Bearvault size reduction

[stephan q]

nm

[And E]

Will the epoxy hold up to the abuse/weight of a bear? Seams like having a glued seam would be a major weak point and defeat the propose of the bear keg.

[steven franchuk]

Now you have made it small enough that a bear might be able to pick it up with his mouth. the bear now can pick it up, walk a mile, and then start working at it. Will the glue hold up to the bears weight? If not he gets the food.

Even if the bear doesn't manage to get the food you still walk out hungry because you will not know were your food is. Also in some parks rangers will ask to see your bear canister and if they do that will see that it is modified. A modified bear canister is not an approved canister and you will be subject to fines or will be denied a hiking permit.

[Thayne N]

I applaud your out of the box thinking! I know some people that use "bear" cans to primarily keep out other critters, in non-bear populated areas.

[Andy Duncan]

That looks good. I've been trying to lower the weight and size of my bear can for years. The smallest custom Bearikade available is 8" tall x 9" diameter. I tried to custom order a smaller one but the owner wouldn't/couldn't do anything smaller. He said anything smaller could fit in the mouth of a bear. FWIW the Bearboxer Contender is 7.4" tall x 8" diameter @ $40.

[steven franchuk]

If you goal is just to keep critters out of your food go to the hardware store and my a piece of PVC pipe. buy the largets diameter you can find. Then buy two endcaps. Using PVC glue glue one end cap on. then screw one the other end cap with screws you can undo by hand. The normal PVC pipe is rather thick but if you look around you can probably find some thinner stuf.

The standard PVC pipe thickness probably will withstand the weight of a beard but it would ned to be attached to a tree with a steal cable to prevent the bear from carrying it away. I made a couple that I used in the Sierra. Never saw a bear anyway. But shortly after That Yosemite started requiring Approved canisters. So I discarded the PVC containers and purchase one.

I have also heard of people use empty metal paint cans for critter food storage. That is propably lighter than PCV option but requires tools to open.

[BlackHatGuy]

Never thought I'd see a circumcised BearVault. Nice work doc.

[Steve B]

What kind of epoxy did you use? Does it match up with the type of plastic the canister is made of? Is it strength tested? Tested at all? And as others have mentioned, can your 'new' canister be carried away?

If it is being used to protect food from bears, I find that very irresponsible. Selfish even. To put your hiking/packing comfort over the life a bear, yikes.

Steve

[Sean Rhoades]

The O.P. has yet to state his intentions with the modified canister. For all we know, he could plan to use it in areas that don't require the use of an approved bear canister. Personally, I think the design using the cut off portion to reinforce the new joint is pretty resourceful. However, I am very interested to hear what exactly he is planning to use it for.

So what is your plan Stephan?

[Ken Thompson]

Dude. You weren't suppose to tell. And certainly not post pictures on the internet.

Missed you at Coe, Stephan.

[stephan q]

This was posted for your viewing pleasure. I meant no harm to bears or anyones moral compass.

Ken-Missed you too. Dad duties.., will bring the whole family next year. Ciao.

[BlackHatGuy]

"This was posted for your viewing pleasure. I meant no harm to bears or anyones moral compass."

I used to be a strong believer in following my moral compass. Then I realized I'd forgotten to take the declination angle into account. That explains so, so many things over my life…..

[Steve B]

Is it intended for use in areas frequented by bears? or are you avoiding answering that question?

Steve

[Tony Ronco]

A quick 2 cents:

RE: "Seems like having a glued seam would be a major weak point and defeat the propose of the bear keg"
With the exceptions of the Bear Vault & the Lighter1 (which are one piece blow-molded polycarbonate), ALL other approved bear canisters HAVE glue joints: Garcia (which is ABS and has a centered, glued slip joint), Bearikade (End caps are glued on), Bearboxer (centered, glued slip joint), Bear Keg (centered, glued slip joint), etc.

FWIW, a clear joint will visually show the distribution & coverage of the glue application. It won't be a "stealth" joint.

RE: "Not an approved canister":
Since the OP is in California where most of the popular areas in the Sierras (Yosemite, SEKI, JMT, Whitney Zone) require an approved bear canisters – and which any modifications (other than cosmetic) voids the respective area's approval. So, if the OP has visited those areas (& he probably has), he already knows that.
More likely the OP is going to be utilizing this canister in those areas not listed above (which there are plenty!) … since he has spent time and effort to make his unit smaller, he somewhat implies that in his post: " this is the size i need for a short trip" … unless he is a road-warrior to make the long drive out to those Sierra spots that require an approved canister for just a weekend trip … but with gas costs and being busy with life, that's not so likely.

FYI: This isn't precedence setting, as there are other non-approved bear resistant systems on the market, most notably the Ursack (Original & Hybrid) … which speaking of, the company has this on their website FAQs:

"Won't a bear carry the Ursack away if it is not tied to a fixed object?
Probably not. The SIBBG rangers tested the Ursack Hybrid in both the summer of 2004 and 2005 to see whether a bear would carry it away. They even put a tracking device in it as part of the testing procedure. The results, so far, are that bears are leaving Ursacks very close to where they found them."

RE: "Now you have made it small enough that a bear might be able to pick it up with his mouth. the bear now can pick it up, walk a mile, and then start working at it."
The Ursack post above makes me wonder if the assumed 8" tall lower limit on how short a canister can be is valid or not. It would be interesting to see a youtube of "Fisher" the bear (at the Sacramento Zoo) testing that. But that's material for another thread.

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