Here's an interesting spin on the effectiveness of bear spray: Mountain Biker Describes Grizzly Attack

The short story is a mountain biker runs into an aggressive grizzly which swipes at him with his paws and then bites down on his back ... right into the bear spray canister he had attached to his backpack. They are both covered in a cloud of the spray & the grizzly runs off.


photo from The Jasper Local

Some days it pays to be lucky!

Wow! That's pretty lucky! Bet the bear was confused as heck!

Bet the bear won't be chomping on any more of these two-legged super skunks!

There, fixed it for you .

Something to think about since we're headed that way.

In the article it says he carried the bear spray on his back. It also says he had time to try to duck down and get behind a tree, before the bear was on him.

I'm wondering that if he had carried the spray in a more accessable location, he might have had time to pull it out and spray the bear? Like any other defensive tool or weapon, bear spray needs to be carried where it is instantly available to use. I like to carry mine on my right hip. I either thread it onto the waist belt of my pack, or on my pants belt if I'm not carring a pack.

Awhile back, our local REI had a little training session for bear spray. They had some practice ones, which would spray but did not have the active pepper. Everyone got to actually try drawing the spray, popping off the safety clip, and spraying it. Good practice!

We also just had a runner mauled on one of our local trails. She was wearing ear buds, and not carring spray. She saw the cubs, then mamma bear came up from behind and nailed her. We can't know for sure, but it is possible that if she had not been wearing the ear buds and had carried spray, she might have heard the mamma bear behind her in time to use the spray.

I've only seen a griz charge once. I was bow hunting and it busted out of the trail ahead of me to chase something unseen on the other side of the trees. I have never been so amazed in my life to witness a creature so large move so fast.
To this day I think about the fact that I could not have reacted in time if I was the target. Hell...even if I had the spray in my hands and ready to go I don't think I could have done it.

They can indeed move unbelievably fast. When the bears are just lazing around in a berry patch they look sort of clumsy and rolly polly. But then when they decide run it is incredible. Just raw power and muscle!

I've only ever seen one bear in the wild, it was a black bear up in Yellowstone several years ago. I was in a car, and I wasn't sticking around any longer than I needed to snap a quick picture.

I saw a video a few years back of a couple of guys that were up in a tree stand in the woods, when a black bear juvenile came bursting through the woods (being chased by a larger male), and I was amazed at how fast he was running, and even more amazed at how fast he climbed the tree the two men were perched in.

It was like watching a 150pd squirrel go up a tree with just about the same grace and agility you would see from one.

They are incredible creatures. This guy got very lucky, and glad he came out of it unscathed and with a great story to tell.

IIRC, black bears can hit 30-35 mph, about the same speed as a mountin biker in a flat ground sprint. Grizzlies are faster. Pedestrians are slower. Backpackers are much slower.