Garcia Backpacker Bear Resistant Food Container

2 lbs 9 oz is a lot of weight to allow for one piece of gear, especially when there seems to be alternatives. Let's think about those alternatives:
1) Keeping food in your tent--not a good idea. Remember, to a bear your food is just an appetiser; YOU are the meat entre.
2) Hang food in a bag with line tied within reach--whatever is within reach for you is within easy reach of a bear. There are some areas where bears haven't figured this out, but bears are notoriously clever and adaptive. How long do you want to go hungry if the a local bruin has a eureka moment? Plus, how long do you want to spend trying to hang a bag after you've been hiking all day?
3) Hang food using the counter balance method--better than (2), but has earned the nickname "bear pinata". Everything else said for (2) applies.
The first reviewer seemed to think you have to hang the cannister too--I guess he is a belt AND suspenders type.

The one thing I would change about this product would be to make it a bright color. The woods look different in the morning than they do at night. What looks like an obvious place to put the cannister at bedtime might take some looking to find in the morning.

We used these bear containers on a 30-day backpacking trip with NOLS and personally I would rather carry this around than deal with a bear hang every night after dinner. The canister doubles as a nice place to sit while cooking and I'm sure it could hold up against any black bear. However, a grizzly might be able to crush this easily. Fortunately I have never had this product fully tested by a bear so I guess its a matter of time...

This cannister has done exactly what it is supposed to...keep your smellables away from camp. Not too much to say, the locking mechanisim is straight forward and easy to use, it is heavy but there are not a lot of options as far as cannisters go...if you know you can hang a bag, that is the much cheaper/lighter way to go. As others have mentioned before, this doubles as a nice camp seat!

These are very lightweight and make camping in extreme conditions more convenient, as well as safer. Keeps us full and keeps the bears out of our food. Easy to pack, suspend in trees, and open (provided you have something to open it with; can be a coin, knife, thin rock, ect.). Used the same 2 barrels for over five years on several outdoor adventures.

This should have some light color or refective marking on it. We haven't had trouble, but from the other reviews, if a bear was playing with this all night, good luck finding it. Then you are still out of food.

Daughter took it with her to the high peaks. Light weight and easy to take with the carry case.

it is a must need/use item when backpacking in the high peak region of the adirondacks

Bought this canister to use in the High Peaks of NYState where they are required.

This is a good, solid product. The bears can't get to your food.

This container is very well made, wish it was Waterproof.