Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bear Canisters?

I have two Bear Vaults, and one Garcia. I use them all the time just so I can sleep peacefully at night. The weight is no big deal, the biggest problem is fitting them into a small pack. The large pack holds them with no problem.

They work well as seats, and keep the food out of the natural residents bellies. In some areas the chipmonks will drive you nuts, so its not only for the protection of the bears natural menu, its all animals.

A canister designed to stop the jaws of an adult bear is overkill for marmots, mice and chipmunks.

I can see Jim's point that if he's going to leave a kevlar sack unattended all day that it wouldn't be as dummy-proof and bombproof as a rigid canister. It's very likely good enough since if bears were more than an unlikely threat in this area canisters would be required. We're mostly talking about peace of mind in this case. And with such a short approach and a base camp strategy the difference between the sack and the can is small, hardly worth discussing.

Cute kid!

Back from my trip. Great trip to a great area. No bears. Stopped at 11,700+ and didn't make peak. I'm allergic to lightning.

More later,

HJ

People are more important than bears.

I've carried a Bearicade Expedition for over five years (time flies and it all runs together) all over the SEKI backcountry on solo 2+ week treks. Never had a bear mess with it. The peace of mind it provides makes up for the weight penalty - just fill it at night, close it, place it and forget about it.

I just returned from a 15 day loop over Kearsarge. Two bear encounters along Bubbs Creek with the bear on the opposite side of a dense bush within ten feet of me. Both cases the bear totally ignored me and pressed on to wherever it was going.

FWIW...
A Yosemite bear on the Snow Creek trail has figured out the secret to opening all types of bear cans.
The bear raids the oft-used camp just above that 3000 foot drop-off...
and throws them over the ledge.