How Does Bear Resistant Certification Work?

Alex Davies says a bear canister is certified bear resistant only after a bear spends one hour of bear contact time on it and still cannot open it.

A manufacturer with a new garbage can, cooler, or bear canister brings the design to the bear sanctuary where Kobuk lived, fills it with honey, fish, and treats, and gives it to a bear. One hour of bear contact time without an opening is the official pass. About 20 years ago, before the live-bear program, a mechanical test dropped a metal weight on the container and used machines to mimic a bear's physical force. A spiked block can copy strength. It cannot copy a bear that pumps up and down, claws at the lid, and tries new angles because the food is worth the work.

The best bear at cracking containers open earned the nickname the destroyer. A slot too small for a whole paw was still not enough: he twisted around 180 degrees and slipped one longer claw in to pop the lid. Manufacturers who thought a new garbage can was bear resistant had a design he could still open the way a person would, only slower and more clumsy. The weight test had left the design looking finished. He forced a full redesign.