REI sells a bear spray repellent that may help.
I wouldn't want to take the chance by leaving the top up while away.
A hungry bear will follow his nose wherever it leads and if the canvas is
where it smells like food he's gonna get up there.

Doug

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Elliott" <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 10:11 AM
Subject: Black Bears vs Westy Canvas?

> I'm heading up to the San Gabriel mountains next week (near Los
> Angeles). The nice ranger man cautioned me about bears and food, the
> usual warnings. The bears in those parts are black bears ("All SGM black
> bears have descended from 11 black bears that were /introduced/ in the
> SGM in 1933, after grizzly bears were exterminated in the SGM in about
> 1900").
>
> I have camped a lot in bear country, and know how wily, fearless,
> clever, and determined those critters can be.
>
> No, packing a firearm and blowing them away is simply not considered
> good form in these parts. What one is meant to do is avoid bringing
> strongly smelling foods and toiletries, and keep things in the trunk of
> the car . . . then hope for the best, as the crafty black bear is
> perfectly capable of popping a windshield out and carving an opening
> through the rear seat into the trunk.
>
> The nice ranger agreed that keeping food in the Westy at night where I
> am sleeping should work fine. Bears do avoid confrontations, being smart
> guys and hoping to just get by without too much trouble. But during the
> day . . . away from the Westy . . . maybe on a hike or bike ride, Mr.
> Ranger didn't know whether bears climb up on Vanagons and brush the
> annoying canvas out of the way or not.
>
> So I'd like to hear your black bear vs Westy tales. Not brown bears or
> their larger cousins, grizzlies. Those are different critters,
> temperamentally.
>
> --
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> Carlsbad, CA
> KG6RCR