bear proof cannisters

I'm wondering how many of you guys pack your food in those back-packable bear proof cannisters and then shove it in your backpack???? I bought a couple and damn they're heavy(in the sense of backpacking)---I'd only pack one in my pack--I bought the other one for back up or for someone else to use---but since we try to go in as light as possible I'm just wondering who all use these things, as I've never seen it mentioned or I missed it-----chris

I've never used one, and I'm often camping in grizzly country. The weight, fixed size, and bulk of the hard sided container just turn me off. Some folks are using them, based on reading backpacking forums, but I don't know anyone personally. I'd be interested in hearing a good "pro-canister" argument from someone who used them and liked them.

Carl

We had to use them in the Sierra all the time. There is a carry case available for the Garcia Mfg model that worked well. We also used a bear bag but I don't think those are approved. The forest nazi's will write you a ticket if your in an area that requires a bear canister and you don't have one so pay attention to where you are. We could usually get enough food into one to cover 2 or 3 people for 3 days or so. If it is a week then it took almost a full container per person. You might get away with 2 for each 3 people.
In the carry case you can suspend them from the tree or just tie it to a tree. They say to just set them on the ground in the open but don't put them near a the edge of a cliff or a lake where the bear will swat them when they try to get them open. Usually though the bears leave them alone, they have learned that the containers are too hard to get into.

thanks for the info--I'll be hunting up around Mono Lake here in CALI and it's mandatory to have them------chris