When the REI Co-op Traverse bear canister hit the cabinets this 12 months, it modified the sport for anybody who camps or backpacks in bear nation. Conventional bear-resistant meals canisters come in numerous sizes, requiring a number of cans for journeys of assorted distances or forcing you to hold a bigger dimension than you want for a whole journey. The distinctive modular design of the brand new REI Co-op Traverse bear canister provides two sizes in a single product. Seize the smaller 6.75-liter dimension for shorter journeys or the bigger 11.25-liter dimension for longer ones. As you eat your meals, nest one part into the opposite to unencumber pack house.
Made from sturdy polycarbonate, the container is licensed bear-resistant by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee to guard your meals from animals. It’s additionally see-through, so prospects can simply see their meals inside. And the intense orange coloration makes it simple for people to identify even at midnight. (Bears odor meals lengthy earlier than they see it.)
BTS: Bear examined, human authorised
“We did two totally different sorts of analysis methodologies for the bear canister,” explains Bryan Jackler, REI product researcher. One take a look at concerned individuals; the opposite one concerned bears.
Preliminary testing with individuals centered on ease of use and performance of the modular system. The crew used prototypes that they created with a 3D printer. “The canister was the primary giant product we ever printed on a 1-to-1 scale,” explains Devin Paschke, supervisor of engineering and product improvement for REI and the mind behind the bear canister.
The co-op crew performed subject testing with a number of printed prototypes—although not in bear territory—and used the suggestions to make enhancements. After a number of iterations of 3D-printed prototypes and testing, they created a sturdy polycarbonate canister able to put to the take a look at on grizzly bears.
One morning in late 2023, Paschke and Nate Bullock, REI senior product designer, drove to the Washington State College Bear Heart in Pullman to take part within the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) certification course of. The Bear Heart and its resident grizzly bears often take a look at objects like coolers, dumpsters and rubbish cans for bearproofing effectiveness.
“We have been in a position to watch the bears interacting with the canister in actual time,” says Paschke. The grizzlies are launched right into a pen space with a canister crammed with temptations like donuts, honey, kibble and Twinkies. “They took the canister onto the onerous grime, the grassy floor and the concrete and simply beat it up, throwing it towards logs, the partitions, no matter. Some used brute muscle. Some used what the Bear Heart calls ‘chest compressions,’ and a few have been biters, utilizing their enamel.”
To be licensed bear-resistant, a product should face up to one hour of energetic bear interplay with out getting access to the product. For instance, no holes on the interior wall may very well be bigger than one-quarter inch, says Gardner. Rolling or dragging the canister doesn’t rely as energetic time, he provides. Biting, clawing, throwing and different maneuvers do.
The grizzlies definitely tried all of it. One submerged the canister in a trough of water, hoping the water-logged container would create an even bigger affect, Bullock says.
One other took the canister into its den, a roughly 10×10 cinderblock room. She stood on hind legs and threw it into the wall so onerous it bounced off and hit one other. “It didn’t break. It didn’t crack,” says Dave Gardner, REI senior take a look at engineer who noticed her. “That was actually cool factor to see. Simply a type of issues the place you notice how highly effective these animals are.”
Throughout the first take a look at with grizzlies in 2023, one bear managed to bit into the higher corners of the lid. Persistent bears can flip small holes into larger ones, in order that model failed to fulfill the IGBC requirements, Gardner says.
The bears received.
Again to the drafting board
After analyzing the harm, the co-op refined the design. The bears had been in a position to get a superb buy on the lid with their enamel, says Gardner. So the crew targeted on modifying the lid and the thickness of the fabric. Within the lab, they even created a steel probe within the dimension and the form of a bear tooth to make use of towards the product.
The crew returned within the spring 2024 with a stronger prototype for a second trial spherical. Due to the modular design, each elements—the smaller configuration and the bigger dimension—needed to be individually examined.
This time, the canister received.
“Realizing we had a product that really, in the end outsmarted them was fairly cool,” Gardner says.
That wasn’t the top of testing, although. The product crew despatched the bear-approved canister into the sphere to place it by extra rigorous testing with people. Over almost 30 trials, backpackers of all ability ranges, from newbie to superior, evaluated it in a variety of temperatures and climates.
“Folks actually liked how the can was modular,” says Jackler. “It is a little little bit of a sport changer, one thing that they hadn’t seen earlier than.” Some individuals did really feel that the canister could also be barely heavier, however that the modularity was properly price that further little bit of weight.”
Testers favored the high-visibility coloration. “I do know I’ve simply been fumbling across the woods a bunch of instances looking for mine,” says Jackler. “That orange actually stands out.”
How the two-in-one modular design works
The 2-in-one bear canister consists of three primary items that work collectively in a modular design for various meals storage wants. The threaded lid screws onto the center piece when utilizing the canister in its giant dimension. Or screw it onto the underside piece when utilizing the canister in its smaller configuration. Within the smaller dimension, the center piece stacks seamlessly outdoors of the underside part. The system nests neatly—and conveniently—collectively.
The user-friendly design incorporates two steel push buttons which might be simple to function with out instruments—one situated on all sides. To open the canister, maintain it securely with one hand whereas compressing button No. 1, adopted by a twist of the lid, after which compress button No. 2. This ensures comfy usability for individuals with smaller arms and people carrying gloves, making it accessible for a variety of customers.
“We deliberately integrated clear directions and visible cues on each the product itself and the stow sack, understanding that the canister’s distinctive modular design could be unfamiliar to many customers,” says Bullock.
Its included carry bag options printed directions for opening, closing and changing the canister between sizes. The carry bag’s dimension may be adjusted; it’s reflective for visibility beneath a flashlight or headlamp. Lash loops make it simple to connect on the surface of a backpack, to the webbing on a raft or by way of carabiner and strap in a kayak.
The submit People Designed the New REI Co-op Bear Canister. Bears Examined It. appeared first on Unusual Path – An REI Co-op Publication.
