Hi Susan,

I have had road flares in my vehicles (truck, car. van, snowmobile, ATV, boat) for 30 years, never had one go off on it's own.

Just thinking on the level of risk from wildlife involved in a person getting off a train, moving a switch, then getting in a vehicle? Have any railroad workers every been attacked in the past? Maybe the company already has a policy on wild animal dangers and how to deal with them? If it is a significant danger then bring it up to your employer and the Health & Safety Committee for a solution.

I would think that the greater danger to both the track workers and yourself would come from 2 legged predators.

Mike

The be-all end-all of animal self-defense is a 12 gauge shotgun, but your employer may take issue with you carrying one of those around.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources recommends pepper spray in bear country. So I don't think it's just 'seasoning'.

"...an expanding baton..."

A felony in some places, like CA...

I carried two or three cases of 30 minutes flares in my trunk for a jillion years. But departmental policy said no flares inside of the vehicle. Fire hazard they claimed. I am like you, I can not see one of those things going off by itself. A lot are a real pain to get lit when you want to. And, if you start swinging one around to scare a critter off, watch out for flying fire. You can easily start a brush fire, and for sure will burn holes in whatever you are wearing. Nylon and some other synthetics will melt right into your skin...

Thank you, Yuccahead for that article. I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with this situation, despite the fact that that fire was started by welders working on the tracks. You see, the flares that were currently in the vehicle were placed there BY the company. This is an about-face on their part.

OBG, I'm just as careful with flares as I am with matches, lighters and campfires. VERY.

SwampDonkey, Safety issues are only given lip service by this company. They cause more problems than they've ever solved. I've checked around, and no one seems to care what they do.

This article from yesterday's local paper indicates the nature of the cougar problem in this area: http://chronline.com/storyoutdoors.php?s...amp;ucat=6&

Sue

See my earlier posts about aerosol spray cans and an ignition source. If you need to use fire as a defesne, a poor man's flamethrower would be more effective and a lot quicker to deploy IMHO. Also a lot less likely to be viewed as any sort of risk by some would-be company rep.

Quicker yet would be a .45 ACP pistol, such as a Glock G-36 or G-21 if you have large enough paws. Even a 9mm such as G-19 I carry when in WA would be a step up from nothing.

Concealed carry is legal in WA with a CPL and while your supe can inspect the truck, he shouldn't be inspecting you. Why plan to use a half-assed weapon when you can carry a real one that will be more than a warm blanket. $.02

I don't know, never been attacked by a super predator, never considered it either. Boars and jackals don't really warrant defensive measures, since they just want to be left alone. I carry a knife in case they're having a bad day, but plan to use rocks as my primary weapon.

My plan for bear attacks is to basically "run" or "die", as fast as possible in both cases. I guess some sort of a stink-based weapon could work as both effective and public-safe defense.



Um, wouldn't that harm both the attacker and attacked equally if used for defending a third party?

Come to think of it, wouldn't a flare have the exact same effect???

Law enforcement probably carries millions of flares in their patrol cars. In my years of service, I have never heard of a roadflare accidental discharge.

Has anyone ever used a flare against a bear? It's hard for me to believe that this might work. Harder to believe that one would trust their life to depending on it. A flare, in my mind, is an up-close, contact weapon. Imagine how much time you are going to need for it to work, when all the while the bear is charging and mauling.

I would want some bear spray and a firearm.

I imagine its a knee-jerk reaction, and yet another "zero-tolerance", "zero-intellegence" mandate. We recently had one here regarding eye protection. Every plant employee must now wear safety glasses when outside the office area. Now according to OSHA, they are only required when charging or changing the batteries on the cherry picker, changing the propane tanks on the lift truck, working with caustic materials(my water softner chemicals), or where there is flying debris. Such as working with the drills, saws, grinders, etc..
But because our insurance company wants to minimize actually having to pay out, they have decided to require our company to mandate wearing safety glasses. In 90 degree weather with humidity rarely dropping below the 80's here in Florida, it means im walking/working blind from sweat and "fogging" of the glasses most of the time. But hey, at least my eyeballs will be safe.

-Bill Liptak