About Wild Ideas

Who we are.
We are three aero-space engineers who enjoy escaping to the wilderness to enjoy our natural surroundings. With over fifty years of cumulative experience in the field, we have the know-how of ultra-lightweight super-strong products and processes. With several licensed engineers on staff, we are committed to finding the latest materials that bring to you lightest and strongest backpacking products available.

Bearikade history and beyond.
Wild Ideas, LLC was formed in November, 1998 to meet the challenge of enjoying wilderness hiking while minimizing impact on the lives of wild animals that are a vital aspect of the adventure of backpacking. The Bearikade portable food storage canister was introduced during the 1999 hiking season and this marked the first Wild Ideas commercial product. Our three aerospace engineers had studied over a thousand questionnaires, supplied by the National Park Service, to understand product improvements suggested by hikers who care about keeping food away from bears and other animals. The two most common complaints about the existing canister were “too heavy” and “opening is too small”. Using the lightest and strongest materials available, the Bearikade offers significant improvement in both areas of design. It is one pound lighter and has a 2″ larger diameter opening.

We are dedicated to finding new and innovative ways to shave needless weight off hiking gear.

300 units were built for the 2000 season and supplied free of charge to the Northwest Interpretive Association at Olympic National Park and the Sequoia Natural History Association at Sequoia/Kings Canyon. A rental agreement was fashioned to share revenue without asking the park concessions groups to take any financial risk. This rental experience allowed Wild Ideas to determine valuable design improvements for the second generation food canisters called the Bearikade Mark II. These canisters were offered for sale in July, 2002.

The rangers choice.

Rangers at Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park and Inyo National Forest have chosen the Bearikade food canister for their personal use in the wilderness.

Wild Ideas is currently developing other dual purpose backpacking products which reduce overall trip weight by their versatility.