Bear Canisters vs. Bear Bags: How to Store Food in Bear Country
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A bear's nose can find your dinner from a long way off. A black bear's sense of smell is estimated to be about seven times better than a bloodhound's. So when you camp in bear country, the question isn't whether a bear could smell your food. It's whether it can get to it.
Here are the main ways to store food in the backcountry, and how to choose.
Rule number one: check the park's rules
Food storage rules are different in every park, and sometimes in different parts of the same park. Some places require a specific type of container. Some don't allow hanging food at all.
For example, in Yosemite National Park, all food, trash, toiletries and other scented items in the wilderness must be stored in an allowed bear-resistant container or a food locker, and hanging food is illegal throughout the park.
Always check the park's website or ask at the visitor center or backcountry office before your trip.
Option 1: Hard bear canisters
A bear canister is a hard, round container with a lid a bear can't open. You put everything with a smell inside, close it and leave it on the ground away from your tent.
Good to know:
- Canisters are the most widely accepted option. Many parks that require bear-resistant storage accept them.
- They're bulky and heavier than a bag, but they also protect food from smaller animals and from being crushed.
- Some parks rent them. In Yosemite, for example, the Garcia Backpackers' Cache can be rented in the park.
Examples certified by the IGBC (the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee tests bear-resistant products with real grizzlies):
Option 2: Soft bear-resistant bags
Soft bags made from very strong fabric are lighter and easier to pack than canisters. The best known is the Ursack.
Good to know:
- The **Ursack Major and Ursack AllMitey** are on the IGBC's certified list.
- They're not accepted everywhere. Some parks only allow hard canisters, so check before you go.
- Follow the maker's instructions exactly, including how to tie the bag.
Many people put food inside an odor-proof liner bag before it goes into a canister or bag. That doesn't replace a bear-resistant container, but it can help keep smells down.
Option 3: Hanging food in a tree
For a long time, hanging food from a tree branch was the standard advice. It's still allowed in some places, but:
- It's illegal in some parks, like Yosemite.
- It's hard to do well, and it depends on finding the right tree.
If you do hang food, only do it where the rules allow it, and follow that park's instructions for height and distance.
How to use any container the right way
These tips come from Grand Teton National Park's backcountry rules, and they're a good habit anywhere:
- Store everything with a smell: food, trash, toiletries, sunscreen, bug spray, lip balm and medications. If it goes in your mouth or on your skin, it should probably go in the container.
- Cook, eat and store your container at least 100 yards (90 m) downwind of your tent.
- Hide a canister on the ground in brush or behind rocks, and never near a cliff or water, where it could roll away or fall in.
- Keep it closed and locked, even when you're nearby. It only works when it's shut.
- Don't attach anything to it.
A few honest caveats
- Certified doesn't mean bear-proof. The IGBC says certification doesn't guarantee a grizzly can't get in, and small amounts of contents may still leak.
- Certified doesn't mean allowed. The IGBC doesn't decide which products a park accepts. Each park or land manager sets its own rules.
At home in bear country
The same idea applies to your trash. The IGBC also certifies bear-resistant trash cans and enclosures for homes. If bears visit your neighborhood, one of these can keep them out of your garbage, which keeps them safer too. Bears that learn to find food around people keep coming back, and some end up having to be put down. Wildlife officers sum it up as "a fed bear is a dead bear."
I respect a good canister. I don't like it, but I respect it.