I have been a food hanger for decades. Last year I learned the PCT method, which is pretty cool. But I'm wondering what people here think about bear containers.

Here's my issue:

The last few years of backpacking with my wife and child in bear/grizzly country made it a real inconvenience to deal with food. Here's the scenario. We arrive at a potential campsite after hours of hiking and want to look around. First things first: we spend 1/2 hour looking for an adequate tree limb (pine trees) to hang a bag, gather up our food/ scented items, and hoist them into the air. We relax for an hour or so, set up camp, and retrieve the bag for dinner. Make dinner, get ready for bed, hang the bag, sleep, get down the bag, eat, hang the bag, fish, get down the bag, eat, hang the bag,hike, get down the bag, etc.

I hate the idea of carrying a bear container if I'm not required to, but I think it would very convenient and allow for more time with the family. While I intend to teach my son how and why to properly hang a bag, it has been very time consuming on our last few major trips. I purchased a Bear Keg recently, but I'm debating on whether or not to take it back or use it. I haven't found many sources online that actually recommend or advocate using a bear container if not required, but I'm wondering what others think,... particularly people with kids.

Like I said, I've always been a hanger. The bear container seems right out of X files-- I want to believe (but don't want to carry it).