Bear-resistant food storage containers, also called bear canisters or bear cans, are usually hard-sided containers used by
backpackers to protect their food from theft by
bears. Bear canisters are seeing increased popularity in areas where bears have become
habituated to human presence, and are required
in some places, such as
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Construction
A bear canister
typically weighs between 2-4 lb (1-2 kg), and has a storage capacity of 400 - 900 in
3 (6 - 15 liters). The actual capacity in number of days of
hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
food stored varies with the appetite of the
hiker, the selection of food, and the skill in which it is packed, but a 700 in
3 canister likely holds up to a week's worth of food for the average hiker.
Hard-sided bear cans employ such materials as
polycarbonate,
ABS plastic,
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
, and
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
in their construction. An effective canister must resist both the tremendous strength and high
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
of an attacking animal. Most containers are too large for a bear to simply pick up and carry away.
A captive bear attempting to open a bear canister
The
lid
A lid, also known as a cover, is part of a container, and serves as the closure or seal, usually one that completely closes the object. Lids can be placed on small containers such as tubs as well as larger lids for open-head pails and drums. S ...
of a canister is usually recessed in order to prevent it being pried off. Some manufacturers, such as Garcia require a tool such as a coin to open the canister whereas other manufacturers' products, such as the BearVault, use locking nubs that allow the user to twist the lid off without tools.
At least one model of soft-sided "bear bag" is made from Spectra (
UHMWPE
Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 3.5 and 7.5 million amu. T ...
) fabric. While a soft-sided container may prevent a bear from
eating
Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, he ...
its contents, the food inside is likely to be reduced to
purée
A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., apple ...
in the attempt and leak through the Spectra fabric; thus feeding the bear. A newer model comes with an aluminum stiffener that protects the contents more effectively than the bag alone.
Regulations and Testing
Several
national parks and national forests require
backcountry
In the United States, a backcountry or backwater is a geographical area that is remote, undeveloped, isolated, or difficult to access.
Terminology Backcountry and wilderness within United States national parks
The National Park Service (NPS) ...
visitors to carry approved food storage containers. Backpackers who ignore this policy may face fines, property impounded, or eviction from the wilderness.
Ranger
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
s may stop hikers and require them to produce their containers for inspection.
The
Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin ''wikt:serra#Latin, serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a ...
(SIBBG) and the
Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) regulate the approval of food storage containers in parts of the western United States. Containers effective against the
American black bears in the
Sierra Nevada may not be effective against the
grizzly bears found elsewhere. SIBBG conducts visual inspection and various structural tests, then containers are filled with food and left in the cages of captive black bears in a
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. If the canister survives the zoo test, it is then ''conditionally'' approved. Full approval is only given after three months' successful field tests by users.
The (IGBC) first conducts a visual inspection to identify products that may be harmful to humans or the captive test bears. Next, food such as peanut butter, fish, or other attractant will be placed inside the container. This container will then be put in the grizzly bear enclosure at The Grizzly & Wold Discovery Center in West Yellowstone Montana. To pass the IGBC certification, a bear must have a total of one hour of direct contact with the product, not counting licking. The product must remain functional and have no penetrations larger than 1/4 inch.
It is recommended that canisters be left on the ground, at least 100 feet/30 metres from the campsite. Suspending the canister can allow the bear to smash it to the ground or use the suspension gear to carry it away. Most canisters are designed to resist clawing and biting from bears rather than loaded drops from trees or cliffs. To prevent a bear from rolling it away, a hiker can leave the container in a bush, a shallow depression, or wedged between rocks or logs. Placing the canister near water could allow the container to float away. Reflective tape and labelling the container helps in recovery.
Bear bagging
An alternative is ''bear bagging, also called bear hanging or bear hangs'', wherein items attractive to a bear such as
food, toiletries, or other scented items are placed in a bag and then raised into the air with a rope — out of its reach. The rationale is that bears, being unable to reach the food, are less drawn to campsites and pose less of a threat to
campers and their equipment.
Often this is done by tying another length of rope tightly between two trees or other tall objects. A bear bag should be at least 15 feet (4.5 m) high and 10 feet (3 m) from any vertical support. The counterbalance method, Marrison system, and Pacific Crest Trail method are a few different techniques to use when hanging a bear bag.
In recent years, bear bagging has received significant scrutiny for its ineffectiveness. In alpine environments there are often not sufficient trees and smaller trees have been damaged by ropes rubbing over bark. Bear bagging can also be dangerous and resulted in a camper's death in 2011. Bears are also effective climbers who climb trees to retrieve hung food or bite through ropes.
In many areas, such as Yosemite National Park, The Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, and Denali National Park land managers have deemed bear bagging ineffective and made it illegal.
[Bears and Food Storage](_blank)
from the Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...
official website
Product failure
Yellow-Yellow, a wild 125-pound
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
in the
Adirondacks
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...
near
North Elba, New York
North Elba is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 8,957 at the 2010 census.
North Elba is on the western edge of the county. It is by road southwest of Plattsburgh, south-southwest of Montreal, and north of ...
, figured out how to open several models of polypropylene and polycarbonate bear canisters. Yellow-Yellow was killed by a hunter in the fall of 2012.
References
External links
{{commons category, Bear-resistant equipment
List of containers approved in the Sierrasfrom sierrawild.gov
Hiking equipment
Bears
Bags
Camping equipment
Food storage containers
Survival skills
Food storage
Appalachiantrail.org/bears