Ok, I’m just gonna go ahead and come out and say that I love my bear canister. My history with food storage is documented on many threads here, so I’m not gonna rehash the whole thing. In a nutshell, for years I was a staunch proponent of hanging (PCT method), then I switched to sleeping with it in my tent if storage (box, cables, etc.) wasn’t provided near where I was camping, and then I started casually using a bear canister after I bought one for my 2013 JMT thru.

All this bear talk recently on WB apparently got into my head and got me “bearanoid” even though I know logically that the chances of even seeing a bear are pretty low (I’ve seen maybe a dozen in 13+ years of hiking). So anyway, I have a Wild Ideas canister I purchased back in 2012 for the aforementioned JMT thru, and I have used it off and on for several of my AT excursions since then. This past week I finished up the 90 miles I had left in PA, and just went ahead and carried it the whole time for the heck of it. Part of the reason I decided to carry it was that I was messing around with my newish pack (Zpacks Arc Haul purchased last year) before the trip, and found out that it fits horizontally on top inside the pack, which is awesome.

So what’s my point here? Well, it’s just to say that the canister gets poo pooed by almost everyone primarily due to the added weight, and I think folks need to consider what this piece of equipment does. It serves 2 main purposes. First off, it’s about as idiot proof and simple a food storage method as you can get that’s portable, thus providing a lot of peace of mind (and I would argue is likely a safer option for the noobs and lazy hikers). For the non-bearanoid experienced folks this may not be a good selling point.

The other main purpose is that it’s a dang good chair. So for me, I removed my normal food storage bag and cord at about 4 oz. Then I added in the Bearikade Weekender at 2 lbs 1 oz. So that’s a net weight addition of 1 lb 13 oz. Now if I were to get a decent chair setup I’m probably looking in the at least 1 lb range. So I figure I’m basically carrying an extra 13 oz over the food bag and a chair.

I already lost the gram weenies who cringed at the idea of carrying a chair, but anyone who stuck around can maybe see the logic here. Carrying a bear can isn’t a huge weight gain (consider it your “luxury item”), it’s a great food storage option and it makes a nice chair.

So perhaps I haven’t sold anyone on it. Bear can users, what do you think? How about the bear can opponents, gram weenies or whoever else doesn’t like them, what do you think? Let’s discuss.