Best Backpack For Bear Canister Horizontal Fit 2024 – GWC Mag

Vertical vs Horizontal Bear Canister Storage Inside of Your Backpack

Another way to store a bear canister inside your backpack is vertically, which circumvents the issue of most backpacks being too narrow to fit one horizontally. This is a functional strategy that has been proven semi-effective, but like with top-strapping, is not without its problems.

Firstly, the contents of your bear canister are likely the heaviest in your backpack. A week’s worth of food plus the canister itself likely weighs at least 20 lbs. A vertical carry will disadvantageously place this weight lower down into the body of the pack, as opposed to higher up like with a top carry or a horizontal stow in the top section of the main compartment.

The more weight you place lower into your pack, the more it changes your center of gravity and creates the dreaded “pull-back” effect – the weight of your pack pulling your torso backward and downward as you attempt to walk forward. Conversely, this is why many people prefer to store their sleeping bag or DCF trekking pole shelter at the bottom of the main compartment, because those items are lightweight and bulky, with the lowest impact on your center of gravity, and causing the least amount pull-back.

The next problem with loading your bear canister vertically into the main compartment is that it creates a complex game of pack Tetris. You can’t have the canister pressing directly against the interior of the back panel, or it will create an uncomfortable lump that dig in as you hike. But nor can you place it opposite, fully flush against the inside of the exterior front face. Again, that’s because you want heavy items close to your body in order to prevent the pull-back effect; placing it as far as possible from your torso is counter productive to hiking.

Nor is it ideal to have a heavy and fully loaded canister off to the far left or right side, as this will change your center of balance, weighting one side more than the other. Thus, if you intend to store your canister vertically, you will need to center it in your pack like a bullseye. But this is more difficult than it sounds. Since your pack is presumed to be at least moderately narrow (otherwise you would store the bear canister horizontally), that leaves only small slots of tall narrow empty space around the perimeter of the canister that can be difficult to work with. Items must be meticulously rolled to fit and it adds significant effort to the packing process.

For all of the above reasons, the best way to store a bear canister inside of your pack is horizontally in the top section of the main compartment. This creates the best possible center of gravity, prevents the “pull-back” effect, and makes loading and unloading easy. Any pack can fit a bear canister vertically, but only the best backpack for bear canister storage can do so horizontally.