Mt Whitney Zone Forums Gear Heads miniture bear canister

I might be behind the times but for a long time ive always thought that the bear canisters out there are way to big for 3 maybe 4 day trips but i always wandered about a small baby one. well thank to the internet i found bear boxer contender 101 . its like a miniture garcia bear canister. $58 with shipping and tax but its PERFECT. nice and small and takes up so much less space and weight. If you know how to pack right its plenty of room.I really wanted it for whitney but when i go to yosemite which is usually 6 day trips i take the big bear canister.

I just though id share the knowledge!!

I bought this one

BV450

Used it twice, I think. Sits in my closet - replaced by these

Are there any locations that require the hard-sided bear cannisters?

I used those bags and a marmont or squirrel ate through it they are not smell proof just expensive zip lock bags. I never have actually submerged them in water just to dangerous if it leaks. Bear canister are great but too big so I got the small one.

As far as I know and I could be wrong but Yosemite , kings and sequoia , San gregornio , almost any place where bears exist require bear canisters due to the increase in bear human interaction.

All of Yosemite needs them but in SEKI they are only needed in these locations.

You may not be required to carry a canister but you are still responsible for keeping your food away from animals. There is a difference between not needing one by law and not needing one based on animal populations.

Those Odor-Proof OP-sacks have looked interesting to me.

But... knowing that bear's olfactory senses are at least 1000 times better than humans, and that their survival depends on finding food (same goes for mice and marmots), and that our handling and packing the packages imparts some odors on the outside, I would never trust those sacks with my food.

The one thing I do want to use one for, though, is to seal up any used WAG bags.

These use to come with Ursacks and are a pain in the rear end to seal.

They are not designed to deny access to food by bear; therefore, are not a legal replacement for a BRC.

Hmmm...your food handling hands leave odors all over the outside. I stopped using these years ago. I think Steve's idea for their use is spot on.

If I have to use a hard canister, I use a Bearikade. It has the volume of a medium sized can, the weight of small one and the price of 3 Bear Vaults or Garcias.

I will never hike the Sierra without a proper bear canister again. I've done the hanging thing in the 80s and early 90s and simply sucked. Now you close the lid and go sleep, anywhere, without searching for adequate food hanging trees all to make camp nearby, or worrying what you're gonna eat the next few days should a bear or marmots score your food at night.

I agree with that. The last extended trip I took, we had too much food for the canisters the first night, so I had to toss a rock with string attached over a high branch to use the double-hang method. It is really difficult to find the right branch, and then get the string to go up and over.

Later in the hike, it was sure pleasant to just close the lid and not worry.

Yeah it's hard to beat a barrel. I have thrown food into bear boxes to find the mice were able to get inside and munch on my food. Only my barrel is bomb proof.

Unless of course a bear destroys your Bearikade. I don't have the picture handy but one poor hiker had it done.

Then there's Yellow Yellow.

Every canister on the market has been compromised, usually by user error not animal ingenuity.

I've never had a problem with any BRC produced by the following companies: Garcia, Bear Vault, Ursack or Bearikade. I use the latter two on a regular basis in both SoCal and the Sierra without any kind of problem.

I have this canister and I like it. I do most of my backpacking in AZ and NM, they aren't required but I like knowing that my food is safe from all critters. I usually just lock one of the locks and set it away from camp and sit back while my fellow campers work at getting their ropes over the perfect tree limb.