It is my personal opinion, at least with regards to the black bears in the
Sierra Nevada, that if you are in the van or the tent, the bears will not
bother you.  I have spent many, many nights in my tent with my food under
my head in busy bear areas in the Sierra and have never been bothered.
YMMV

Ive also left my rig full of grub while on climbs in Yosemite Valley and
have never had a problem.  Yes, if there is a bear box USE IT, but thats
not always an option.  I just make sure everything is in the cupboards and
that all the curtains are drawn.  When the bear cant see the food or
cooler, he is much less likely to break into the car.

Probably just jinxed myself...

jg

> Alan,
>
> Every year, at Westies in the Woods here in New Jersey, a park ranger
> comes
> to the campsite to sternly give the standard warning:
>
>          "We have a lot of black bears in this area. Never leave any food
> out, keep it all locked in your trunk... never keep *any* food in your
> tent!".
>
> At this point, someone in the crowd clears their throat and glances
> significantly at one of the obviously-trunk-free tent-with-wheels
> westies...
>
> I know this is just immaturity on my part... but I do enjoy the look of
> thwarted authority that briefly crosses each ranger's face at this point.
>
> So far, the NJ park service has failed to come up with a way to store food
> in these vehicles without keeping it in our tents, but I'm sure a large
> portion of my tax dollars is at work on this problem as we speak.
>
> Tim
>
> At 11:42 PM 8/17/2004 -0700, alan sinclair wrote:
>>In places that have bears, warning signs say not to keep any food in
>>the car, with photos of vehicles which have been "can-opened" by
>>bears.
>>
>>How do list members handle this problem?  How do we keep bears out of
>>our '81 westie bedroom?  It wouldn't be fun to wake to a burgling
>>bear, nor to have a door pulled off.
>>
>>thanks for any advice
>>Alan
>>(off to the Sierras in a day or two, and hoping to keep food on-board)
>