Bear Bag or Bear Canister for Thru Hike

[MichaelRedBeard]

So Bear Bag or Bear Canister for a thru hike? Which would you select and why? Also no specific one is required at any of the places I will walk through correct?

[Walkintom]

There are a couple places where you are required to have a bear canister (Blood Mountain comes to mind) but they are easily hiked thorugh without sleeping in that area.

I find the canister to be a pain to deal with, packing and unpacking. A food bag is more flexible with your available space.

[swjohnsey]

Neither....

[Deadeye]

Entirely your call. I use a bear can, but I'm the exception to this rule (and many others). I use a can because I spend a lot of time where they are required, so I've become accustomed to it, and find it has enough advantages to be worth it to me: food stays dry, uncrushed, protected from rodents, etc. YMMV

[SteelCut]

... it has enough advantages to be worth it to me: food stays dry, uncrushed, protected from rodents, etc. YMMV

The best benefit of a canister is that it provides a great seat

But that being said, a canister is entirely unnecessary for the AT.

[Fredt4]

Few if any carry bear canisters on the AT. I found a Ursack a good compromise because the mice, squirrels and chipmunks are relentless.

[Sarcasm the elf]

If you are going to use a bear bag, get proficient at hanging a proper PCT method bag. A properly hung bearbag is very hard for a bear to get into, a poorly hung bearbag is almost worthless.

[Sarcasm the elf]

So Bear Bag or Bear Canister for a thru hike? Which would you select and why? Also no specific one is required at any of the places I will walk through correct?

Hardly anyone carries a canister or an ursack. There is only one five mile stretch where a bear canister is required for overnight camping and it can be easily avoided by walking through and camping elsewhere.

From the ATC website:

Bear canisters seasonally required for camping between Jarrard Gap and Neel Gap
A new U.S. Forest Service rule requires approved bear-resistant storage containers for overnight camping on a 5-mile stretch of the A.T. in the Chattahoochee National Forest between Jarrard Gap and Neel Gap, between March 1 and June 1 each year. This stretch is located between points 26.7 and 31.7 miles north of the southern terminus of the A.T. at Springer Moutain, Georgia, and includes Woods Hole Shelter, Slaughter Creek Campsite, and Blood Mountain Shelter. “Bear canisters” should be used to store food, food containers, garbage and toiletries. For more information, call the Chattahoochee - Oconee National Forest at (770) 297-3000.

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/trail-updates

[BirdBrain]

What he said in the last 2 posts.

[Hangfire]

Yeah bag it and use the PCT method. I sadly have to admit that it took me over 1400 miles to wrap my mind around the PCT method, but once I got it only I was golden.

[MuddyWaters]

I like bear cannisters. I would be more than happy to carry one on AT..... if everyone else had to also.

[Another Kevin]

I think there's a canister in my future, because at some point I want to try some hikes in places that require one. (The Adirondack Great Range is the first one that comes to mind.)

I wouldn't bring it on the A-T, though.

I do a halfway-decent PCT hang. Elf can attest to that. We hung our bags from the same 'biner at least once. I'm pretty religious about doing one in a heavily-trafficked area like the A-T. If I'm bushwhacking miles off trail, then the bears aren't going to see humans as a food source and once in a while I'll sleep with my food. And I sleep with it when the bears are asleep. December-March is pretty safe where I hike. November and April are getting risky.

[Donde]

If you are at an established site use provided cables/boxes/poles. I usually just stay away from established sites and sleep with my food (I also do not camp where I cooked).

[SawnieRobertson]

Bear bag unless hanging it is beyond your capabilities.