Big Bear Canister

[Pete_Hickey]

Yesterday, I stopped by to visit my son, who is working on the Algonquin Trail, in the Adirondacks. I looked at the pile of 800-1500 pound rocks that the guys had mined, then my son told me where their camp was, and told me to go look at their setup. I took a picture of their bear canister.


http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/canister1.jpg

There was a crew of five, and they don't beleive in freeze driec, or even compact food. They had several loaves of bread, hommis, two jars of jam, several dozen eggs a few pounds of bacon, oreo's etc. No way would that stuff fit in a smaller canister.

While the 55 gallon drum may be awkward getting it in, once in the camp, it is great. Know how a loaf of bread gets when hung up several days in the rain? It stays great in that canister.

So, how much of a pain is YOUR canister to haul?

 

[percious]

Not a pain at all. I just slap that sucker in the bottom of my pack and trudge on. Hardly notice the 2.5 lbs. Glad I don't have to lug an oil barrel! How the heck do they get that in there? does one person carry the thing on their back, or is it a multi-person job?

-percious

 

[lumberzac]

They do know that they are supposed to put their food and not the bear in the canister right?

 

[Steve-o]

Hey Pete,

I was in the eastern high peaks last week.
I used a cannister for the first time ( bearvault 300)

I thought it was great. I usually pack-in heavy anyways so,
the extra couple pounds did'nt make much difference.
I strapped it to the top of my pack, leaving a lot more room inside than I'm used to.
The only down side was going under blow-down.but, not having to hang made it well worth it.I will use a cannister wherever I go now.

Oh yeah, How did your son get that monster in there?
Was it air lifted ?

Steve

 

[Pete_Hickey]

It's 'easy' to get it in. Just strap it to a pack-frame, and put it on. It only weighs 44 pounds empty.

The only problem, is with the stuff 'sloshing' around in the drum. Next time they do it, they'll be putting some kind of padding inside, to keep the stuff from moving.

 

[Nessmuk]

Of course technically this would be an illegal canister.

According to the proposed rule, Title 6 NYCRR Section 190.13 is amended as follows:... "(2) Bear-resistant canister means a commercially made container constructed of solid, non-pliable material manufactured for the specific purpose of resisting entry by bears."...

The part about specific purpose manufacture gets ya... .

 

[Doc McPeak]

It's 'easy' to get it in. Just strap it to a pack-frame, and put it on. It only weighs 44 pounds empty.

That must be an extraordinarily heavy drum. Most are considerably lighter, in the twenty pound range.

A friend travelled through Nepal, and their sherpas used exclusively 55 gallon drums as their packs. I used to get dye delivered in drums of all sizes, from 15 to 50. Too bad the smaller ones are gone, for I would have given you a couple of the 20s. They would be ideal ... though the 55 looks much cooler!

Add a couple hot rocks from a fire pit and you've got a toasty bath tub. And I think I could almost fit one on my winter tobaggon.

 

[Willie]

Of course technically this would be an illegal canister.

According to the proposed rule, Title 6 NYCRR Section 190.13 is amended as follows:... "(2) Bear-resistant canister means a commercially made container constructed of solid, non-pliable material manufactured for the specific purpose of resisting entry by bears."...

The part about specific purpose manufacture gets ya... .

Given the opportunity, any attorney worth his or her salt could tear apart DEC’s proposed regulation - like a bear does to a poorly hung food bag - and demonstrate that the regulation is ambiguous and that the bear canister in Pete's photo complies with the regulation. For example, one argument that comes to mind is that the 55-gallon drum is a "commercially made container constructed of solid, non-pliable material" and the trail crew "manufactured" the 55-gallon drum "for the specific purpose of resisting entry by bears." The word “manufacture” means “to make.” So, the argument goes, the trail crew had the “specific purpose” of “manufactur[ing]” the 55-gallon drum into a bear canister. Thus, they are fully compliant with DEC's proposed regulation.

 

[ADK Rick]

Pete, great photo! You might want to check out my Whiteface/Esther trip report from 7/28...though we havent met I had occasion to think of you while negotiating the edge of a mud hole on Esther

Without consulting the reg...I believe not only must the container be commercially made, but it must be on the SIBBG approved list.

Percious...you must have a bigger pack than me. The Bearvault I have is very cumbersome...I am in favor of the idea of the canister in principle, but the size (not the weight) is what is killing me. It doesnt even fit elegantly on my trusty old Jansport D-3 full frame pack. But I will carry it (or hike with someone who has a more accomodating pack who will )

ADK Rick

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Of course technically this would be an illegal canister.

According to the proposed rule, Title 6 NYCRR Section 190.13 is amended as follows:... "(2) Bear-resistant canister means a commercially made container constructed of solid, non-pliable material manufactured for the specific purpose of resisting entry by bears."...

The part about specific purpose manufacture gets ya... .

Well, technically it IS legal. It is sold as a bear canister. Backpacking bear resistant bear canisters are relatively new. What do you think those big fly-in camps up in Alaska use? The one they have is made and sold as a bear resistant container.

I beleive it was the DEC who recomended it to them.

Heavy? yeah, the steel is somewhat thick. I don't know why. I mean, if a bear could get his jaws around it, I'd let THAT bear have my food.

It was also 'tested'. The smell of a few pounds of bacon in it attracted a bear near JBL, and he poked it around a bit.

 

[Neil]

Been there, done that.

That bear can is THE thing. Why, on a day hike up the Nippletop slide recently I carried the same unit in my Golite pack with smoked oysters and salmon roe in it and never got hassled by a bear all day.

So there you go.

 

[kwc]

Been there, done that.

That bear can is THE thing. Why, on a day hike up the Nippletop slide recently I carried the same unit in my Golite pack with smoked oysters and salmon roe in it and never got hassled by a bear all day.

So there you go.

yeah, but what about those 47 cats that followed you?

 

[Tom Rankin]

Been there, done that.

That bear can is THE thing. Why, on a day hike up the Nippletop slide recently I carried the same unit in my Golite pack with smoked oysters and salmon roe in it and never got hassled by a bear all day.

So there you go.

When I hiked Gore recently, a young woman had a bear canister for a day hike. She was prepping for a back-packing trip to Whitney though, deliberately carrying extra weight and the canister to make sure it all worked together, before heading out on a 'real' trip. Smart plan!