New Bear Cannister

While this new canister is the smallest (275 cu. in.) and cheapest ($50) that I'm aware of, it is not the lightest. Also, 275 cu. in. is fairly small. It's probably fine for 1-2 people overnight, but would be a challenge for more people or nights out.

The Bearikade Scout (www.wild-ideas.net) is the lightest hard-sided container (1.75 lbs) and is significantly larger (~650 cu. in) and more expensive ($200).

The discontinued BearVault BV250 was about the same weight as this new canister but was significantly larger (430 cu. in.). While it's been replaced with the heavier BV350, it's still approved for everywhere except the Rae Lakes area.

The Ursack Hybrid with the Spectra sack ($85) is both larger (650 cu. in.) and lighter (20 oz). It is only conditionally approved, but the same is the case for the BareBoxer, although the BareBoxer seems based on the tried-and-true Garcia canister.

Mini Garcia canister? Looks similar, but much smaller and with a somewhat different lid. By volume it's heavy, but it is compact and relatively cheap.

I wanted to make some corrections to Aaron's post.

The Bearikade Scout is indeed the lightest hard-sided container at 1.75 lbs and it is significantly larger than the Bareboxer, however it is not ~650 cu. in., it is only ~510 cu. in (9" diameter X 8" in height). The Bearikade Weekender is ~650 cu. in. and weighs 1.9 lbs.

The new Ursack S29 (8 oz) in conjunction with the Ursack Aluminum liner (14 oz) comes in at 22 oz, not 20 oz. The combination of the 2 was conditionally approved by the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG) for use in restricted areas in the Sierra. An excellent map of those areas can be found at
http://sierrawildbear.org/foodstorage/map032107.pdf
The map also shows the location of bear storage lockers (bear boxes) located throughout the Sierras. I hope this helps.

From the manufacturer of the Scout Bearikade:
Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 09:05:18 -0700
From: "allen deforrest" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Scout Holds 500 Cubic Inches

The Bearikade Scout is 9" diameter (all models have same diameter), 8" tall, weighs 1 pound, 12 ounces, and holds 500 cubic inches.

That sure is news! It's like a garcia weekender! Cool!