Bear bag vs. Bear Canister

[Darwin Roos]

I'm planning to do the Superior Trail in Minnesota in the next couple of weeks and I'm wanting to go as light as possible. Since there are possibly going to be bears, should I use a bear bag or bear canister?

Darwin
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[Jason Brinkman]

Yes. Use a bear bag or a bear canister.

I only mess with a canister where required. The rest of the time I use a light sil-cordura dry sack and light cord to hang it. Shouldn't be a problem with hangin' trees in northern MN!

[Darwin Roos]

Dear Jason,

After getting a lot of input, I think I'm just going to hoist my whole backpack (through the shoulder straps and hip belt) up a tree or between trees each night, except for my sleeping stuff. It seems that that would be the safest, lightest and cheapest way to approach this. Please let me know if you disagree about any of this. Thank you.
Take care.

Darwin

[Jason Brinkman]

Only risk to the pack hoist approach is that everything gets wet in the rain (straps and belt too). Otherwise it should work great.

The decision between canister and hanging, for me, comes down to how suitable the trees are for hanging, and of course any regulations that specify. Anything hung in a tree needs to be beyond the bear's reach when he climbs the tree and sticks a paw out. That's several feet.

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