[pct-l] Bear canister and mouse canister

[Vic Hanson]

I, and everyone as far as I knew,  that I hiked with or near this past summer, used bear canisters of some sort, from at least KM to Tuolome Meadows. Sure they are heavy and sometimes hard to pack but you get used to them and I believe are worth carrying. However, I don't know of anyone who got ALL of their food into one except maybe Yeah But and B1 who had the 2 foot long Ursaks. I didn't hear of any bear problems on the trail but we hardly saw any in the Sierras.
   
  One thing they did do was spoil me by having a nice secure food container. We had lots of problem later with mice, I think it was in N. Oregon and in Washington. I suggested to Jamie at BearVault that they should make a lighter and cheaper version that is mouse proof but he declined saying that the development and production costs were more than they wanted to handle.
   
  I was reminded of the need for a mouse proof container this week on a 4 day backpacking trip here in Peru. I had a bag of trail mix in the lid of my backpack and while I was enjoying a soak in a hot springs, a mouse chewed a hole in the lid and had a little trail mix. The next night one helped himself to a banana that I left in a bag out of my pack. Last night I left an overly ripe mango out as a diversion but had no takers.
   
  Switchback or someone, please develop and produce a mouse proof container, the same size as a bear can, weighing less than a pound (8 oz.?) and cheap ($20 - $25). I'll trail test it for you!! I suppose it's asking too much to make it strong enough to sit on!
   
  Sugar Daddy

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