[pct-l] bear cans

[Virginia Owen <OWEN@TheAdvisoryGroup.com>]

The only bear canisters I have actually seen for sale weighed 3.5- 5.5 lbs
each and held about 3 days worth of food.  (Really low volume!) Given that
you are supposed to keep all human smelling items out of reach of bears
(i.e. sunscreen, mosquito repellant, water bottles that held Koolaid, etc.)
- you are talking about needing to carry 3 or more for a ten day stretch.
For  a weekend in Yosemite, a bear canister is feasible, and maybe
desirable - but for a long hike????  Given that the Yosemite bears have
taken to tearing off the doors of cars in order to get to food hidden in
the trunks - the solution  to their bear problem is likely to be more than
requiring backcountry  users to carry 10-15 extra lbs of plastic.
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