Keep Food From Bears: The Three Systems That Work

Canister, locker or hang, and the rules are not the same everywhere. Most bear problems are food storage problems.

12 min · Beginner · Taught by Richie S.

A bear that gets human food once will come back for it, and a bear that keeps coming back usually gets killed. This is the one skill where doing it badly hurts something other than you. Check the regulation for the specific unit you are entering, because Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Adirondacks and the Smokies all require different things and rangers do write tickets.

What you need

Approved bear canister, or a park-provided locker, or 15 meters of cord and a dry bag
An odor-proof liner bag
Knowledge of the local regulation, which is not optional

How to do it

Check the local rule first
Many parks now require an approved hard-sided canister and hanging is illegal, because the local bears have solved hanging. Some units provide metal lockers at every site. The agency website for that specific park is the only source that matters.
Understand what counts as a scented item
Food, wrappers, cookware, toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm, bug spray, medication, the wrapper in your pocket, the trash. All of it goes in storage. Bears are not making distinctions.
Use a canister where required or where you can
Pack it last so the heavy items sit close to your back, then set it a hundred paces from the tent, on flat ground, away from water and away from any slope that lets a bear roll it into a canyon. Never tie a cord to it, which gives a bear a handle.
Use the locker where one exists
Latch it fully, close it even when you are standing right there, and never leave a cooler out at a drive-in site while you go for a walk.
If hanging is legal, do the PCT method
Throw a line over a branch at least four meters up and two meters out from the trunk. Clip the bag on, haul it up to the branch, tie a stick into the line below the bag, and let the bag settle so the stick jams against the carabiner. Nothing is tied off at the trunk for a bear to chew.
Keep the triangle
Sleep, cook and store at three separate points, roughly a hundred paces apart, with the tent upwind of the kitchen. Never eat in the tent, ever, and change out of the clothes you cooked in.

Where people go wrong

Hanging where hanging is banned. It is both a ticket and ineffective. The bears there already know how to get a hung bag down.
Forgetting toiletries. Toothpaste and sunscreen are the two most commonly missed items and both smell strongly.
Storing near water or on a slope. A bear will roll a canister, and canisters found at the bottom of a creek are a running joke among rangers.
Cooking near the tent. Grease on the ground next to where you sleep is the worst possible combination.

The short version

Check the local rule, store everything with a smell, and keep sleeping, cooking and storage in a wide triangle. This is a sensitive topic because the consequences fall on the animal, so err far on the side of overdoing it.

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