Counter Assault Bear Keg

In our neck of the woods, the people who oversee wilderness areas now require backpackers to carry bear-proof canisters along with them whenever they head into the eastern High Peaks. It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.

This is Counter Assault’s model. It weighs 3.1 pounds, which admittedly amounts to a rather lot for backpacking, but hey, traditionally backpackers are an unimportant voting block, so who cares? That weight is an additional 10% of the regular load backpackers carry, which is why these canisters never caught on with the gang before they became legally required.

Bear kegs are designed to solve a terrible problem that wilderness areas across the country have been facing in the last decade: bears stealing food. At one time people dealt with this problem by shooting bears. This system worked great and everyone liked it except for the bears; which meant it had to go. For decades campers tried several other solutions. Placing food safely in the tent turned out to be a good way to convert a two-man tent into a one bear pantry. Lakeside campers tried packing all their food into one canoe and anchoring it a ways offshore. This generally resulted in a party of four paddling home in one canoe the next day, foodless: bears can swim. Up until a few years ago, campers placed their foodstuffs in a pack and hung those up in trees. Properly hung, so-called ‘bear bags’ worked well; the only problem being the ‘properly’ part. Campers have an astonishing ability to think bears shrink after dark and often hang their bags as little as 3 feet off the ground. I’ve seen bags hung so low that bears had to stoop to get under them. I imagine this sort of thing tickled them pink: they probably thought of it as an ursine piñata. Regardless, bears have been getting smarter, because lately they’ve figured out that ropes had something to do with the whole system, and if you just broke enough of the cords strung about, sooner or later a bag of food would come falling from the sky.

Hence, the Bear Keg.

Now I’ve spoken with a few of the people who tested these things, and they can vouch for the fact that they watched a test bear spend five minutes with one without managing to open it. That I suppose is a success story, and will be great news to you if a bear grabs your keg and starts trying to open it. You’ve got about five minutes to load your gun.

Eventually, bears will figure out they can quite easily punt the thing a good distance away and either work at it long enough to break it or just plain lose it themselves. In either case, you’ve lost your food, which appears to me to put you in the same exact position you would be in before the regulation took effect. The only difference being that if the keg really is bear-proof, you now have an annoyed, hungry bear lurking nearby.
You can only hope that some overseers will also be in the vicinity.

Bear kegs don’t eliminate the need for bear bags and ropes. While the bear keg instructions suggest placing all bear canisters in a shallow depression away from camp, chances are you’ll still want to hang it high. If you are careful to wash your hands thoroughly before handling a keg, it will reduce food odors and so may attract less attention.

Note the lovely reflective tape wrapped around the center of the keg. It looks a lot different than say, the reflection of a flashlight beam from the eyes of an unhappy bear, so you’ll be able to distinguish it from such other things when you wander around in the night retrieving it.
One of these things is NOT like the other!

Meanwhile, here are a few pointers on this model. Note the red mark on the lid: that’s a very important mark that isn’t there by default.
Keg Closure System" />

I made that with an indelible marker so there would be some chance of seeing exactly where to place the cover if I ever have to close it up in the dark. While the lid has a small ridge indicating where you should press to flip it up and open, the keg itself has nothing to indicate where it and the lid line up. That’s crucial: the lid only goes on in one place, one way. You can’t close it unless a short slot in the inner rim of the barrel lines up with two small pegs on the inside of the lid. There is perhaps 2mm of play to work with, so you don’t have much. The mark I made might attract a bruin’s attention and in some way contribute to the bear working out a way to get the thing open, but I’ll take that chance if it saves me from breaking the thing trying to close it. In any case, I recommend you make your keg a Mark II (bih dit dum). You may also want to write your name and address on the keg. You’ll want to distinguish it somehow from the other kegs rolling around in the woods.

Three flush-mount turnscrews secure the lid, which fits flush in the end of the keg. They're easy to turn with a coin, screwdriver,or the spine of a knife blade. A fingernail won't do the trick however, so you'll want to have something handy for the feat. Otherwise, it's easy.

Except for the tiny ridge demarking where you press, there isn’t much to grab onto. I suspect these things will have a penchant for slipping out of backpack straps and hurtling down slope. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed by a trundling bear keg. That lack of handle really is a feature, not only because it makes it harder for bears to get enough purchase to break the thing, but the manufacturer also sells a bag with lashing straps to transport the keg. That bag tacks another $20 on the price tag however, so you may want to make do with with a cheap compression sack. In any case, you will need something to tote the thing around in or it will get away from you, so if you don’t have a compression sack, get the bag, too.

Notice the tiny sticker on the top line. The keg’s interior holds 980 716 cubic inches, billed to carry enough food for 8-12 days. It really is roomy, but that estimate may be stretching it, unless perhaps you fill the keg with malt powder. Bear in mind that you must also put your cooking gear, toothpaste, deodorant, and preferably your mealtime clothes in it also.

Counter Assault’s Bear Keg retails for about $75, $95 with the carry sack. If you often camp in areas that require bear canisters, it’s a worthwhile purchase. Many camping supply stores near such areas offer canisters for rent, so if you only camp occasionally or have limited space at home, take that route. Either way, you are now obliged to carry them and you will get sent away if a ranger or ENCON officer catches you without one.

When you head into the High Peaks this season, take time to enjoy the scenery as you, and dozens of other campers, search for bear kegs. Along with, of course, a host of hungry, frustrated bears. Bon appétit!