Ask A Bear: Bags vs. Canisters?

I work in Yosemite Wilderness, and thank you for mentioning your smart Yosemite Black Bear relatives here.

We don't recommend that our wilderness travelers lodge their bear cans in-between rocks, as that may allow one of you bears get a blow on the lid thus allowing a break-in. However, as you correctly point out, it should be placed in a flat open area so it won't be knocked over and roll over a cliff or down a creek or stream.

Rock-on,

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Wow what a debate! Looks the best method would be to bring extra food and feed the bears to keep them away from yours. What is a bears favorite packers food?

Contrary to popular belief, bear canisters are NOT indestructible. I have friends that hike into the Adirondacks quite often and the last time they went they were informed that a bear canister was necessary for their trip. After acquiring an approved canister they hiked up into the camp for the first night. Stashed all their food in the canister. As they went to bed that night the were awoken to the sounds of a bear checking out their can. When they checked in the morning they found that the bear had destroyed the can. Not merely just figured out how to open it but destroyed it. He ripped it apart. I saw the pictures! That can looked like someone put the 2012 San Diego fireworks display inside of it. They may be tougher than a bear bag hung in a tree, but they are not the perfect solution that many claim they are.

Contrary to your advice, wedging the canister in rocks is NOT recommended. It is like clamping it in a vice, making it easier for a bear to work on breaking it or prying it open.

Bearikade is $225 for the small Weekender model. Not sure how much the week long model is, but I can imagine it is in the hundreds of dollars. It appears to be a quality product but that is a lot of money. The Backpacker's Cache Bear Proof Container is a good size for a weekend trip and won't break the bank at about $60, similar to BearVault.

As John Naresky points out hanging bear bags is pointless. I think the new motto should be, "Hang a bag, kill a bear".

Just contacted and received preferences from Smokey Nat Park. Hanging or locking in the bear safes at camp sites are the only accepted methods. If they see a canister they will confiscate it and fine the owner.

Let's be honest, we can go back and fourth all day long about witch is better; bear bag or bear can. All I know is that you can't use a bag as a chair or table.

Adirondack black bears learned long ago what the rope on a tree trunk means. They scrape their claws across it and down comes the bag. If the bag is tough to get to, the mother will send the cub up on the branch to knock it down.
Bear-proof canisters are the only way to go, especially in the High Peaks, with its huge population of humanized bears.

John Naresky
Tamarack Guide Service
www.naresky.com/guide

Get over it and use the canister! You will find in the end that it makes your life easier. Those who don't are just make thing harder for all of us. One other point is that a canister makes decide what you really do and don't need. Like we tell our scout troop, if it doesn't go in the canister, it isn't going. I can get 7 to 8 days worth of food in my canisters.

I live in Yosemite most of the year and therefore come in contact with alot of very smart bears. I've even seen a bear pull a move we dubbed the kamakazi: climbing into a nearby tree and jumping out of it so as to tackle a bear bag mid-air and bring it to the ground. If you are anywhere where bears and humans have had contact before, those bears probably already know how to get into a bear bag. I say always use a canister, you can usually rent one for less than $10 at your local ranger station. P.S. don't store your canister anywhere near running water, if a bear bats it into the river you will never see it again.

TomL, you are ignorant of how many Ursacks have been destroyed in California. Talk to a few Inyo NF and Sierra NF rangers about that before you pretend they are as effective as canisters. There is a reason they were never approved.

what about your pack? it smells like food and whatever else was put in it, so what are you folks doing to keep a bear, or other critters from chewing on it?

I grew up in New Jersey and have been backpacking for over 30 years; I have camped in the Catskills, Adirondacks, Pennsylvania and New Jersey without a single incident of a bear making off with my food. After years of being more concerned with mice, squirrels, and the long list of other less threatening creatures finding a way to get at my food I switch to a canister. The change has forced me make a few adjustment in how I pack, however, even taking into account the added weight I’m pleased with my decision. As for Kschimt’s comment, “why we are all forced to use bear canisters in the first place because urbanites generally are more savvy with electronic gear but not in the use of bear bags” This “urbanite” from New Jersey knows how to and always has properly use a bear bag. I currently live in upstate New York; however, I believe utilizing a more secure method of protecting your food supply would be referred to as common sense by a simple “electronic savvy urbanite”.

My first backpacking trip I did the bagging thing - yeah, with black bears and moisture starved alpine trees in the Rockies. You need two trees to suspend the bag...oh, and within reasonable distance of one another. It was a pain in my you-know-what.
I got a canister and it was a drag in how much space it takes up and the weight, but it was nice not to have to locate proper hanging branches.
As for the extra space as I eat the food - I start stuffing other things in the canister - med kit, rain pants, etc.
I do want to invest in the Bearicade because it is so much lighter.

Personally, I like the idea of a cannister because of those DAMN ANTS!

This has been an interesting debate for about as long as there has been canisters. Bears are not even near the top of my list of grub grabbing so-and-sos; that title goes to tree rats, a.k.a. squirrels. You can’t believe what a crow or bucket load of mice can do to a bag either. I learned my lesson (several times) and now the Bearikade is always in the pack. The thing makes a great seat or stove platform to boot. I’ve listened to the arguments and tried them all at one time or another. Except for a steel grub can like in some National Parks a canister is the only way to go. But, don’t stop debating cause I certainly won’t stop listening.

Ursacks are allowed in most of CA. Canisters are absolutely required in only Yosemite and a few areas of SEKI. Tests with real bears have shown them to be just as effective as hard sided canisters when properly used. They are lighter, cheaper and compress down as you use up your food. In Yosemite a lot of what bears get is food that hikers can't get into their canister at the beginning of their trip. This keeps bears habituated. When I hike there, I use a Bearikade, with an Ursack for the overflow; in my view an effective compromise.