For my backpacking trip to the Lost Creek Wilderness, I decided  to try out the Counter Assault Bear Keg. Typically I hang my food when backpacking where there are bears, but in some areas of the country (Yosemite, Yellowstone, and parts of the Adirondacks) back country campers are required to use a bear resistant container. Curious to see what it would be like to use one, I rented a Bear Keg from our local REI. After all, it was a short hike and a one night trip, so even if I didn't like it, it wouldn't be a horrible experience.

The Counter Assault Bear Keg is designed to protect your food from bears, as well as other critters. The concept is simple, its a big canister that you put your food (as well as anything else that might attract company) into, and then simply place the Bear Keg on the ground at least 200 feet from your campsite. You don't have to worry about finding an appropriate tree to hang a food sack from, mess with tossing rope around, etc. It seemed like an intriguing concept.

Returning from REI, I decided to see just how much I could pack into it. The canister itself is 13.75 inches tall, and 9 inches in diameter in the middle (which is slightly wider than the top and bottom). It has a capacity of 716 cubic inches, or just around 3 gallons. It is bright yellow, and has reflective tape around the middle of it, making it easy to spot night or day. The top has three recessed screws (much like the back of a watch, that you would turn with a coin to access the watch battery). You simply remove the top, place your food and items into, and replace the lid, screwing it down. Without any trouble, I was able to fit four dehydrated food packets, my water purifier, a Nalgene bottle, and my Snow Peak Giga Power stove, my toothbrush and toothpaste, and some power bars. There were still little pockets of open space where I could have fit more, and I wasn't exactly methodical in how I packed. Fairly impressive overall. So far, I was liking my experience.

Then I packed it. It was huge. It took up the entire bottom portion of my pack, where I normally put my sleeping bag, tent, a nested cooking set, and other small items (e.g., socks). Nothing else was going to fit into that compartment. It also added greatly to the weight of the pack. The Bear Keg weighs in at just over 3 pounds. So, it added a significant amount of weight, and took up a good deal of real estate in the pack.

Once at the site, it did make for a nice seat, and it was easy to just store on the ground away from the tents. In this area though, my camp mates just hung a rope down over one of the huge boulders, making it easy to retrieve their food bags, so it didn't seem like I gained a huge amount of convenience for the weight and size price I had to pay.

Overall, if I were going to an area where they were required, I would use one of these. Otherwise, I think I would stick with hanging a food bag. It was just too bulky and heavy to make it worthwhile. One caveat, if you are in an area known for pesky small critters (raccoons, squirrels) than it might make it more worthwhile, as there is no way anything is getting into these things.

Out of a total of 5 campfires, I'd rate it a two for general backpacking purposes (excluding where its required.)

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