Bear Canister for Capitol Lake

[Alpine Guy]

I may spend one night at Capitol Lake in a couple of weeks and this bear canister thing is new to me. What have people here used for overnighters in CO? The BearVaults look simple but I've seen bad reviews. Most of the others look really bulky, aside from the bear bags. I'm used to slinging food up in a tree - do you keep the bear canister in your tent?

[rdp32]

I believe ursacks are allowed there (call the ranger to verify though). I much prefer the ursacks/opsak combo over the hard-sided canister or the traditional hang.

[KJMc]

I use a Backpacker's Cache bear can, which does it's job and makes for a good seat when not doing it's job. I would prefer something smaller for just a solo overnight, so those bear vaults look pretty good. As long as you fill it up efficiently, then drop it in your pack it doesn't actually take up too much more space. If you're passing through Aspen, you could rent one from Ute Mountaineer or Aspen Expeditions if you think this will be a one-time deal and want to save a couple of bucks.

Don't leave it in your tent unless you want to make some new bear/critter friends. They are not smell-proof just tamper-proof. Keep it as far from your campsite as you'd like to see a bear.

Aspen Ranger district clearly states "hard-sided bear-resistant food canister", but I've never put that to the test:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 845631.pdf

[Mtnman200]

Aspen Ranger district clearly states "hard-sided bear-resistant food canister", but I've never put that to the test:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 845631.pdf

When backpacking on the trail, I’ve had a ranger ask to see my bear canister. It was in my pack, and the ranger just wanted to confirm that I wasn’t using an ursack or bear bag.

[kaiman]

Aspen Ranger district clearly states "hard-sided bear-resistant food canister", but I've never put that to the test:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 845631.pdf

When backpacking on the trail, I’ve had a ranger ask to see my bear canister. It was in my pack, and the ranger just wanted to confirm that I wasn’t using an ursack or bear bag.

That's too bad to hear. The most effective way to prevent bears from getting into your food is by smell proofing it (a bears sense of smell is 200 times a humans), which the Opsack/Ursack combo does quite well, but a bear canister doesn't at all (unless you use an Opsack with it). Ursacks are also made of super heavy weight cuben fiber which is one of the toughest materials available right now and I've see videos of 500-1000 pound black bears not being able to tear or puncture it.

I haven't backpacked in the Maroon Bells Snowmass since I moved from Glenwood Springs to Moab in 2010 before the regulations went into effect, but I did use an Opsack/Ursack combo this summer to hike the Colorado Trail and had no issues with bears in my camp, despite seeing one in the Sawatch near Mount Princeton and another in the San Juans near Eddiesville. Ursacks have also been approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Administration so I wish the Forest Service would get on board because having to haul a 3 pound bear canister through black bear country to meet regulations sucks when compared to the 6-7 ounce weight of an Opsack/Ursack.

Kai

[MonGoose]

You want to set up your tent, cook your food and store your food overnight in 3 different locations. Most campsites aren't large enough to allow you to spread out 100 yards in each directions but the important part is that all of your cooking and food storage is away from your tent. When using the bear canister, you can leave it on the ground. I usually place a small rock on top so I can tell in the morning if anything messed with it.

[douglas]

I camped at Capitol Lake 2 weeks ago and used my Ursack - didn't have any problems.

[benlen]

Bear cans suck, but they're a necessary evil at this point. I'd get one of the small Bear Vaults, they work well. A few years ago some models were difficult to open, but that problem appears to have been fixed largely.

I've read this, though haven't heard of a personal case to verify: If a bear fucks with a ursack, he may not get to your food, but he may destroy the food in the bag anyway trying to get to it. The nice thing about the rigid bear cans is that you can be mostly assured that not only will the bear not get the food, he won't ruin them inside either.

[madmattd]

If you're like me and usually only do short backpacking trips (2-3 days), check out the Bear Boxer Contender. It's pretty compact, and for a hard-sided container not too heavy (25oz), without going to the carbon fiber wallet-lighteners. You do need a small tool to open it, but a knife tip, screwdriver, thin key, and other options all work. I've only used it on 2 trips so far, but I've been happy with it. Not as tall of a seat though

[kaiman]

Bear cans suck, but they're a necessary evil at this point. I'd get one of the small Bear Vaults, they work well. A few years ago some models were difficult to open, but that problem appears to have been fixed largely.

I've read this, though haven't heard of a personal case to verify: If a bear fucks with a ursack, he may not get to your food, but he may destroy the food in the bag anyway trying to get to it. The nice thing about the rigid bear cans is that you can be mostly assured that not only will the bear not get the food, he won't ruin them inside either.

I don't want to get into an argument about Ursacks vs Bear Canisters because this has been debated endlessly on other websites (particularly among thruhikers on the AT, PCT, CT and elsewhere). When bear canister advocates run out of other selling points (which their weight is not) they often point out that bear canisters "make great seats", but if I wanted a seat in the back country, I'd get one of these as they are still far lighter:

https://www.greenbelly.co/pages/ultrali ... ing-chairs

Yes it's true, Ursacks are not the holy grail, and with an Ursack a bear can't get your food, but might be able to smash your food, but they also sell a lightweight aluminum shield for inside the Ursack that can prevent this from happening.

As I stated in my previous post, the best way to discourage a bear from getting into your food is by eliminating as much of the smell as possible which an Opsack/Ursack combo does by design, but bear canisters don't (unless canisters are used in combination with an Opsack or some sort of other odor proof bag).

There are also many known cases of bear canisters failing due to user error, improper design or manufacturing, or bears learning to open them by smashing them or rolling them off of cliffs:

https://andrewskurka.com/2018/bear-canister-failures/

And reading reviews from the REI website of the BV500 shows several cases where bears actually chewed a hole through the bear canister :

https://www.rei.com/product/768902/bear ... -container

BV500-1.jpg

BV500-2.jpg

Most these cases were in the Sierras in California, but who's to say that Colorado bears won't develop similar tactics as run ins with people increase, their habitats are disrupted, and they continue to be displaced by development?

I am not advocating to get rid of proper bear storage techniques (in fact as the Colorado population increases and we have more people traveling in the mountains, bear incidents are probably only going to increase), and I don't really care whether people use a bear canister, Ursack/Opsack, or bear bags (provided they are hung correctly). However, given the amount of failures of bear canisters, the Forest Service's regulations which don't allow you to use Ursacks/Opsacks or bear bags and require a "hard-sided" container which can also be prone to failure seem shortsighted to me, and they also don't address the most crucial point that keeps bears coming back for food - their incredible sense of smell.

Just my two cents,

Kai

[benlen]

Kai, HOLY s**t! Damn! I do hope Cali bears don't teach Colorado ones how to do this...

[davisrice4]

Bear cans suck, but they're a necessary evil at this point. I'd get one of the small Bear Vaults, they work well. A few years ago some models were difficult to open, but that problem appears to have been fixed largely.

I've read this, though haven't heard of a personal case to verify: If a bear fucks with a ursack, he may not get to your food, but he may destroy the food in the bag anyway trying to get to it. The nice thing about the rigid bear cans is that you can be mostly assured that not only will the bear not get the food, he won't ruin them inside either.

Also, you can throw a sub in the bear vault and not worry about it being squished. I go back and forth, I bought a vault to do capitol this summer but I went too big. It takes up a lot of space, but it isn't too heavy. I think it is worth the weight, because unless you can get your bear bag suspended BETWEEN two trees at least 15 feet in the air (I often find this to be very tedious) the only thing it is doing for you is providing peace of mind.