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 several sizes, requiring a number of cans for journeys of varied 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 presents 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 liberate pack area.
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 clients can simply see their meals inside. And the brilliant orange shade makes it simple for people to identify even at the hours of darkness. (Bears scent meals lengthy earlier than they see it.)
BTS: Bear examined, human authorized
“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 folks; the opposite one concerned bears.
Preliminary testing with folks centered on ease of use and performance of the modular system. The group used prototypes that they created with a 3D printer. “The canister was the primary massive product we ever printed on a 1-to-1 scale,” explains Devin Paschke, supervisor of engineering and product growth for REI and the mind behind the bear canister.
The co-op group performed area 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 gadgets 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 full of temptations like donuts, honey, kibble and Twinkies. “They took the canister onto the onerous filth, the grassy floor and the concrete and simply beat it up, throwing it in opposition to 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 tooth.”
To be licensed bear-resistant, a product should stand up to one hour of lively bear interplay with out getting access to the product. For instance, no holes on the inside wall could possibly be bigger than one-quarter inch, says Gardner. Rolling or dragging the canister doesn’t depend as lively 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 a much bigger influence, 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 understand how highly effective these animals are.”
Through 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 gained.
Again to the drafting board
After analyzing the injury, the co-op refined the design. The bears had been in a position to get a great buy on the lid with their tooth, says Gardner. So the group centered 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 in opposition to the product.
The group returned within the spring 2024 with a stronger prototype for a second trial spherical. Due to the modular design, each components—the smaller configuration and the bigger dimension—needed to be individually examined.
This time, the canister gained.
“Figuring out we had a product that really, finally outsmarted them was fairly cool,” Gardner says.
That wasn’t the tip of testing, although. The product group despatched the bear-approved canister into the sector to place it via extra rigorous testing with people. Over practically 30 trials, backpackers of all talent ranges, from newbie to superior, evaluated it in a spread of temperatures and climates.
“Individuals actually liked how the can was modular,” says Jackler. “This can be a little little bit of a sport changer, one thing that they hadn’t seen earlier than.” Some folks did really feel that the canister could also be barely heavier, however that the modularity was effectively value that additional little bit of weight.”
Testers appreciated the high-visibility shade. “I do know I’ve simply been fumbling across the woods a bunch of occasions 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 foremost 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 massive 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 positioned on both 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 snug usability for folks with smaller palms and people sporting gloves, making it accessible for a spread of customers.
“We deliberately integrated clear directions and visible cues on each the product itself and the stow sack, realizing that the canister’s distinctive modular design can 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 underneath a flashlight or headlamp. Lash loops make it simple to connect on the skin of a backpack, to the webbing on a raft or through carabiner and strap in a kayak.
The publish People Designed the New REI Co-op Bear Canister. Bears Examined It. appeared first on Unusual Path – An REI Co-op Publication.
