How to Choose (And Use) A Bear Canister for Backpacking in 2023

A bear canister is a hard-sided cylinder used to hold food while backpacking in bear country. Its purpose may seem obvious – no one wants to be visited by a bear in the middle of the night – but there are actually several important reasons to carry a bear canister:

1. Bear canisters protect bears from your food. Wait, did I get that the wrong way around? Nope. When a bear gets used to the reward of stealing food from hikers, it often becomes more aggressive and starts spending time in popular camping areas, leaving park rangers no choice but to relocate or even kill it.
2. Bear canisters also protect your food from bears. If you’ve ever done a long backpacking trip on carefully rationed meals, you can imagine the hungry horror of a bear wandering off with all your food in the middle of the night.
3. Though bear attacks are rare, canisters do also protect hikers from bears. If, instead of using a bear canister to protect your food, you decide to sleep with it in your tent, you risk attracting a bear into your campsite.
4. Bear canisters are required in several US national parks, including those traversed by the popular John Muir Trail, in which case a bear canister protects you from being fined by park rangers.

Advantages of renting a bear canister:

• Can be cheaper than buying if you won’t use it often
• Avoid the hassle of choosing and buying your own

Advantages of buying a bear canister:

• You can choose the kind you think is best
• You can test pack before leaving on your trip, especially important if it will be a tight squeeze
• Cheaper over the long term if you use it often

If you’re interested in renting a bear canister but can’t do so through the land management agency where you’ll be hiking, here are a few other bear canister rental programs:

• Wild Ideas Bearikade rental
• Sports Basement bear canister rental
• Lower Gear (Garcia and Bear Vault)

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Cost to Volume and Volume to Weight

The table above includes two calculated values that are helpful when comparing bear canisters:

Cost to Volume: This measures how much capacity we’re getting for our money. All else being equal, a lower cost-to-volume ratio is better.

Volume to Weight: This measures how much capacity we’re getting for the amount of weight we have to carry. Bear Canisters made from lighter materials have a higher / better volume-to-weight ratio.

Since lighter gear is generally more expensive, you can expect these to be at odds. The fancy Bearikade models, for example, have a high volume-to-weight (good) but also a high cost-to-volume (generally bad unless you have money to burn).

These canisters are designed for short and/or ultralight food carries of 1 to 3 days (maybe 4 days if your ultralight food menu is really dialed in). They work well for short solo hikes or an overnight with a partner.

• Pros of a small bear canister: reduce weight and bulk, save money

• Cons of a small bear canister: not as versatile

Medium size bear canisters are the most versatile and popular, especially for thru hikes like the PCT or JMT. Canisters in this size range can carry between 4-7 days of food for one person, maybe more if packed carefully, or food for two people on a weekend trip.

• Pros of a medium bear canister: versatile enough for longer food carries or sharing with a partner, more options to choose from

• Cons of a medium bear canister: extra weight and bulk on short trips

Though soft-sided bags are lighter and easier to pack, and they may technically prevent a bear from eating your food, there are some drawbacks:

• Bears can carry away a sack, unlike a smooth hard-sided can.
• If a bear plays with your soft-sided bag, your food will likely end up crushed and contaminated with bear drool.
• Safer if hung, which requires time, skill, and trees.

If I haven’t talked you out of it yet, here are the two most common methods of bear hanging:

• Counterbalance method (preferred and the only method allowed in some areas, including on the JMT)
• PCT method

And now, back to bear canisters.

Now that you’re the proud owner of a shiny new bear bin, what exactly are you supposed to do with it? In short:

1. Store the right things in the bear canister
2. Choose your kitchen location wisely
3. Choose a smart place to leave the bear canister overnight
4. Carry your bear canister comfortably in your pack
5. Pack your bear canister as efficiently as possible

What goes in a bear canister?

Short answer: anything that smells (and bears have a very good sense of smell). In practice, this means:

• Food, any and all of it.
• Trash, especially food wrappers (check your pockets for those granola bar wrappers!)
• Scented toiletries (toothpaste, deodorant, etc)

If you have extra space, it’s nice to store other items like your stove or dishes in the canister as well. Don’t add items like clothing that can soak up food smell.

Bear canisters are mainly intended to protect your food overnight. It’s ok to have your day’s snacks and meals outside of it while hiking, but be careful to not leave your pack unattended during the day in this case.

Where should I set up my camp kitchen?

When hiking in bear country it’s important to set up your “kitchen” and “dining room” at least 100 yards downwind from where you’ll sleep. The process of eating or cooking leaves scraps or even just scent that a bear’s sensitive nose can easily pick up. If a bear comes to investigate during the night, you’d rather it not trip over your tent in the process.

Some people even like to stop for dinner somewhere along the trail and then keep hiking to camp, especially in grizzly territory. This works especially well for ultralight hikers putting in long days, but is a good bear avoidance strategy for anyone.

