I did a hike with 3 other experienced backpackers a few months ago on the PCT in Washington. We were out for 6 nights and despite 3 of us having engineering backgrounds getting a successful hang took way longer than we would have liked and in most cases the results were not ideal. Those dense western softwoods are designed to shed lots of snow and that means the branches are in tight and leaning downwards. there is rarely anything goes to a horizontal branch let alone two of them an appropriate distance apart. We were at official campsites 5 nights out of 6 and of all the groups of campers we would encounter, we were the only ones trying. I saw a few solo folks carrying bear cans but the majority of backpackers we encountered did not have them. Unlike the AT where civilization is nearby so having the food raided by bear is an inconvenience, losing food where we were might mean a couple of days with no food. We did camp near PCT thruhikers a couple of times and never saw a sign of anything more than a rodent hang. Prior to the trip we checked recent reports and checked with folks familiar with the area and there was only one campsite that had any reported bear issues and it was a site near a trailhead and probably got more use (it also had a box privy).
My guess is by the time folks have gotten to Washington state and focused on the end to the trail that caution gets thrown to the wind?