[pct-l] Bear canisters

[Dirk Rabdau]

I completely agree with Bill's point about the persistence of bears and 
underestimating one's enthusiasm for exercising proper hanging technique 
at the end of a long day.  I can remember several occasions when the 
ideal tree was not available and after 30 frustrating minutes, finally 
hanging my food bag in a fashion that could hardly be called "bear 
proof." Add to that equation cold and the want for a warm sleeping bag, 
and many backpackers are apt to take shortcuts.  I know I have taken 
those shortcuts. I 

The point is that a bear canister makes sense in that it largely 
eliminates most of the things that can go wrong when storing your food.  
In areas where the bear population has grown accustomed to human food, 
it makes sense to impose such regulations, even if the problem isn't 
caused by thru-hikers. Given the progression of light-weight materials, 
the two to three pound "penalty" of a bear canister is easily offset by 
lighter tents, clothing, backpacks, stoves, etc. developed over the last 
decade. Just my two cents, for what it is worth. 

Dirk 



Having had a chance to watch bears trying to get food a few times, I've 
come to the conclusion that people generally overrate their intelligence 
and underrate their persistence.  They aren't actually very good at 
figuring things out, but they may spend a couple of hours just trying 
things at random, and if there is any way of getting to the food, sooner 
or later they'll blunder into it.  They don't have the intellect to figure 
out a complex food-hanging system, but if they can reach any part 
of the rope, they'll try chewing on it to see what happens. 

It's amazingly difficult to double-bag food so that a bear can't reach 
any part of the cord.  You can't really understand how hard it is 
until you've tried to do it.  When somebody is bone-tired at the end 
of a long day of hiking, it's hard to motivate yourself to go to all 
that trouble.