Considered the lightest hard sided canister by volume sitting at close to 1.9lbs (2lbs with some stickers), Wild Ideas’ Weekender Bearikade is a time-tested food storage canister for backcountry ventures out in the west.
Product Overview
Bearikade Weekender
✅ Lightweight
✅ Wide Opening
✅ 5-7 Day Capacity for Solo Hiker
✅ Easy Opening Mechanism
✅ Versatile Use as a Chair/Table
❌ Expensive
❌ Bit Bulky
- Weight: 31 oz | 1.9 lbs | 0.88 kg
- Volume: 650 cubic inches | 10.5L
- Size: 9in diameter base x 10.5in height
- IGBC Approved: It’s Complicated*
Similar Products: Bearvault BV500 Bear Canister, Ursack Major Bear Sack, The Bare Boxer Contender, Garcia Backpacker Cache 812
Performance Test Results
What I Tested:
How I Tested:
The Weekender’s latch system is easy to use and can be opened with a simple tool or even a quarter. The wide opening allows easy access to the supplies and the amount of storage provides enough capacity for a 2-3 day venture with another hiker, or if hiking solo and with careful meal planning and packing, you could venture for up to 5-7 days.
While the Weekender is a bit bulky and would be best fitted outside a pack, the flat top and height puts it in a perfect position to be used as a camp table or chair adding versatility to its use. The downside is the canister’s cost and where it might be accepted for outings in bear country; however, if you have the budget, and are mostly venturing along the western backcountry areas where there aren’t grizzly bears, the Weekender is a great addition to the gear closet.
Performance
Purchased in 2021, the Bearikade Weekender was put through the paces on thru-hikes of the Tahoe Rim Trail, Desolation Wilderness, outings in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, and Trinity Alps. The canister has also been used as dry food storage when road-tripping and boondocking along Highway 395 of the Eastern Sierras.
The Weekender has mostly been used in the early spring to late fall seasons but has yet to be tested in winter season conditions. The weather has ranged from extremely hot to cool and wet, or rainy. The untested concern in winter conditions is the opening mechanism.
IGBC Certification
Let’s first address the elephant (or should I say bear…) in the room and what may hold some hikers from purchasing an expensive bear canister, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) Certification. The “TLDR” is to contact the public land management agency in the area you intend to recreate in to see if the canister is allowed for use as backcountry storage.
The IGBC Certification was a factor when I was looking at purchasing a bear canister. For many public land management agencies, they refer to the list published by the IGBC as it is typically the standard when hikers ask what an acceptable form of food storage is for outings into the backcountry; however, it’s not the end all be all.
The Bearikade, specifically the Weekender, is an allowed canister as stated in many of the public land management agency websites in the West, so ultimately, it’s why I decided to go ahead and make the purchase since I primarily recreate on the West Coast. The canister is time-tested as I mentioned earlier with Wild Ideas claiming its successful use since the 2000s. I have yet to have the Weekender fail on an outing since purchasing it in 2021… *knocks on wood*
There is a huge amount of complexity in bear canister regulation so I won’t go into detail, but if you want a deep dive, I might suggest starting with an internet search on a now disbanded certifying body known as the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group. It gets interesting from there if you’re into law, regulations, or just curious…
Material & Weight
Now for the fun stuff! How does the Weekender achieve its lightweight status? Well, according to Wild Ideas, the Bearikade is made of a unique proprietary composite carbon-fiber material with high-strength epoxy. This gives the canister its unique weave texture; however, the high-strength epoxy bond adapted from other applications, like aircraft and sailing, provides a smooth surface making it difficult for creatures to grip and use leverage to gain access to the goodies inside. This combination of materials allows it to be so light but able to withstand say… a Black Bear.
The weight is truly why hikers eye the Bearikades. Empty and without any flashy stickers, the Weekender will sit close to 1.9lbs. Even after placing some reflective tape and stickers to add personality to the canister, it weighed 2 lbs, still placing it below the weight of a BV500. On shorter outings in the backcountry, with a lighter food carry coupled with the canister’s lightweight characteristics, it’s an easy carry atop the pack and does not feel heavy at all.
Capacity
The Weekender has a 650 cubic inch volume which equates close to 10.5L of storage. Most of the time, I’m a solo hiker so as you can imagine, the canister can hold a lot of supplies. When I was preparing for a thru-hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail, careful planning and consolidation of supplies allowed me to pack nearly 7 days of food. With so much food, the weight of it all nearly negates the lightweight advantage of the Weekender; however, every once counted so I wasn’t too upset, and I didn’t have to worry about needing to get off the trail to resupply.
Additionally, being able to store up to 7 days of food and having hard-sided storage was advantageous for road trips along Highway 395. The Weekender provided peace of mind to prevent the potential scenario of a Black Bear breaking into my SUV as I could place the canister outside and away from where I was boondocking.
For last-minute outings, I never had an issue fitting dehydrated meals from outfitters into the Weekender. It’s great knowing I can get 3-5 days’ worth of backpacking meals into the canister without having to open the meals up to compress the contents further. This is also aided by the fact the Weekender has a wide opening allowing me to move contents around in the container to manage storage.
Packability and Design
Having the capacity to store a lot of supplies in the Weekender is great, but the size of the canister is a bit of an inconvenience. It does fit horizontally when hoisted atop or on the bottom of a pack; however, if trying to carry it inside of a pack, especially in ultralight packs, you might have some difficulty. I can only fit the Weekender vertically in the 40L Prospector from Atom Packs which I currently use but I wasn’t able to fit it at all inside an Osprey Kestrel 38L.
The opening mechanism of the Weekender is like the Garcia. For the Weekender or any Bearikade canister, a tool is necessary to twist the 3 locking screws which latch the lid to the canister. I did have instances where I forgot the tool normally attached to my spork, but luckily, anything with a horizontal-like edge from a quarter, knife, or even my spork itself can unlock the lid.
Additionally, you can keep the gloves on in cooler weather which is something I’ve done during the cold evenings or mornings. When closed and locked, the lid provides a very tight seal, thus in some instances when I began to twist the screws open, I could hear the pressurization as though I was opening a futuristic capsule which is kind of entertaining.
One concern I have is the canister’s performance at or below freezing temperatures to determine if there will be difficulty opening the lid. I haven’t done a lot of winter camping or backcountry ventures so I can’t say yet how the Weekender will perform during the winter season.
As for the Weekender’s overall design, it’s an eye-catcher. More so when you add some stickers thanks to its smooth epoxy surface providing the opportunity to give the canister its own personality and to make it your own.
The Weekender has a flat aluminum top and bottom, so I’ve often used the lid to cook on or used the canister as a seat. This versatility allows me to make a quick lunch wrap, cook while on the trail, or to have a seat at camp. For those who decide to make the purchase, I first recommend attaching some reflective tape on the Weekender as it can be difficult to find at night and it is one expensive gear I’d hate to lose.
Final Thoughts
Wild Ideas’ Bearikade Weekender has become an essential piece within my gear closet and perhaps yours as well as I’m always taking it wherever I venture whether by car or on foot thanks to it being lightweight, the versatility offered, and storage capacity. However, because the canister’s cost and its certification are a bit complicated, think about how often you’ll be recreating in areas beyond the West where its acceptance can be murky.
If you’re going to be primarily recreating in the West in Black Bear country for years to come, the Weekender is a great one-time purchase especially when you begin to make it your own as it is certainly an eye-catcher when other hikers become intrigued with the canister atop the pack.
650-Calorie Fuel
