[pct-l] Bear canisters, 4-8 days of food...

[Scott Heeschen]

Hi Mt. Goat, and whoever asked the original question - I saw mention of the 
Bearikade capacity and felt the need to chime in.

I used the Expedition size Bearikade, and made it from Kennedy Meadows to 
VVR with it, which was 12 days.  It fit just fine in my ULA P-2, sitting 
upright in the middle of the pack, surrounded by all my other gear - it was 
actually very convenient during the day, since the top top of the cannister 
was accessible from the top of the pack.  I could get into it without having 
to unpack much, if any, stuff.  I've also used it with a GoLite Speed pack 
(frameless) in the same manner, and it kind of acted like a frame.

However in retrospect, I really only had about 11 days of food in there - 
Prune Pirate ('03) hiked in over Kearsarge with a bunch of food to give to 
thru-hikers (nice trail magic!) and a ranger had just been helicoptered in 
past Pinchot Pass to clear out the food they had left behind from the 
previous year.  He didn't have to ask twice if we wanted to help him out! 
Even had a can of Guiness - woohoo!  I figured I ate about a day's worth of 
food between those two trail angels.

I switched to a small BearVault at Mammoth (could barely hold 4 days of 
food, but that was enough), and then used an old Ursack (yellow fabric, no 
liner) for the rest of the hike, as I had up to Kennedy Meadows.

    Buck Larceny 2005

> Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:30:25 -0800 (PST)
> From: The Mountain Goat <themtgoat at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [pct-l]  Bear canisters, 4-8 days of food...
> To: pctl <pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <862477.81686.qm at web90403.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> After looking at that (Yosemite) map, I think you could possible plan an 
> entire Sierra Section hike without needing the bear can, with the possible 
> exception of Sequoia National Park. as I was not able to be certain of the 
> requirements and the location of bear boxes.
>
> http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/snrm/wildlife/food_storage.htm
>
> I liked having it although, then I didn't even have to think about hanging 
> food. I
> used the wild Idea's barricade (weekender). Its 1LB 15oz.
>
> http://www.wild-ideas.net/products.html
>
> I could fit 8 days of food in it. I had about 2LB's of food a day for the 
> Sierra
> section of the PCT. Some people may need closer to 3LB's a day. My food,
> Mostly nuts and dried fruits and as therefore fairly dense. (Please don't 
> inidate
> me with the known implications of the word associations). You could 
> probably
> plan on at least 4-6 days of food is this, depending on your appetite. 
> Their web
> site said 6 days off food in the weekender...FYI.
>
> There is a expedition size that is almost half again the size  of the 
> weekender, if
> you were traveling in pairs / couples. You might have some trouble fitting 
> it in some packs. I was able to fit my barricade (weekender) in a 
> Mountain-Smith
> Ghost pack (2005 thru hike, Ghost was made in 2003, at 3,100 Cubic 
> inches.)
>
> -Mountain Goat-
> PCT 2005
> PCT or CDT in 2014