Sadly, I believe that canisters are the future for almost any bear habitat. There was once a day when no one purified water. I think canister use will become a similar paradigm shift in bear country.

Hopefully increasing demand will spur new technology and result in ever lighter and cheaper canisters. I won't say smaller because the current minimal dimension of about 8" is just big enough to keep the whole thing out of a bear's mouth.

Once you get used to them they're really not so bad. And they make a fair camp chair. Not to mention a washing machine.