Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board ursacks vs. bear canisters

I've used a bear canister for years and enjoy the security of a virtually bullet proof "pantry." However,I find its weight and bulk unwieldy, especially on long trips. Consequently,I have toyed with purchasing an Ursack system, but am I putting my vittles at risk? I'd appreciate your opinions/experiences. Thanks, Sharon

Ursacks should prevent the bears from eating your food, but they don't necessarily prevent them from crushing everything inside the Ursack while they attempt to get into it. Wild Ideas makes a much lighter bear can called a Bearikade which weighs about half of the normal bear can weight but is strong enough to avoid crushing by bears. You could try hanging your Ursack or wedging it into some rocks to keep the bears from crushing everything inside. I believe that they need to be at least 12 feet above the ground and at least 10 feet out from the tree if you decide to hang it.

If you're willing to possibly eat mashed food from a stinky bag saturated with saliva in order to save a few ounces and some volume, the Ursack is for you.

I say this seriously. I have a Bearikade Weekender but I'm considering an Ursack.

Last time I checked it was only conditionally approved, and that was only with the aluminum liner. I'll wait for full approval before I buy one.

Have used an Ursack going on 5 years or so. Not once have I have had an issue. It is light (20 oz. with liner) and does a great job. Of course it is up to the user to make sure that you store food correctly so not to have a failure. Think about it, do bears hang out at Trail camp? Marmots and chipmunks do. Now for using Ursack's in other areas that do not require cannisters. You can take out the liner and have a nice lightweight, criter protection.

I have used Garcia, Bear Vault, Ursack TKO and Ursack Hybrid. All things considered I will use the two Ursack products exclusively in the future. The Hybrid at 20 oz. gives you the size of the Garcia and larger BV at a lighter weight.

There are couple of other at advantages to the UH, that is, I can put my 1.3 L Evernew Pot inside so I use less cube in my pack, my Orisko "bowl" locks the food in place so I don't have to take any extraordinary precautions for my cookies and crackers and UH designs makes it the best canister to be lasted outside the pack.

If the UH gets total approval by SIBBG my intention is sell my other canisters.