Welcome to the AppalachianTrailCafe.net!
Take a moment and register and then join the conversation

Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Ok so the boyfriend is on the verge of buying a bear canister because welp he felt they were so useful in the adirondacks against the mini bear. I have always hung my bag in a tree (it's a fun game to entertain after a long day hehe). I have never had the blessing of meeting a bear face to face. and luckily mini bear haven't made their way into my bag. The canister is sturdy but sooo heavy. I'm stuck his weight becomes my weight and I've already done so much work whittling the weight from previous trips from 60-70lbs (just my pack) to 25-30lbs Skin out including boots and trekking poles. So were stuck with the decision for bag or canister. and no the whole chair thing doesn't matter I have a hammock =] I refuse to sleep with my food. any good canisters that aren't ridiculously heavy and expensive? or bear bags which are a better fight against the dreaded mini bear? Suggestions? Also I may have been in the presence of a bear but I just kept telling myself he was a moose and stayed very still and it went away (I was sleeping in a lean to woke up in the middle of the night to some very heavy foot steps passing by, wandered over to the lean to I felt a snort or breeze if you will on the outside of my sleeping bag and then whatever it was continued on ..it had been 4 days with no shower wearing synthetics so I don't blame the snort haha)
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      I agree. A bear canister is too heavy. If your boyfriend wants to have one, make him carry it. If you refuse to sleep with your food and don't have a canister, then you are going to have to hang your food some time. Simple solution: Hang your food PCT method and let your boyfriend do what he wants. Make it clear that if he brings a canister, then he will carry said canister.

      For what it is worth, I looked into carrying one myself. I decided it was too heavy and just hung the food. I am not worried about bears though. I am more worried about mice and 'coons.

      Now I let the rest tell you the right way to do it. :lol:
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      In some parts of the DAKs they are required. There was even a bear that learned to get into them. If not required I sleep with it or hang depending on bear activity. This can be learned by talking to local campers or rangers in the area. Just bear in mind, all rangers have to state company policy. You have to be very specific in what & how you ask questions. A simple, "Should I hang my food?' will almost always get a yes... If you ask has there been any reported bear activity at X campsite(s) you will get a better answer.

      Another option instaed of a canister is an ursa sac. Much lighter & bears can't get in. But due to way NPS regulation were written they don't comply in mandatory canister zones. If you hang, pct method is the best. Bears in northeast have learned to cut lines attached to trees. When I hiked the PCT counterbalancing was reccomended method. The bears learned to shake the branches to make them fall or break the branch. PCT hang they have to break the branch. So even that isn't 100%. Many say sleep with your food. I find bears/ like humans to go for what is easiest. I had one friend wake up to the sound of nylon ripping & feeling the warm foul smelling bear breath on his face. He died...just kidding, his scream of shear terror scared it away! He was in a car campground where most people locked food in their trunks.

      So...learn about bear activity in the SPECIFIC area you plan to go & do what you feel comfortable with. If you have to carry one, they do make a decent stool!
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      "Just bear in mind" I see what you did there lol. I will be on the AT and I believe there really isn't anywhere canisters are required. At least areas I can't just hike through and not worry about it. And how do ursa sacks hold up to the vicious mini bear. those deadly chip n dale chipmunks that seem to chew through anything. I'm looking for balance between resilience, weight and practicality. And if I woke up to bear breath in my face and my tent ripped I would do a little more than scream bloody murder... There may be a trip into town shortly before showering the evidence of my bear encounter off of myself lok
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      At first I didn't comprehend by you mini bear reference. I rate bear as park bear & wild bears. Park & campground bear have lost most fear of humans & go for anything they can get. In some western parks they have learned how to get into cars by ripping up the doors & trunks! My friend got his tent ripped open in a CA Stat park by a problem Yosemite bear that was relocated. The ursac minor sounds like what you are looking for for your mini bears.

