[Philmont]: Bear Cannisters and Philmont

Happy New Year to All.

Per my Troop's trek in Yosemite this past summer, several pertinent
comments on bear cannisters: First, the capacity of the cannisters is
not that great. Philmont would have to make some significant downsizing
of their typical meal bulk, or (even with 3 - 5 day resupply points)
everyone will need to carry at least 1 and possibly 2 canisters. My 14
man Crew needed 17 cannisters for our 6 day trek (no resupply), and we
were using more typical backpacking meals, not bulky Philmont style
meals. Second, while the plastic versions are surprisingly light, they
are not THAT light, and a bunch of them are significantly heavier than
bear-bags and a rope - especially compared to the nylon bags and polypro
rope my Crews tend to favor for weight savings. Third, while the empty
cannisters can be used for trash and some Crew items, there is a
learning curve for the Scouts; that is, items stored in the (empty)
cannisters still tend to acquire food odors and become smellables, so
you need to be very judicious in what you place in a cannister. At
Yosemite, there was no effort to clean or even inspect the cannisters
between use - we washed several of ours out that had residual powders
and various other "stickies" inside, and in hindsight I probably should
have gone ahead and washed them all out. Shame on me. Fourth, just
from a financial standpoint, purchasing adequate cannisters for Philmont
and presumably the Double H would require a pretty serious check. I
don't know what they'd run in bulk, but based on the deposit at
Yosemite, they ain't cheap. To say nothing of the need for additional
storage capacity at Logistics (even if 75% of them are "out" at any
given time).

On the plus side, the cannisters were quite easy to use and (based on my
conversations with several Yosemite Rangers) highly effective. One
grizzled veteran claimed that he had never heard of a properly closed
cannister being breached. In addition, we quickly found that they make
for pretty decent seats - though not as comfortable as the myriad camp
stools or camp chairs that are increasingly popular among Scouts and
Advisors. But certainly more comfortable than the rocks I usually sit on.

If anyone is interested, you are invited to read my treatise on bear
safety, at: http://www.troop111.org/bear.html I still haven't
illustrated it yet, but I will some year....

- Dr. Bob

-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Fri Dec 31 19:08:01 2004