Bear Canisters and other prevention

Heading to the Wind River Range in August. Everyone says bring something to put your food into. Looking at the reviews on Bear canisters it looks like they don't help much.... What are people using?

While in haven't climbed in the Winds, I've had good luck overall with Ursacks

Couple 6 MM lines maybe 20'-30', one carabiner and run a bear hang.  Good tree (not limber pine) with sturdy branch.  Or in the Alpine have used large boulders (15'+) and hung food on the vertical face.  I prefer a hang over the canister to save the canister weight and you can hang a large stuff sack with allot more Stuff in it then those stupid canisters.

Alex Cole wrote: Heading to the Wind River Range in August. Everyone says bring something to put your food into. Looking at the reviews on Bear canisters it looks like they don't help much.... What are people using?

What makes you think bear canisters don't work? The reviews? As far as I know, they are the most secure option (as well as heavy and bulky)

+1 on hang bag.  It weighs nothing & works really well.  I've had two experiences with bears in camps nearby - always at another camp that had bear boxes instead of hanging stuff.  

FrankPS wrote:

What makes you think bear canisters don't work? The reviews? As far as I know, they are the most secure option (as well as heavy and bulky)

https://www.rei.com/product/768902/bearvault-bv500-food-container?CAWELAID=120217890000849850&cm_mmc=PLA_Google&product_id=7689020019&ad_type=pla&channel=online&partition_id=447612904045&target_id=pla-447612904045&brand_flag=&adgroup_id=15877490680&campaign_id=180122080&location_physical=9019787&cid=53280440200&network=g&network_type=search&device_type=c&merchant_id=1209243&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0pfzBRCOARIsANi0g0shKBycCWI5Oyh5uoHiz_Hn95T44pIuKf0yJiPSI2GnqLK6-k1SiCkaAh01EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds 

The reviews on REI make it sound like I'm buying an $80 piece of plastic thats going to break.

If you think, or want to think, that canisters "don't help much," you're looking for an excuse not to buy or carry one. The IGBC has a list of certified containers, updated just a couple of weeks ago, and that list is not a null set.

That said, the Ursack is a convenient alternative where it is allowed, especially when combined with the hang method, which of course relies on access to suitable trees or other landscape features.

To answer your question, "What are people using?" In addition to one of the above, I'm using prevention. Choose campsites that are not in near proximity to typical bear habitat. Shop for odor-containment products.

When I visited the Wind River Range back in the 1990s Ursacks were not around (I currently use them in the High Sierra). We used standard stuff sacks, we found a campsite near a very big boulder which had an easy boulder problem to its top - this is where we kept our food, and it seemed to work very well as only on the first night of our 7 days stay did bears come into camp looking for food.

Alex Cole wrote:

https://www.rei.com/product/768902/bearvault-bv500-food-container?CAWELAID=120217890000849850&cm_mmc=PLA_Google&product_id=7689020019&ad_type=pla&channel=online&partition_id=447612904045&target_id=pla-447612904045&brand_flag=&adgroup_id=15877490680&campaign_id=180122080&location_physical=9019787&cid=53280440200&network=g&network_type=search&device_type=c&merchant_id=1209243&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0pfzBRCOARIsANi0g0shKBycCWI5Oyh5uoHiz_Hn95T44pIuKf0yJiPSI2GnqLK6-k1SiCkaAh01EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds 

The reviews on REI make it sound like I'm buying an $80 piece of plastic thats going to break.

I just read those reviews on the Bear Vault and didn't see any reference to them breaking. Mostly stellar reviews. Also, REI gives you a one-year warranty, in case it does break (pretty unlikely).

Edit: I did read about a bear biting through one, but I think that is a rare exception.  I've have the Garcia and the Bear Vault Solo and have used them for thirty years. A couple of years ago, I got an Ursack. Although I don't think the Ursack is as secure as a bear canister, the weight and bulk savings are attractive. Note that Ursacks aren't approved for use in some areas, and a canister is required.

In case you want to go to original documents, here's a link to the 2016 order that mandated food storage in the Winds: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd506953.pdf

The relevant sections w/ regards to acceptable storage options:

All food and refuse must be acceptably stored during nighttime hours, unless it is being prepared for eating, being eaten, being transported, or being prepared for acceptable storage.

a. Stored in bear-resistant container certified through the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Courtesy Inspection Program. A container may be certified by the local district ranger or their designated representative(s) if it meets the IGBC criteria

c. Suspended at least 10 feet clear of the ground at all points and four feet horizontally from any supporting tree or pole

If you're going to plan on suspending food, just be aware that suitable tress can be hard to find in certain areas in the Winds (e.g. Cirque of the Towers) and that unless a boulder has a pretty drastic overhang, you technically won't meet the storage requirements. I'm sure many people still do this, but that doesn't mean it's allowed.