      While people at home invision you battling grizzly bears, mountain lions & rattlesnakes, reality is far different. Ticks, mice, wet roots & rocks are the demise of hikers several hundred times over. In life in general I say don't worry about the little things. On the trail, it'd the opposite! Don't worry about the big things & watch the little things!
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Thank you blood mountain I forgot. and I plan on hiking right through there instead of staying in that area. Thanks for the tip, and better yet its 15$ less than the canister would have been. He was looking at the exact one we was in the adk's the one they replaced the not so bear proof canisters with,( they knew how to open the old ones) ill read up on reviews but the white sac with aluminum liner is at least half the weight of a canister, not sure if we would want the aluminum or not. Those scent proof bags are intriguing though,
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      In my opinion mini bear are far worse they have been known to drop from trees to try and knaw through your Pack if your not paying attention. Little devils nothing scares them. At least they don't scare as easily as a curious actual bear. In Allegheny, ny near my house bears are all over. Boar too but not as common as bear. Last year there was a bear ripping off the siding of a camper I try to get inside because of the food. I've never eaten or kept food near where I sleep. For fear of something like that. even in my car everything is air tight, da bears are outsmarting some of us haha
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      I see little need for the aluminum liner. Unless you are worried about crackers getting crushed. Most trail food will get beat up in your pack anyway unless you are carefull. I tend to prefer tortillas for long self life or bagels for first few days out of town. On AT I normally sleep with food. In Blood Mt area I'd hang. The bear(s) have been roaming outside can zone & have gotten food bags. Simple solutions. Don't use regular tent sites in the area, don't eat where you sleep & when camping with others. Just hang your bag better than they do! :evil:
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Mountain-Mike wrote:

      I see little need for the aluminum liner. Unless you are worried about crackers getting crushed. Most trail food will get beat up in your pack anyway unless you are carefull. I tend to prefer tortillas for long self life or bagels for first few days out of town. On AT I normally sleep with food. In Blood Mt area I'd hang. The bear(s) have been roaming outside can zone & have gotten food bags. Simple solutions. Don't use regular tent sites in the area, don't eat where you sleep & when camping with others. Just hang your bag better than they do! :evil:

      Last year I found many food hangs laughable.
      I saw bags hanging less than 3 feet of the ground and on flimsy bushes.
      Some people insisted on hanging a bag rather than any other option even when there was no viable place to hang.
      I hung my food once (in the Smokys because everyone else did).
      Everywhere else I slept with it.
      Get one of those odour proof bags. They may not be perfect but they will mask the smell enough that your hiker funk will overwhelm it. The main reason for the odour proof bag is to thwart the rodents. They're the real problem.
      There will be so many badly hung bags out there for the bears, they won't want to fight you for it.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Bekki wrote:

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.


      Ha ha ha!! That's awesome right there. Tell him to bugger off and carry his own damn gear. Did he buy into that hope and change bunk too?
      Of course I talk to myself... sometimes I need expert advice.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      Bekki wrote:

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.


      Ha ha ha!! That's awesome right there. Tell him to bugger off and carry his own damn gear. Did he buy into that hope and change bunk too?


      I'd be slipping a few things back in his pack. Or better yet, conveniently forget to bring them. Or just tell him to bugger off like Tuckahoe said.
      Bekki, can I suggest you really don't need an extra bra and maybe only one extra pair of underwear for a 4 day trip? You really just need the clothes you're wearing, sleep clothes, and extra socks.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      Bekki wrote:

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.


      Ha ha ha!! That's awesome right there. Tell him to bugger off and carry his own damn gear. Did he buy into that hope and change bunk too?


      I'd be slipping a few things back in his pack. Or better yet, conveniently forget to bring them. Or just tell him to bugger off like Tuckahoe said.
      Bekki, can I suggest you really don't need an extra bra and maybe only one extra pair of underwear for a 4 day trip? You really just need the clothes you're wearing, sleep clothes, and extra socks.


      This is what i take also.........the bra is multi functional :huh:
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      CoachLou wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      Bekki wrote:

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.


      Ha ha ha!! That's awesome right there. Tell him to bugger off and carry his own damn gear. Did he buy into that hope and change bunk too?


      I'd be slipping a few things back in his pack. Or better yet, conveniently forget to bring them. Or just tell him to bugger off like Tuckahoe said.
      Bekki, can I suggest you really don't need an extra bra and maybe only one extra pair of underwear for a 4 day trip? You really just need the clothes you're wearing, sleep clothes, and extra socks.


      This is what i take also.........the bra is multi functional :huh:


      Slingshot for hunting your dinner? ;)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      I knew this subject would attract comments. I won't quote them all, but rather just add my random opinions. Many sleep with there food. MM has good advice there. OZ is correct. If you can't hang your food right, find another method. Tuckahoe is right. Tell him to carry the lead weight. Shared misery? Stand up and tell him to suffer alone. Do not carry a canister on the AT.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.
    • Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Mountain-Mike wrote:

      At first I didn't comprehend by you mini bear reference. I rate bear as park bear & wild bears. Park & campground bear have lost most fear of humans & go for anything they can get. In some western parks they have learned how to get into cars by ripping up the doors & trunks! My friend got his tent ripped open in a CA Stat park by a problem Yosemite bear that was relocated. The ursac minor sounds like what you are looking for for your mini bears.

