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[pct-l] Trail Nazis?

   Okay folks, I just read the latest DG, and I'm steamed!
    1) the idea that anybody, who believes that FS regulations ought to
be complied with,  has no knowledge of/respect for the *reasons* the
regulations were created is rubbish. If you understand the purpose of a
rule, you see the imperative to obey it; if you *don't* understand why a
rule exists, you obey it anyway, since not to do so is Lawless Behavior.
(I'm not-at-all referring to your recent post, Jeremy, BTW)
     2) Tupperwear is *not* a FS-approved means of proper food storage.
If you've ever seen the bear-tested canisters presently in use in Denali
(and for rent, etc in outdoor shops, National Parks and so on), you'd not
confuse them with a supermarket-type food container. 
     3) Everybody/his brother wants a lighter-weight, less-bulky, cheaper
- but effective! - bear-proof canister. Many people are trying to cash in
on this need - and taking advantage of the confusion about how to keep
food from grossly-habituated bears. The bottom line, as Dave says, is
that bears must not get fed by hikers, so there are a couple things to
keep in mind: bears are powerful/ingenious - that's the reason effective
canisters are designed the way they are, and are so heavy and cumbersome
- and the material is expensive. We can undoubedly expect improvements,
but Think! please: if an advertised canister is so much "better", why
hasn't it been tested - or even submitted for testing? Please, really
look into the track-record (if any) for any "bear-proof" item before you
buy - or ( worse) take it into bear-country. Ask people who know
bears/bear-problems - FS personnel, for instance, aren't making a nickle
off the sale of canisters; their job is just made that much harder if
hikers use ineffective ones.
   If anyone knows of "better" canisters than the Garcia-type, please
tell me about them! I do know (from reading the test-literature, and
watching a couple brownies try to open them) that they work - I just
wish, like everybody else, that they were lighter/cheaper.
    4) No, Rulebooks don't protect your food/wildlife/the environment
(who says so, anyway?), but complying with the rules does a lot better
job than flouting them/looking for loopholes. I repeat my (unanswered)
query: what's so abhorrent about complying with FS regulations? If
anybody wants to make-a-buck/express their Personal
Individuality/strike-a-blow against Big Brother: aren't there better
places to do so than in our fragile backcountry places?
    Gimme a break!    bj


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