I'll go ya one better: It has to be where you can use it without taking it off your body. Either on your hip, or on a shoulder strap (and you'd better keep the pack on at all times), allowing you to just put your hand on it, tilt it, and spray.

You should train with bear spray the same way police train with their pepper spray. Not only are bears fast, but if you do happen across one of the rare predatory types, you won't see it coming.

I,like Izzy have watched this project from the begaining. And there must be somthing wrong with me, for unlike most of you I viewed the show for it's learning value. I don't care how many guns he had, how many people were looking out for him, or what he had or did not have. What is did enjoy was seeing how he built his shelters, how he got his game and how he cleaned it prior to eating it. I'm sorry but a enjoyable learning show in a outstanding setting. I am sorry it ended so soon.

True, my point was that the bears don't regard the edge of the trees as the end of 'bear country'.
Vancouver is bear country - I see a lot more bears walking on the road than I do in the mountains.
That doesn't mean I carry a cannon when putting out the trash!

Personally I'm a lot more worried about people's pet dogs when hiking

If you viewed it from its learning value, I think a part of that would include learning from his mistakes. I think that's part of the intent of the show, as well.

So, was this already aired? I thought they were just shooting the show and had yet to do the editing and broadcasting of it. I'm definitely interested in seeing it.

Thats why they call it learning, instead of teaching. the learner will see the right and the wrong, maybe not so the teacher.

Also for entertainment and to make $$. If he new it all, and lived like nothing it would probably be dull.

I only got into the discussion about guns and bears because I was distracted by it.

I thought he was actually doing pretty well.
I did not consider his load too big at the start especially since he was transporting it by canoe.

I am very curious about what went wrong with him.
Did he get sick from food poisoning from bad cooking, eating the wrong plants or did he come down with some sort of infection?
Maybe ticks?

Or was he simply not eating enough?

He really goes downhill fast at the end.

Just a foot note on bears and the danger they may or may not pose.

We probably should not assume all the bears are healthy and acting normally. A couple of years ago a Maryland family was attacked in their home by a rabid bear. Not a thought that is pleasant to consider, and I doubt bear spray and making a commotion would deter it. The family that was attacked had to use a shotgun. This is a link to one news report about the incident:
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1239758&nid=25

The family all had to undergo anti-rabies treatment. On the bright side, they were not charged with a wildlife violation even though the bear was out of season. (really-- its in the article).

According to this news report, rabid bears have been confirmed in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Canada.

I think I read that the success rate on black bears for bear spray was somewhere in the 80s% range. The info I read said it was less effective on blacks than on brown bears.

Even so, and even considering rabies, spray is probably the best first choice. But given that nothing's perfect, I think it's a very idea to carry a gun where bears may become an issue.

The thing with bears is, you want them to stop right away. Bear spray gets that result a lot better than a gun does in most cases. The gun should logically be the back up to the bear spray.

Now, the guy on this show is alone. If he's following the logic of bear spray first, gun second, then the shotgun is pretty useless. If the spray fails, will he be able to bring a long gun into play? (I almost said "to bear" there, but that would have been an unbearable pun.) If the bear continues to attack, I'd say it's likely he'd find himself on the ground. A revolver would be better in that situation. A second person with a gun would be preferable. I'm pretty sure that he and the producers were banking on him not crossing paths with an angry/sick/crazy bear. Or else he had someone just off camera, on the ground, as a safety.

Sounds entertaining.
Hope it comes to DVD for me!