Dumb question? Splitting a bear can

I have no idea what the written law is but I have always assumed that if I can demonstrate that all of the party’s food can fit inside the can at any given time, a ranger would be fine with this arrangement.

Like most things, it may depend on where you’re backpacking. One Forest Service Brochure (for Inyo) states: When should you be storing your food? Whenever you are not actively preparing, eating or unpacking your food, so that would seem to dictate that you each have your own bear canister. IMO, the best thing to do is call and ask where you want to hike.

I thought this would be about a bear can that splits into two. The meaning of the title split into two. Meanings. OK, that’s enough.

Someone was proposing a bear can that can split into sections.

Knowing the sort of comments I post I probably suggested that it could be tough to get it approved.

Doug, Craig – Thanks for your responses. I’ll try calling Inyo and SEKI. I feel like I get different answers depending on who I talk with there sometimes…

The other Doug, Franco, those were dumb answers : )

I was thinking it would be removing a section of the bear can and then gluing it back together to make it smaller : )

We’ve done that. The rule is that everything needs to be stored properly inside the bear can – not how many people are using it. Unless you go do the Lost Coast – those regulations specifically say “one can per person.”

We use our Bearikade Weekender for two people for a weekend all the time. If my spousal unit carries the can, I carry my own snacks in a sack while hiking. That’s never been questioned and status quo for us. If I share my canister with someone else they take out all their food and carry it during the day, then store it inside the canister when we stop hiking for the day.

I agree to contact the specific jurisdiction, but I would be shocked if the requirement is that each person carry their own half-empty bear can. As long as all smellables are in *a* bear can when unattended you should be OK. You also should be OK to carry in a stuff sack when the smellables are in the pack you are wearing (we all keep a granola bar or some GORP in a hip belt pocket after all right?) as long as you never leave it unattended, and as an aside, if you’re carrying the bear can anyway I’m not sure what the advantage would be to carry food outside of it other than what you need for lunch/snacks that day.

Most trips I do in Inyo NF I split a bear can with my friend.  These things suck to carry, why would you want to carry more than one?

Word to the wise, don’t just assume your buddy is going to bring half a cans worth of food!  When people are not limited by the volume of the bear can (or the weight) they throw in a few more snacks and then a few more and keep doing that until they have more food than you can fit. Don’t ask how I know…

Last year in SEKI/ Kings they wanted it all in a can.  We had 2 cans and an Outsack with 3 days of food.  They said it should all be in cans. (we saw online you can hang it, but they said you couldn’t)  It seemed to me like they were pissed that I brought it up, and they effectively said “hurry up and eat it”, yet didn’t make me take one of the Garcias they had behind them. (thank the Big Bang)(and I did offer to take one)

If you talk to someone in advance, take notes. “I asked when I planned the trip and on April 10th Sally in the Three Rivers office said . . . “

I could see it being more of an issue if you don’t hike together – “my non-existent companion has it” could be everyone’s answer.

I’ve seen a bear grab a backpack that had snacks in it while someone was taking a break during the day only 50 feet from their pack. I’ve chased off (black) bears in such situations a few other times.

I think the potential for unattended food in a pack without a can becomes the issue and this would be where the rub is with any ranger. While splitting a can has always worked for me, I could see where one could be busted for this. It probably has a whole lot to do with which ranger checks you and what sort of mood they’re in. Being strict on it makes sense because from their perspective, it’s probably dubious that a hiker is going to pack a bear can while stopping for a swim and leaving a pack unattended, etc.

These days I likely wouldn’t go to the trouble of splitting a can with someone unless it was one or both of my children, in which case I’d just carry all the food in the can all the time. I’ve had many group trips in which people had to split up mid-trip for various reasons and think it’s generally smarter and safer for everyone to be self-sufficient. If you’re already flirting with a 8-12 pound base weight a can is no big deal anyway.

The specific use case here is backpacking with my son (we won’t split up except in an emergency). I’m not carrying his food because at 15 he’s already stronger than me.

Maybe he can carry my food though. That would be sweet… 🤔

He and I are meticulous enough that we would actually put everything in the can if we were going swimming.

John at the White Mountain Ranger Office in Bishop said my plan is fine. Now if I could just get someone to pick up the phone at SEKI…

Parts of SEKI (for example the High Sierra Trail) have bear lockers at intervals along heavily used trails.  If everyone had to have the canister capacity to keep all their food in a canister all the time including during the hiking day there would be no point in having the lockers at the camps.  In 2014 we had a group of 9 on the HST.  We had 3 canisters with us–2 Bearikade Weekenders and 1 park-owned Garcia.  We camped at, and used, the lockers until the last 3 nights of the trip, where there were no more lockers and our provisions and trash were down to a point where everything would fit in the 3 canisters.  I don’t remember exactly how many ranger encounters but it was at least a couple.  No one suggested every hiker had to have a separate canister.

A few years ago when we were hiking the JMT (2011 & 2012) planning for the 10-day stretch between MTR and Whitney Portal, we were advised that the first day’s food–that which would be consumed before bedtime on the first night of the segment–could be carried outside the canister.  Important since it is hard to fit even 9 days in one canister.  Perhaps since then the rules have changed?

Ranger Pablo at the Three Rivers office said my strategy is fine in SEKI.

He also said I can use Esbit in SEKI any time I want as long as I use it responsibly.

I like Pablo.

I don’t think that the question is dumb, and rangers sometimes offer opinions rather than policy. I often have food out of my can while hiking, or split loads while walking.

The associated question is more challenging for me: how vigilant must one be in locking everything up, going for a split break, swimming, etc? I have seen some aggressive bears around lakes close to popular trailheads. And its not just the bears to be concerned about; varmints have precisely located my snacks and chewed nasty holes in my pack and storage articles.

If one person is carrying all the food in the canister, then it should be fine.  No need to have to carry a food canister if your not carrying food.  Carry your son’s food in the canister, but just have him carry some of your non-food items that are equivalent in weight.  The way the regs read for restricted areas, all food must be stored in an approved canister, which would include snacks.  Yes, most likely we all carry snacks in easy to get to places, I do,  but technically that’s not allowed.  Last year we were checked for bear canisters on two consecutive days while in northern Yosemite.  The rangers just tap on the canister from outside the backpack to verify you’re carrying one, but not once did they go through the backpacks looking for food that may not be stored properly.

Let me clarify that the boy is a hiking machine and that if anyone is carrying more than 50% of the total load it will be him!

That said, the rangers in Inyo and SEKI have approved our plan so I’m pretty sure that is what we will do. It’s a pretty simple optimization actually. Example: last summer we carried a BV450 and a Bareboxer for a total weight of 58.6 ounces. Instead, if we had carried one of out BV500s at 41 ounces we would have saved 17.6 ounces of weight. This is Backpackinglight, right? He and I are both psyched about saving more than a pound for no cost just because of careful analysis of what we carry.

edit: we go from 725 cu/in to 700 cu/in if we switch to the BV500.

i carry the day’s lunch and snack food–not much!–in a belly pack (2 ounces) along with a steripen. All other food is in the Bearikade. I’m pretty scrupulous. Zero issues with bears with this system.