Took me 4 years to figure out I was packing my bear canister wrong

Was on a trip in Yosemite last summer and a ranger walked over to check my permit. He glanced at my bear canister sitting next to my pack and said 'you know you're supposed to pack it on its side, not upright, right?' I had been cramming stuff in vertically for years thinking that was the only way. He showed me how you can fit way more food and gear if you lay it flat and roll your stuff sacks. I tried it on the next resupply and got almost an extra day's worth of food in there. Has anyone else had a random stranger totally change how you do a basic thing on trail?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wendy10d ago

Read somewhere that rolling your clothes instead of folding them gives you way more space in a bear can too... never thought about laying the whole thing on its side though. That ranger probably saved you from some hungry bears and extra weight on your back. Definitely gonna try that trick next time I head out.

anderson.piper9d ago

Wait, rolling your clothes in a bear can actually saves space? I always just shove everything in there like a lunatic and hope for the best. That side-laying trick is legit though, I did it last trip and it made packing up camp way less miserable.