[pct-l] Another question re bear canisters

[Ben Crowell]

>If I am going to be hiking with my partner the length
>of the PCT, do each of us need to carry bear canisters, or could one expect
>that the rangers would be OK with one canister for the two of us?

The issue isn't what the rangers will let you do. The issue is what you
need to do in order to fit all your food in a canister. The reason
you need to fit all your food in a canister is that otherwise you'd
be contributing to a problem that can have deadly consequences for
bears.

It's impossible to know what you need without knowing all kinds of
other information. Bear canisters come in different sizes. People
hike at different speeds. You might take zero days, stop to fish,
or go peakbagging. Big people eat more than small people.

To carry maximum food with minimum weight, you'll be most efficient
with a Bearikade Expedition, which is 900 cubic inches. However, its
shape makes it not work well with ultralight packs. Bearikades are
expensive, but you can rent them. A Garcia is 615 cubic inches, is
cheaper, and fits nicely in UL packs, but is heavier.

If you have no experience using a bear canister, then here's some
info that may be helpful in gauging how much space is adequate. Most
people on short hikes tend to eat about 15-20 calories per day per
pound of body weight. For through-hikers, however, it can be a lot
higher, because they can't draw energy from body fat indefinitely.
Data from AT through-hikers shows an average of more like 25, and for
some situations (e.g., doing a lot of miles per day in cold weather)
it can be much higher than that (as much as double).

Personally, I tend to fit about 23 calories in a cubic inch. This
could be lower if you're using a lot of commerical prepackaged
backpacking meals, higher if you're a total PCT pro who compresses
his stacks of tortillas by driving over them with a steamroller.

  Ben