Product type: Rental

Rent Bear Canisters - Animal-Resistant Food Containers

Several sizes to choose to rent for bear-country treks. See full product details below.

Select Rental Term and Quantity

Select a Canister Model

$15.00

Base Rental Rates

3 Days $15.00
7 Days $20.00
14 Days $27.00
21 Days $34.00
1 Month $41.00

Quantity

How this works...

Full Product Description
Specs

When traveling in bear country, the number one precaution you can take is keeping your food inaccessible to bears. That is after all, what they are interested in - there's no research yet that suggests they think we humans taste like chicken, but they definitely like trail mix, energy bars and the other tasty things we tend to carry in our packs. And a little nighttime raid into camp can be the perfect time for a bear to enjoy some of your food if you don't take precautions.

One oft-mentioned precaution against bears is hanging food from trees in just a certain way. Unfortunately, that certain way requires time-consuming engineering skills to outsmart the bears, and just isn't practical in a lot of areas. While many campgrounds have on-site bear-proof boxes, trips to the real backcountry require carrying your own protection.

The solution? Rent one of these simple, but very effective bear canisters to store your food and scented things in at night. Ranger- or park-policy-mandated in many areas with heavy bear populations, our rental bear canisters have long-proven reliability with backpackers. It's also the perfect item to rent for those hikers who simply don't spend that much time in bear country. Or, you can buy one from our used rental inventory; it won't be brand new, but looks just like a new one will after the first use - a few scratches are inevitable.

One model we rent is the OG Garcia Backpackers Cache often found at ranger stations and long-proven to withstand any bear's interest. Unless the bear has a screwdriver or coin to unlock the stainless steel lock, it will eventually lose interest in it and move on to look for something else to eat that's a lot less trouble. The canister weighs about 2.75 pounds, and is about 9" in diameter. It is rated to have capacity for 6 days of food for one person, but as with all models it depends of course on how much food you need per day and whether or not you are using original packaging. For guys eating a lot of food, fibure more like 5 days capacity, as you also ahve to get your scented items in there as well like toothpaste, trash, etc.

We also rent 3 different models in the BearVault line - these are made of a see-thru plastic and work off the same concept as a child-proof lid. The BV450 holds about 4 days of food; the BV500 about 7 days; the BVOne is a new (2026) adjustable-height one for 1-4 days ' worth. All are lighter than the Garcia.

We suggest you request the one that just meets your storage needs and no bigger. You can specify any preference when you select your rental period, but we do run out of one model or another from time to time and will just send what is available (unless you specify to cancel if your preference isn't available). If you're not heading into bear country but need to protect your food from small animals and rodents, rent out this lighter weight deterrent option

We often run out of these in July and August - peak backpacking time in the Sierras - so get your rental order in early to better ensure availability for you. Call us if any concerns, or we will reach ut to you if any availability issue. See how the lids work on the bear canisters we have for rent and more about which one is best for you.

For more information on dealing with bears in the wild in general, we've put together an article about bear safety. For some third-party user reviews of this and other gear we rent and sell, visit our backpacking and camping user gear review page.

Note - this item has a high volume-to-weight ratio - that is, it may be light, but it eats up a lot of box space. Rental shipments including this item often require a bigger box and are subject to a rate surcharge by the carriers.

For more information see video below: