Bear-proof container or NOT???

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Wandering Daisy
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Where bear canisters are optional, I assume the authorities know this risk and therefore do not require them. It depends on my route. You can also plan a route so that you can use the bear boxes at lower elevations, where bears are more prevalent. I foresee a time when the entire Sierra will have bear can requirements.

Where not required I often us the Ursack. On longer trips I usually use the Bearikade. On short trips (2-3 days) I do not use a canister unless absolutely required. I would love to have a smaller Bearikade for these trips but just cannot afford to buy one. The "packability" of a bear can is a BIG issue for me since my pack is women's small size. I guess they figure a small woman will have a big man with her to carry the bear can!

I have an Ursack, Bearikade Weekeneder, Bearvault (large one), and Garcia canister. I rented a Bearikade before I decided to buy one. I really like the Bearikade. My children bought me one for Christmas so I did not even have to spend the $$! You can rent all kinds of bear cans, and I think it is a good idea to try them all before making your decision. Personally, I no longer use the Bearvault or Garcia. I use these to store food at the trailhead where there are no bear boxes. Twice I had extreme trouble getting the lid off the Bearvault. Yes, it is bear proof - but it also "me-proof", LOL. I find that the lid and can do not expand at the same rate when heated or cooled. My husband who has much stronger and bigger hands does not have a problem, but I do. I have also had the Bearvault "vacuum lock" with change in altitude. The size of the Garcia is really good because it fits horizontally in my backpack, whereas the others do not. But the Garcia is WAY heavy for its volume.

Invent a lighter weight bear-proof container that does not cost an arm and leg and you will become rich!
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schmalz
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by schmalz »

re: Bears at elevation. I just saw one at Gilbert Lake this past Sunday morning at 11k feet.
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Herm
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by Herm »

schmalz;

yep, they're on 4 feet, and they can go where they wanna go. If they don't find food, they will just keep on moving until they do find food, be it from a backpacker who doesn't secure their food, or a natural source.

eta: my hope is that they find only their natural source of food - and that is why I will always carry a "bear" canister.

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paul
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by paul »

My feeling is that I am done with hanging. I got tired of having to pick my campsite by the criteria of a good hanging tree, and having to wonder when I was above the big trees whether my food was safe, and dealing with the whole rigamarole. So I carry my canister unless there are no bears or it is a ski trip. Makes a nice seat in camp, and i have had bears walk through my campsite in Yosemite and not touch it.

Bears at elevation - I once was looking for a campsite around 11k along bubbs creek - we were thinking no problem with bears, we're plenty high. So I find a nice flat area and walk over for a closer look. Center stage is a big bear turd - and it is half aluminum foil.
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Alpine high
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by Alpine high »

Wow, things are certainly different in the Trinities and Marbles. Hanging is all I have done for 40+ years of backpacking and all I have ever did in the Sierras, not one single incident, but it's been awhile since I've been there.I guess things have changed dramatically since I was a ranger out of High Sierra. Sounds like I may have to bite the bullet and use a bear can. Too many people doing the wrong thing will attract bears. I cleaned up so many campsites where people left all kinds of garbage, took a crap next to camp, cleaned their fish near camp, built campfire pits the size of couches. My god, what happened to low impact, leave no trace behind camping anyway? I learned a long time ago how to hang food, but it sounds like that may not work any longer because of lazy, uninformed people who have now caused this problem. Thanks for all the responses, I knew this would light a fire.
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paul
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by paul »

There are still a lot of places in the SIerra where hanging works just fie, and even places where I would just not worry about it. But those are not anywhere near popular or commonly visited areas. You need to be off-trail and in areas where few people go.
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sparky
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by sparky »

I just want to chime in that I have seen evidence of bear and mountain lion above 11k.

I also have never seen or heard a bear in any of my camps at night. I have backpacked the majority of my lifetime and have spent countless nights out backpacking. I use a bear canister.

You know whats more annoying than a bear canister? Hanging food properly. "Hot damn I want a midnight snack! Oh nevermind...."
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The hermit
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by The hermit »

+1 on hanging being a pain. Always seem to be doing it just before bed(set up your rope before dark) I can't fit everything in the can. Then there are those spots that are over used and you realize the tree you hung from has been robbed a million times . Of course this always happens when I'm almost asleep! ](*,)
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by Scouter9 »

4 guys spent 35 minutes roping and rigging our sacks to suspend across a 30' wide arroyo with the lowest point of the bags about 15' off the ground in the center of the little canyon up at the head of Lyell Creek. That night, an epic thunder and lightning storm that rained flecks of gravel on us in camp after a strike hit the headwall of the canyon 100' away from us.

That next morning, after very little sleep, our bags were secure...but the bottom had been torn off of two and we had 2 days left of food for 6 more on trail. We determined that escaped circus bears either stood on each other's shoulders or Yogi in the tree was heavier than any of us and able to induce a sag that 200lb'ers couldn't. We also had to pack up and sprint to Tuolumne meadows to beat the departure of our drop-off ride that had camped the night after we hit trail the day before.

That led to a switch to Garcia bear canisters which, although heavy and accursed, are better and more convenient than dealing with bagging in inclement weather or simply the price of failure. Once I discovered the BearVaults, the Garcia became a display model. The BearVault lets me sleep confidently and is generally left unmolested, anyway.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: Bear-proof container or NOT???

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I wish that backpack manufacturer's started seriously designing packs with the idea that a bear canister will be carried. Bear cans are designed to be slippery, thus tend to fall off if strapped to the outside of a pack. "Is that my food rolling down that snowfield?". I am experimenting with an old Kelty external frame - trying to figure out a clip system to carry the bear can on top next to the extender bar. Carried inside, little room is left for anything else. Maybe not a problem for men's x-large packs where you can put the can in horizontal, but for a woman's small it is a huge issue. A stiff bear can set vertically in an internal frame pack is literally a pain. Seems like you almost would need a hybrid external-internal frame pack.

I have read suggestions that you carry the empty bear can outside the pack and the food inside in a bag. That seems to me to just add more weight and does not solve the bear can falling off the pack issue.
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