Hanging Bear Canisters

Walter… If I were you, I would take that sticker off your BV. It tells the bears exactly how to open it. Poor thinking on your part.

That is RAD!

Are bear canisters 'single use' like a bike helmet ?

Do companies replace the lids after such damage ?

Good question on the lids. I'd say they are the weak point on a BearVault, since they just might not be lexan as is the vault part. There were a few actual puncture holes on the lids. One made removing the lid pretty difficult.

As far as reading the red label, well, I did find this crudely written note nearby: "Yu R Ideiot! Foun Dem!!" But hey, I kept the food. BearVault 1, Bear 0.

;)

Of course, I can't say as much for the stashed emergency Thermarest:

Bear 1, Thermarest 0. He probably got so frustrated with the Vaults that he circled back and worried the Prolite 4 to death.

I don't know why i'm laughing… but I am. I would hunt that bear down and take that therm-a-rest out of his ass!

Thank you all for the very helpful information on canisters, Opsacs and bearbags. Also for the information on clips from Amazon to insure that the opsacs do not come apart (posted on a related thread).

For my cache, decided to to use an older model green Ursack, and hang it below treeline a short distance off my route. The contents will be enclosed in Opsacs, each one within another, with the closure on the outer one secured with one of the clips. All of that will be placed in the Ursack and hung.

Somehow, I could just not bring myself to place everything in a Garcia canister and leave it wherever for over week. Had the feeling that a critter might get ahold of it and move it to another location.

If the Opsacs are as odorproof as advertised, I should be all right. If not, I will probably be quite hungry, and cover in two days what was planned for four, until I get to the next cache, which will be at a secure location in a hut.

So thanks again for the information to help with this decision. Will post the outcome when I get back.
Sam

When I was working in a salmon cannery up in Alaska, Bristol Bay area, I watched big brown bears not even bother to tear cans open. They'd just eat the metal cans with the salmon in them. Swallow the suckers. Incredible.

When I was working in a salmon cannery up in Alaska, Bristol Bay area, I watched big brown bears not even bother to tear cans open. They'd just eat the metal cans with the salmon in them. Swallow the suckers. Incredible.

This would make an interesting study but I'm inclined to suspect residual odor on the outside of the can in this case. It does make me wonder about Salmon in a foil pouch though.

OR, I wonder if that might be a case of these bears being (to paraphrase Yogi) smarter than the average bear.

Bears are relatively smart. They learn to associate places (like campsites) with food. Reports from Sierra Nevada backpackers sure seem to indicate that they learn what bear canisters look like and that they contain food. Black bears in MN have not only learned the association between inadequately hung Duluth packs and food but a few of them seem to understand the connection between the pack and the ropes that suspend it … clawing/chewing the rope where it's tied to a tree far away from the pack!

Perhaps your Alaska bears have encountered enough opened cans or poorly sealed cans to gain an association between the can's size&shape and the contents?

As I said … it'd be an interesting study.

As posted earlier, for a cache used a waterproof green Ursak hung with food in double sealed and clipped Opsacs inside. Site was in the Rawahs in Northern CO, with a moderate population of black bears.

The Ursack was still hanging from the tree unmolested when I reached it one week later. The Ursack and Opsacs did add a couple pounds to my pack for 5 days, but didn't have to come back for it, as I would have if a canister were used.

This will be my cache system in forested areas from now on.

Sam