[pct-l] Testing of Bear Cannisters / URSACK

[Gary Schenk]

On 4/28/2010 11:15 AM, Matt Thyer wrote:
> I've also been finding
> plenty of documentation which indicates that bear countermeasures are little
> more than "paper seatbelts" -- if the bear has been habituated or is
> motivated all of these are little more than a wet paper seatbelt.
>

Not true at all, Matt. The Garcia, for instance, is bombproof.

One example: my girlfriend and I went into the Sierra from Onion Valley 
a few years ago, during the height of the reign of terror of the bears 
at Rae, Charlotte and East Lakes. A friend with us didn't believe in 
canisters, thought they were too heavy, etc. He counter-balanced his bag 
in a tree. It was perfect, completely a textbook job of hanging food.

Well, the next morning the bag was gone, as was his four day supply of 
food. We saw the bear tracks go right by our Garcia. The bear didn't 
even bother to tip it over, he walked right by it. There were no 
mothballs or odor proof bags in the canister, just food packed in baggies.

The Garcia is more than a wet paper seatbelt. It works. And it saves the 
lives of bears.

I hope everyone who travels into California's national parks this year 
will carry a bear canister of some sort. Yes, it will add weight to your 
pack, but it will keep bears wild and alive.

I don't want to carry a bear can, have tried my best to rationalize not 
carrying a bear can, but faced reality a while back.

Gary