About bear canisters.

“What?! You never used Hollerith code? Poor Herman Hollerith...not only is his code obsolete but you the famous bit never even knew him. :)”

“Unfortunately I understand all this, except about the bear canisters.

I used to carry around this metal case with a handle on it to tote punch cards to and from the lab. Fortunately I never dropped it!”

“Man you guys are old! Did they even have TV when you were kids?”

“And here I thought a cassette tape drive on a TRS 80 was old school”

“I learned to type on a keypunch machine punching up programs for an IBM 360/50 - turn around sucked up to 24 hours so I got real good at avoiding typing mistakes and proof reading the cards”

“As to bear cannisters I have lived in Bear country my whole life and never had any trouble. I hope I never have to come back to camp and find a bear chowing on my Allegheny Alfredo Noodles but I suppose it is bound to happen. Then we just have bear for supper instead....”

“ChicagoMark, I guess then that you never had to use 'the needles' go get a dropped tray of cards back into order?

Here is an article about 'the good old days' but as Billy Joel sings "the good old days weren't always so good"

Like the writer, I did work on an ICL machine, did hand punch cards, and did lick and stick chads. But it was in more recent times while working as a contractor in a 3rd world country.

The Hollerith hand punch

Nick Barry, project manager at Geac JBA, shares his hand punch reminiscences.

Back in the good old days, I was a junior programmer at British Cellophane where I programmed in Cobol on an ageing ICL 1903A. Just to show how easy you kids have it these days, here is my tale.

I had one development shot overnight. This took place after all the live batch work (yes, it was all batch, tape to tape, none of this fancy online, disc-based nonsense) had been completed and the night shift operators got bored of playing computer room cricket.

In order to modify a program, I had to submit written coding sheets to a pool of punch card operators. When they were returned months later, I would put them together with run instructions and off went my job tray to the m/c room. The bad news came back the next morning when I discovered my compilation errors. Enter the hand punch. This saved me the cycle of resubmission to the punch card pool and might even gain a day.

The hand punch was a solidly crafted device. It consisted of an array of keys over a heavyweight punch. You needed two keys to be pressed simultaneously to get numerics and alphas and for special characters three keys.

Each hit put a character in one column and the device moved on to the next (80 columns per card, one card per line of code). The facility to remember these codes off by heart, coupled with the manual dexterity to put your fingers over the correct keys prior to the hit (a bit like digital twister) was a skill much prized.

Mistakes were sometimes made. To save repunching a whole card, you were equipped with special blue card strips that held transferable foil stickers (about 2mm square) that you could peel off, stick over the offending hole and repunch. Such fun.

You could shortcut this by, wait for it, taking one of the hole punch confetti pieces (known technically as "chats") on the end of a wet finger and pressing it into the offending hole. The moisture would cause the chat to swell and plug the hole tightly.”

“Bears are using computers now?”

“Yeah Zac, but really primitive ones, so they shouldn't catch up to us for a while, But they might have an advantage in using the punch cards with their claws.

Unfortunately even those primitive computers should be able to tell them how much force they need to crack open a bear canister.
last edited: 4/28/05 8:36:21 AM”

“Seems like I remember reading somewhere, that before it disappeared because of technology advances, card and paper tape chad was classified as toxic waste by the EPA because of its tendency to go everywhere...”

““Man you guys are old! Did they even have TV when you were kids?”
LtHiker
6:53:59 AM
4/28/05


Not until I was 8. :-)”

“I remember punching IBM cards and those Hollarith holes. The punches made the best confetti...impossible to clear up.”

“Bear Cannisters!! Just skin em and use it for a nice soft footprint.”

“Thanks, Zac.

Now, which one?”

“The legislation is open to public comment until July 5. I don't see why it won't pass.

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/propregs/index.html#190p
last edited: 5/19/05 7:25:21 AM”

““Thanks, Zac.

Now, which one?”
Gremlin
4:52:37 PM
5/18/05
ignore this user

Gremlin,
I bought a BearVault BV 250 Solo from Northern Mountain Supply for $60 American. They took $6 off by agreeing to be on their mailing list and shipping was free (I don’t know if it will be free to Canada).
http://www.northernmountain.com/NMSMain.asp?Option=Detail&ID=BEARVABearVaultBV250&Dept=KC&Cat=KCD&SubCat=

The canister weighs 1lb 14oz, and is 8.7” diameter x 8” high.

I think the only other canister on the market that is lighter is the custom size of the bearikade, but with its $200 price tag, it was out of the question for me.”

“I listened to the discussion on the 8:00 o'clock hour on NCPR on the way to work. Whatever the process the canisters are inevitable, I think.

BTW, I'll have it shipped to my NY address.

I am among you. Be afraid; be very afraid.

Moooohahahahahaha!”

“Like I've said before, "THE CANADIANS ARE INVADING! THE CANADIANS ARE INVADING!"”

