, you put it a couple hundred feet from your tent in a spot where the bear can't roll it away, knock it into a river or over a cliff. Where I've used it (Adirondacks, in forest) it's pretty easy to find hollows or low spots where the bear can't knock it away. Putting it far from the tent is more important where there are grizzlies.


No, because you don't want anything that the bear can get hold of and drag your canister off. Bears can't get hold of the canister itself, but could snag the rope or strap you use to tie it off and drag it a long way.

There have been recent cases in the Adirondack of a fast sneaky bear making off with some of the contents of a canister when it was open, so don't leave the canister open.

Snowleopard has it right. Put it on the ground, away from your tent. Don't tie it to anything, or else the bear will be able to run off with it.

One tip for finding it if the bear does knock it around that a Sierra ranger told me... get a few strips of reflective tape, preferably of a bright color, and stick it to the sides and top/bottom. It'll make it easier to find in the morning after it's been moved.

[ChinMusic]

One tip for finding it if the bear does knock it around that a Sierra ranger told me... get a few strips of reflective tape, preferably of a bright color, and stick it to the sides and top/bottom. It'll make it easier to find in the morning after it's been moved.

I got two strips of reflective tape on mine and a TON of stickers. NASCAR would be proud.

[Spirit Walker]

If you're in open country (i.e. Alaska or Montana) it also can help to put your hiking stick nearby so you can find it (assuming a bear hasn't moved it.)

And as to the question of "what's the point?" Usually your food will be kept safe. The bears don't get it. In places like the Sierras there are a lot of habituated bears. You want to unhabituate them. e.g. teach them that messing with your food does not give them the reward they seek.

In many places it is also a legal requirement to use a bear canister. You can't hike through the Sierras without one. National parks in Alaska require them. If you're in grizzly country, they are a good idea - because usually in grizzly country there are few good trees to hang food. Most people don't know how to hang food well in any case. Habituated bears can become dangerous - and so usually end up dead.

Lots of good reasons to use a bear canister in high bear concentration areas.

[map man]

I've hiked out west in some places where bear vaults are required, and I now prefer to bring one along on all hikes rather than take the time to try to hang my food. The extra couple pounds is worth it as I can avoid the effort of looking for that "just right" tree limb which is often next to impossible to find. I set my bear vault on the ground around 100 yards from my tent and away from where I ate. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had any critters mess with the bear vault during the night. And as a bonus, my bear vault makes a great camp stool while I am eating.

[TIDE-HSV]

I've hiked out west in some places where bear vaults are required, and I now prefer to bring one along on all hikes rather than take the time to try to hang my food. The extra couple pounds is worth it as I can avoid the effort of looking for that "just right" tree limb which is often next to impossible to find. I set my bear vault on the ground around 100 yards from my tent and away from where I ate. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had any critters mess with the bear vault during the night. And as a bonus, my bear vault makes a great camp stool while I am eating.

I'd always thought the idea out west was to keep bears out of camp and provide some protection where food can't be hung. (I've hiked out west where canisters weren't required and I've lost food to bears in CO and WY.) I guess my question is what's the use of locating it remotely in eastern black bear territory? The bears are going to be all over your camp, anyway, investigating. I guess one lesson I had was, years ago, when a bear stole my wife's pack at Sheep Pen Gap in the Smokies, a Ziplok bag fell out. This bag had never had food in it nor even been near food. (It stored her bladder drinking tube.) The bear picked it up and bit through it several times, just because it'd become accustomed to such bags holding food, I suppose. I'm not sure what good putting food 100 yards away would help, except you wouldn't have to listen to the bear experimenting...

[Tipi Walter]

I've hiked out west in some places where bear vaults are required, and I now prefer to bring one along on all hikes rather than take the time to try to hang my food. The extra couple pounds is worth it as I can avoid the effort of looking for that "just right" tree limb which is often next to impossible to find. I set my bear vault on the ground around 100 yards from my tent and away from where I ate. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had any critters mess with the bear vault during the night. And as a bonus, my bear vault makes a great camp stool while I am eating.

The only problem with carrying a bear canister is when pulling long trips without resupply, say in the 15 to 20 day range. I'm already loaded down, I can't imagine humping all my food for an 18 day trip in three or four BearVaults.

[swjohnsey]

I have seen one person carrying a bear canister so far. I have been sleeping with my food. No problems so far . . .