Also, depending on your future plans, you might consider a food storage option that's more widely accepted. For example, the Ursack is unfortunately not approved for use in Yosemite (nps.gov reference).

I personally have used the BearVault BV450 and BV500 and while they are a bit heavy, it's not that bad in comparison to the full rack and rope(s) you're going to have. The BV450 holds about 4 days worth of food if you pack well. It appears that you can also rent bear canisters from the Pinedale District Office (reference) though it's probably worth confirming with them before relying on it.

Do you research to first find out what the food storage regs. are for the area you want to visit. It may be the bear canisters are the only option.

The BearVaults are heavy and bulky, but they make great stools when you're sitting around in camp. Hanging food is not a good option in the Winds IMHO, not enough suitable trees at altitude and the bears have learned how to get at food that is hung. 

mark felber wrote: The BearVaults are heavy and bulky, but they make great stools when you're sitting around in camp. Hanging food is not a good option in the Winds IMHO, not enough suitable trees at altitude and the bears have learned how to get at food that is hung. 

They also make great refrigerators when parked in a lake or creek. The Garcia containers are a poor choice for this application because of the far less waterproof closure.

mark felber wrote: The BearVaults are heavy and bulky, but they make great stools when you're sitting around in camp. Hanging food is not a good option in the Winds IMHO, not enough suitable trees at altitude and the bears have learned how to get at food that is hung. 

What Mark said. From personal experience I know bears in the Winds are as educated as those in Yosemite.  Quite adept at hauling your food bag up hand over hand while perched on the branch you hung it on.  And as Mark indicated often where you are camping there are no trees or trees that are too small to use to hang.  

As of 3 years ago the Pinedale Ranger Station had a supply of canisters to loan.  However they were only the 3 or 4 day capacity cans.  The Great Outdoor Shop in Pinedale rents the BV500 at a reasonable price. Obviously you will want to call ahead to confirm availability with the ranger station or shop.

I have no personal experience with the Ursack.  However a large carnivore biologist quite familiar with the bears in the Winds doesn't think much of them.  He told me that very often the bear is able to tear the bag from whatever you have anchored it to and go off with it.  If they don't make off with it the cuffing and chewing does a good job at destroying the contents of the bag.

One issue with the Ursack, is that they're certainly not scent-proof, so you have to get a scent-proof bag to put in the Ursack, But then the Ursack isn't critter proof. So if you're worried about critters, you gotta put the Ursack in an Ursack Minor.

And then some places that allow Ursacks don't allow them without the aluminium liner, and then it's like f-me? What's the point of this bag? The Rangers at RMNP seem to prefer them, as they're easy to haul out when lost/forgotten.

Oh also price those Ursacks - they cost considerably more than a BV500.

Just some things to consider. Beer canisters SUUUUUUUUUCK, butj having a stool is nice, and it's some great piece of mind just to put your food in it, put the canister away from camp and sleep well at night.

Get a can. Sack/hanging doesn't cut it. Don't be lazy and endanger a bear b/c you want to save 2 lbs of pack weight. Too many people do that and then then poorly hang their food, bears get it and reinforce their bad habit to the point that we then kill them. Pretty effed up when we try "LNT", train for climbing/hiking, etc and then want to skimp on the bear can.

There are good bear hangs and poor bear hangs.  People saying that bear cans are the way to go sound silly to me.  I’ve solo hiked from lander to pine dale, spent months in the mountains of Wyoming including the winds, absorokas and big horns. Had bears crawling around my cook site during the night. Never had any problems with bear hangs on trees or boulders.  Be smart, be LNT and make a bear hang Paul Petzoldt would be proud of.  

I got a BV500 to hike the JMT because it was basically required.  You can fit about 7 or 8 3000-cal. man-days of food in one.  I took it back to Deep Lake year before last and it worked well enough for two people 7 nights out.  We may have hung some odds and ends.  Nice to not have to worry about rodents, but they are a pain to carry.  If you're through-hiking and can select your sites you may do fine without the canister, but rangers sometimes patrol Deep Lake and the Cirque to make sure you're camped legally so your hanging options there may be limited.

We got bear canisters for free (maybe had to put down a deposit) from the USFS ststion in Pinedale once for a ski trip early May.

Lots of outdoor shops rent them too, which I would recommend if you're hesitant about buying.

Not sure where you're going in the Winds but there is a lot of area above treeline with no option fo hang food for miles.

We did not encounter any bears but very thankful we had bear cans because alpine rodents tried to raid our stuff every night and day we werent in camp.

First grizzly of the year in Yellowstone was spotted the other day.

Just like any other life skill, you can learn to use/accept/appreciate bear canisters.