      While people at home invision you battling grizzly bears, mountain lions & rattlesnakes, reality is far different. Ticks, mice, wet roots & rocks are the demise of hikers several hundred times over. In life in general I say don't worry about the little things. On the trail, it'd the opposite! Don't worry about the big things & watch the little things!


      MM, that last paragraph is classic, especially the last sentence. Make sure you get it in the book. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Mountain-Mike wrote:

      If you do bring your cat it could be a negative weight issue. Not much need for food for it & charge a protection fee if you sleep in a shelter. A snickers bar per person seem reasonable to me for mice protection gif.014


      Lol genius! he's a savannah cat so should get pretty big. I was actually thinking the last few months on the trail I might invest in one of those harness/dog packs lol make him carry his own food and water maybe pawn some more weight off on him heheh
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      I only bring these things when I'm expecting or dealing with the female issues that men so readily don't want to talk about. just so happens I have horrible planning skills and luck when I schedule a vacation lol. At least I can prove that it doesn't attract bears afterall!


      TrafficJam wrote:

      Tuckahoe wrote:

      Bekki wrote:

      Wouldn't sleeping with your food attract bears to your tent? That is why I am not comfortable with that idea. I will be bringing my hiking kitty along with me and I know the food can be quite potent smelling. Every time we've had to rent a bear canister I wind up carrying his extra weight to balance it. he wants our weight to be fair. Even though he has this habit of packing extra things we don't need and my extra things are female necessities. Example the underwear he can skip but I can't. The bra etc. at the end of our last trip he realized that my pack wound up being 5lbs heavier than his after he was done pawning extra items on me. Once we got back to the Parkinglot. I'm a woman I don't think I am quite as strong as him. But he did apologize maybe he learned his lesson. that was my 14mile day on a sprained ankle haha. At least he found out I can be a trooper.


      Ha ha ha!! That's awesome right there. Tell him to bugger off and carry his own damn gear. Did he buy into that hope and change bunk too?


      I'd be slipping a few things back in his pack. Or better yet, conveniently forget to bring them. Or just tell him to bugger off like Tuckahoe said.
      Bekki, can I suggest you really don't need an extra bra and maybe only one extra pair of underwear for a 4 day trip? You really just need the clothes you're wearing, sleep clothes, and extra socks.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      Bekki wrote:

      I only bring these things when I'm expecting or dealing with the female issues that men so readily don't want to talk about. just so happens I have horrible planning skills and luck when I schedule a vacation lol. At least I can prove that it doesn't attract bears afterall!


      TrafficJam wrote:



      I'd be slipping a few things back in his pack. Or better yet, conveniently forget to bring them. Or just tell him to bugger off like Tuckahoe said.
      Bekki, can I suggest you really don't need an extra bra and maybe only one extra pair of underwear for a 4 day trip? You really just need the clothes you're wearing, sleep clothes, and extra socks.
      [/quote]

      Gotcha ;). Taboo subject around here. I'm an L&D nurse, pm me if you have questions...I don't give medical advice tho.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Re:Bear canister how I loathe and love thee

      I only bring one bra/slingshot I was just giving example of different necessities without getting too in depth. I bring two sets of socks because I have this bad luck of Lways stepping in a puddle. The spare is for sleeping with, and you're so right! Rocks and roots scare me more than anything when hiking, oh and leaves when you cant see the trail so pretty but not quite as pretty when ya take a tumble [IMG:http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/21/unupy7et.jpg]
    • max.patch wrote:

      this is from the bearicade website. this looks nothing like what i bring on a hike. maybe the real food is just under the apples, pears, and all those bars.

      [IMG:http://www.wild-ideas.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/800x460-cornucopia.jpg]
      I have carried the almonds...I don't do bars at all unless I make them at home. Chopped dates with shredded coconut and chopped almonds mixed together make a real energy glob. Mine never quite look like bars! Apples and pears ride in the net in the back, first day only food. Dried fruit after that that goes in the can. I can get 9 days in a weekender, but everything gets repackaged for max density. I don't see a big glob of Amish butter in a ziplock either. No white powder?(mashed tators) :/
    • You know, I have a bear can someplace.
      I don't know the brand or size, as I've never used it.
      If I remember right it's brown plastic.
      The only reason I have it is a friend, who doesn't hike or camp anymore, was cleaning out his old stuff and thought I could use it.
      Maybe I will someday.