Where do I leave the bear canister at night?

Here’s the key thing to remember when deciding where to leave your bear canister at night: a bear canister is designed to prevent a bear from actually eating your food. A bear may still smell your food, find your food, and try to get your food. With this in mind, place your bear canister:

• At least 100 yards away from where you’ll sleep, preferably downwind if you can figure out which way that is.
• Away from any steep hills, river banks, or dropoffs where it could roll and fall if a bear decides to play with it.

Consider marking your bear canister with bright or reflective tape, so you can find it more easily if it ends up somewhere unexpected (or if you need to get into it during the night).

Definitely do NOT:

• Keep your bear can in or near your tent.
• Attach rope or anything else to your bear can that could allow a bear to carry it away.
• Hang your bear can (hanging is not very effective and not necessary with a can, plus see above about attaching rope)

Is a bear canister smell-proof?

Nope! Some are designed to be smell resistant, but you should assume that a bear can still smell your food and knows exactly where it is. The purpose of a bear canister is not to make food invisible to bears, but to teach them not to bother going after that yummy smell, because they can’t get the food out of the canister.

If hiking in grizzly territory (where the chance of an aggressive encounter is higher), consider using smell-proof bags inside your bear canister for extra safety.

How do I open and close my bear canister?

This depends on the model. They’re all different, but since they’re all designed to be hard for bears to open they do tend to be small and fiddly.

Usually a coin, credit card, or other thin edge is required or at least helpful. Make sure you bring an extra of whatever is needed, just in case!

Other Bear Canister Tips

• Before putting the canister in its overnight location, check ALL clothing and pack pockets. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered an extra wrapper or granola bar after closing up the canister and had to go back in the dark to add it.
• This may sound obvious, but always close your bear canister when you’re done taking food out. When bear canisters do fail to keep food safe, it’s usually because of human error.
• The best thing about bear canisters (aside from not endangering bears or yourself) is having a sturdy camp chair during mealtime.
• Some bear canisters can also be used as a foam roller for working out those aches and pains on the trail.

How to Carry A Bear Canister

Adding a bear canister to your gear list can disrupt the packing strategy of even the most experienced backpacker. Where is the best place to pack this bulky, heavy, inflexible object?

Here are some tips on how and where to carry your bear canister:

• The best place for a bear canister in your pack is relatively low and close to your back, which keeps weight distributed as comfortably as possible.
• Try packing your canister either at the very bottom of your back, or just on top of your sleeping bag (which is at the very bottom).
• Consider carrying your bear can horizontally (lid facing to one side) instead of upright, if it will fit.
• If using a frameless pack, you may need to pad between the canister and your back with something soft like a sleeping pad or clothing.
• For a better fit, remove sleeping bag and clothing from stuff sacks and stuff them free-form around the sides of your bear canister.
• It’s an advanced move, but some hikers manage to carry their bear canister on the top of their packs, saving more space inside. Just remember, don’t attach any ropes to the bear can itself, or a bear could carry it away during the night.

Plan Your Food Carefully

• Plan out your full menu precisely, down to exactly how many calories you will eat per day. Most backpackers should shoot for 3000-4000 calories per day depending on your size and daily mileage.
• Choose dense foods that are high in fat, because they pack a lot of calories into a small amount of space. Nut butter, salami, hard cheeses, trail mix, and high calorie meal replacement bars are all good places to start.
• Choose food that is NOT high in water content, since water is heavy, contains no calories and is usually easy to add on the trail. This means buying or making your own dehydrated or freeze dried meals, having just-add-water breakfasts like oatmeal and powdered milk, and cooking with dehydrated fast-cooking grains like couscous or ramen.
• Choose foods that pack down into small spaces without much air in between. For example, couscous or angel hair spaghetti will pack pack down to a smaller space than the same amount of calories of shell or macaroni pasta (unless you crush them into smaller pieces, which is definitely an option).

Pack Your Food Efficiently

• Remove any nonessential packaging.
• If sealed packages contain some air, poke a tiny pin-prick hole and squeeze the air out.
• Consider crushing dried foods – pasta, dehydrated chili, ramen – into smaller pieces that pack down with less air between them.
• Layer your canister by day, not by food type, so you don’t have to unpack the entire thing to make a full meal. (As tempting as it may be, don’t put that round pack of tortillas at the very bottom.)
• Make good use of space around the edges of the canister. This is a great place to wedge a few extra protein bars even after the canister seems full.
• If low on space, pack your first day’s snacks and meals outside the canister (but don’t leave your pack unattended!).
• Leave room for your toiletries and other scented items.

If you found this post helpful, you might also like these:

• How to Pack Lighter for Backpacking
• How to correctly use trekking poles
• JMT vs. TRT: Comparing two Sierra thru hikes
• More backpacking and hiking resources

Or visit the hiking section for lots more.