Olympic National Park - Bear Canisters (U.S. National Park Service)

A hiker packs his bear canister in the Olympic high country.

Approved Bear Canisters
How to Pack a Bear Canister

Please do your part to protect yourself, park wildlife and other visitors by properly securing your food.

In many areas, a bear canister is the only good way of securing food.

Bear canisters are required in some areas of the park's wilderness backcountry.

Many people, after using a bear canister for the first time, never go back to hanging food because of the convenience and other benefits of using bear canisters.

List of Approved Bear Canisters

These canisters have been approved by the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group based on testing and success or failure in the field. Last updated May 12, 2009

Approved Canisters
Full approval is given to any container that has passed visual inspection, an impact test, a zoo test and has been successful during three months of field-trials in the summer.

Backpacker Model 812 (Garcia)
www.backpackerscache.com
BearVault 110b, 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400
www.bearvault.com
(see below for conditionally approved BearVaults)
Bearikade Weekender MKII (1766 and higher) and Expedition MKII (1766 and higher)
www.wild-ideas.net
The Bear Keg (Counter Assault)
www.counterassault.com
The Bare Boxer Contender
www.bareboxer.com
Purple Mountain Engineering Tahoe
(This canister is no longer in production or available for purchase)

Approved Panniers

DeCarteret Aluminum Stock Panniers
Berner Bear Box
303/343-1998
Bear Aware Panniers
www.bear-aware.com

Conditionally Approved Canisters
Conditional approval is given to any container that has passed visual inspection, an impact test and a zoo test. Conditionally approved containers are approved for use.

BearVault 450 and 500
www.bearvault.com
Bare Boxer 202
www.bareboxer.com

Conditionally Approved Panniers

Bear Country Camping Models SFO and HFO
www.bearcountrycamping.com

Steel salvage drums with a security lid may be used until panniers are purchased.

Dozier Equipment Company [Model K-1035, 8 gallon open head]
www.dozierequip.com
Lab Safety Supply Company (Model 9M-9117, 8 gallon open head)
www.labsafety.com

Either type of approval may be revoked due to unexpected problems in the field that lead to either failures, injuries, or resource damage.