Bearvault, etc… vs. Dry Sack Question

I use a bear canister only where they are legally required (and they are being required in more and more places–North Cascades NP is now going there). Otherwise I use an Ursack, primarily because due to arthritis and always having been a lousy thrower (can't hit the side of a barn when inside it), I can't hang my food.

Certainly proper hanging is the lightest method when allowed or feasible! But in places like the Sierra where bears have long been trained to regard a hanging food bag as their personal pinata, bear canisters are the only legal option. Unfortunately, due to improper hanging methods or idiots keeping food in their tents or their packs, more and more bears are learning about backpacker food!

Have you ever trekked in Alaska? Some areas do not have suitable places for hanging food (like tundra or the mountains) yet the big bears are still there. All I know is that the weight and protection of a canister was worth it to me.

"Or are the Bearvaults meant more for areas without forest/trees?"

Bear canisters are intended for areas where there are bears, and especially for areas where the bears have gotten pretty smart about stealing food from the backpackers. In some areas, the trees are few and far between, and the ones that you find are not very suitable for hanging a bear bag. Near timberline, some trees are pretty short, and their limbs don't stick out far from the tree trunks.

Black bears have hooked claws, so they can climb a tree pretty fast.

The more that black bears steal the backpacker food, the more likely that they will continue to torment future backpackers, and that gets a vicious cycle started. You can't have a bear intimidating backpackers to get their food.

Some of the national parks found that when backpackers use bear canisters and bear lockers, that the cycle is broken. Black bears go back to eating their natural diet, and things get back to normal.

–B.G.–

They are heavy and clunky (although the Bearvault less so than the heavy black ones), but they are what keep bears out of your food/trash (vault that, too).

We were at Thousand Island Lake in the Sierras earlier this month and came up one some backpackers we'd met earlier in our trip. One had a torn up backpack — no bear container and so guess what Yogi did? Now he had zero food and left the area with a bear now refreshed on the concept of looking in backpacks.

Thanks for the insight all. Interesting to know that vaults are LAW in some places. I do a lot of hiking up here in the Cdn Rockies, and I've only ever seen ONE bearvault. We have our fair share of Blacks and Grizz too, I wonder if they're slow learners up here? ;)

Anyways, it definitely makes sense that they'd be used in situations like the ones described. If I ever head down south for some hiking, I'll be sure to pick one up.

Cheers!

less people using our un maintained trail system. skyline probably gets less than 10% of the traffic that the JMT does in one season. Banff/jasper/yoho get 3million+ visitors a year, Yosemite gets something like 17 million.

I just passed someone that had stayed the night near thousand island lake that was kept up all night by a bear trying to get his food in a bear hang. Immediately I thought about the bear being noctournal which I guess means the bears stop hunting for natural food which they would do during the day.

Jennifer,

People who hang bear bags in overused areas — and ignore the rules that require to carry bear canisters create these problem bears.

Here is the map that the Forest Service publishes for bear canister requirements in that area. Anyone who picks up a permit knows, but unfortunately some people are ignoring it and subsequently ruin it for others – and eventually for the bear who might have to be killed if it becomes more than a nuisance.
Rush Creek Area Food Srorage Restriction Area

Unfortunately many people dread the extra weight of a bear canister and feel that hanging a bear bag is good enough. Until the rangers require to see your bear canister at permit pick-up there is most likely not a lot that can be done about that. And even then some “smart” people would show their bear canister and afterwards put it in their car before the head out on the trail …

Manfred

Black bears have a crepuscular activity pattern throughout most of their range in the US. They are generally neither fully diurnal nor nocturnal.