“I have a bearikade weekender (which will hold a weeks worth of food for me) - and I really like it. Just recently I decided to buy the solo bear vault so it would be easier to pack for short trips - it's not much different in weight than the custom bearikade and weighs just about the same as the bearikade weekender, but it'll pack nicer and I just couldn't shell out the $200 for the custom bearikade to save just a couple ounces.”

“Since I didn’t get a chance to go hiking this weekend I decided to go through my gear and organize it. I packed my [URL=http://www.golitestore.com/store/NS_proddetail.asp?number=PA5210 ]Golite Race [/URL] pack with a weekend's worth of gear and food. This included my new BearVault BV250 Solo. The canister fit right inside my pack and with my Ridge Rest sleeping pad rapped around it I couldn’t even feel the hard plastic inside my pack. All my other gear fit fine inside my pack and I even had a little room left over, not much but some. I barely noticed the weight difference as well. It looks like I’m all set for weekend trip to the High Peaks.”

“that is something I need to do since I have to use a bear canister when I do the sierra's next month.”

“Subject: BEARS

The California/Oregon State Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, and golfers to take extra precautions and be on the alert for bears while in the Truckee, Kirkwood, and Yosemite areas.

They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their clothing to alert but not startle the bears unexpectedly. They also advise you to carry pepper spray in case of an encounter with a bear.

It is also a good idea to watch for signs of bear activity. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings.

Black bear droppings are smaller and contain berries and possibly squirrel fur.

Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in them and smell like pepper.

:-)”

“I havent used my bear canister since I've moved to the midwest...I wonder how it would fit in my new packs? I should dust it off and find out.

the important question is how many beer canisters can you fit inyour pack?
last edited: 6/13/05 9:14:16 AM”

“LOL catshiker! I haven't heard that one yet! : )

Hey lumber, I'm glad you posted this, because I was wondering if anyone had tried to use a bear canister in their Race yet. I even emailed techntrek about it, but he accused me of being lazy since I could have easily just put my Bear Vault into the Race and found for myself! LOL!

Knowing me tho, it won't work. I like to bring lots of stuff. I'm weird that way. What do you use for shelter? What is the packed size of your shelter? I think that will be the deal breaker for me...”

“What do you use for shelter? What is the packed size of your shelter? I think that will be the deal breaker for me...”
pixie
1:22:58 PM
6/13/05
ignore this user

I use a silnylon tarp for my shelter. It packs down to about the size of a nalgene bottle.”

“Hey, hey, hey, you mentioned the "lazy" word before I did, pixie! LOL. But yeah, if you have the pack and the canister, put one inside the other...”

“I never thought of that. I bet my pack would fit inside the canister. ;-)”

“lumber, yeah, case in point. I have a solo tent.

tech: : p”

“From the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation webpage.

“Section 190.13 - Wilderness Areas in the Adirondack Park
Proposed Rule Making
Express Terms
Title 6 NYCRR Section 190.13 is amended as follows:

Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subdivision (b) of 6 NYCRR section 190.13 are renumbered as paragraphs (3), (4), (8), (7), (9), (10) (11) and (12), respectively.

A new paragraph (2) is added to subdivision (b) of 6 NYCRR section 190.13 to read as follows:

(2) Bear-resistant canister means a commercially made container constructed of solid, non-pliable material manufactured for the specific purpose of resisting entry by bears.

A new paragraph (6) is added to subdivision (b) of 6 NYCRR section 190.13 to read as follows:

(6) Overnight camper means a person who stays or intends to stay in the Eastern High Peaks Zone during the night.

Subparagraph (xiv) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of 6 NYCRR section 190.13 is amended to read as follows:

(xiv) fail to take reasonable steps to keep food, food containers, [and] garbage, and toiletries from bears, [such as the use of bear proof canisters or cable or rope hanging systems] and, during the period April 1 through November 30, no overnight camper in the Eastern High Peaks Zone shall fail to use bear-resistant canisters for the storage of all food, food containers, garbage, and toiletries; or”

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/propregs/part190sect13text.html”

“Dang regulations, spoils all the fun!”

“I should note that this regulation is only for the eastern half of the High Peaks Wilderness, which covers the areas around Flowed Lands, Lake Colden, Marcy Dam, and Johns Brook Valley.”

“Dang they mean bussiness.”

“It should also be noted that the Adirondack Bear Union has filed a grievance to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). They are requesting that DEC repeal this regulation or supply union members with Swiss Army Knives so they can once again continue their nightly food raids with ease. If DEC doesn’t comply the union has threatened to strike, cutting off the supply of Labatt Blue to northern New York State.”

“What exactly are the Eastern Peaks? Is that like Wallface, Street, Nye and points East, right?”

“The eastern portion of the High Peaks Wilderness is basically the area bounded by the Street/Nye ridgeline to Wallface Ponds and then to Upper works to the west, private lands to the south, Elk Lake Lodge land and AMR to the East, and route 73 to the east and north.”