I've been trying to do some research on bear spray online (I am looking to purchase some), but it seems like all of the websites I come across are promoting some particular brand that they also happen to sell, so it is tough to get an unbiased opinion. So, I decided to check with the people here to see if any of you have any experience with any brands of bear spray. I'm looking for a good, reliable spray that can be used on bears, as well as other potentially dangerous wildlife like coyotes and the like. I'd like to not spend *too* much money if possible, but of course you can't put a pricetag on your safety, so I'd rather spend more money than buy an inferior product. I'm mainly a day-hiker, so I guess the effectiveness of the spray is a bit more important than it's capacity, since I won't be out on a hike for very prolonged periods of time.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions people may have.

"Bear Spray" is basically repackaged pepper spray, at least as far as I know. So I would think that one would look the way one would for OC- Shofeld Heat Units. This measures the hotness of the pepery-ness.

Hard core OC is supposed to run someplace in the realm of a million SHU. What you will want to really be concerned about is range. And remember, a sidewise breeze means all you are doing is getting it on your buddy. A wind in your face....

Oh, and carry some bells. Saves you the hassle of finding out if the bear spray is any good if the bear gives you as wide a berth as you should give him/her.

After searching around more, I found the following website:
Brown Bear Projects at the Alaska Science Center

It seemed to have quite a bit of information and answered a lot of questions. It was an unbiased research site, which really helped. I went ahead and just ordered a bottle of Guard Alaska for $30 to test out.

To test out?

That sounds kinda ominous. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I read somewhere that when they disected an Alaskan Grizzly, two of the things they found in it's stomach were bells and pepper spray cans. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Coyotes? I am always a little frustrated to see a new poster, go to their profile and see a blank page. You seem to be asking a question about a solution to a problem you may not have; At least not now. Obviously some individual bears may be a problem to some people some of the time. It is wise and prudent to be armed with knowledge and appropriate behaviors around bears and ONLY then with a solution in a can. Otherwise your like the lady who once cornered me in the pesticide aisle demanding rattlesnake repellant. I was talking with Tom Selleck at the time, and when he chuckled she angrily told him he lived in Hawaii and didn't have her problems. Tom agreed with her <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Pepper spray is a usefull tool for bears. It is not holy water. As for coyotes? 'God's Dog' has all of 2 documented attacks in California with one fatality. The incidents were in recently 'developed' natural areas involving young, unsupervised children with high pitched voices and akward body language screaming prey to equally young, inexperienced and hunger stressed individuals. One was later determined to be a 'coy-dog' cross. If you are still afraid of 'yotes, just work to get wolves reintroduced. It was their eradication that directly allowed trickster's rapid and ongoing territorial expansion from Alaska to Central America. Wolves have an even lousier record; documented human attacks in the western hemisphere- zero. Well no, My friend's female I socialised with as a pup saw me 5 years later, ran through a dog show in the park and knocked me down in joy. We told the upset judges she was a Husky. They mumbled about her sub standard conformation <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Dave, I don't know much about the different brands of bear spray, but I have lived in bear country most of my life.

First, I think the stories about finding bells and pepper spray cans in bear bellies or in bear dung (that's the version I'd heard) are pretty doubtful. Bears do attack people every year, but they rarely get a chance to actually eat what they kill, when they kill a person.

Second, let me tell you a story about something I once watched. I was sitting on a hill above Russel's Creek in Cold Bay, Alaska, looking for good places to set some mink traps when the season rolled around. I saw a bear on the other side of the creek, in the alders, just a little way up the creek from where I'd been fishing earlier. I watched him for a while, and saw that he was sniffing about. Suddenly, he started jumping about like crazy, swatting at the alders, and he flattened a little circle in the alders, and headed across the creek. I went back to the ford, fast, because I didn't want to run into him.

A couple of days later, I went up into those alders with my trapping partner, and we stumbled on that ``little'' circle in the alders. It was close to 30 feet in diameter, and the alder trunks the bear had smashed were 1 to 3 inches in diameter. I didn't think he was a big bear; I thought he was well under 1000 pounds. Even though he'd only been jumping around for what seemed like a few seconds, he'd done a lot of damage.

We don't know exactly what had set the bear off, but I suspected that he'd stuck his nose down a hole and gotten it bitten. What I do know is that if you are within 15 feet of an angry bear, you could be in serious trouble, even if he can't see or smell you. That bear had destroyed everthing within about 15 feet of where he got his nose bit (or whatever it was).

I've thought about that every time I've thought about getting some bear spray, and I've always settled for my 45-70 lever action. That'll spray something that just might discourage a bear, if I can connect.

I've never had any trouble with bears, but if I'm going somewhere I'm likely to run into brownies, I always take something which can break a shoulder bone if I can put a shot in the right place. I also take bells, because most bears will avoid trouble if they can. I stay alert, because there have been well documented cases of bears that went looking for trouble.

Nels

Spray cans and bells in the paunch, I believe that was a joke.

Some people make the mistake of taking a dog with them in bear country, thinking the dog will save them. It is most discouraging to have the dog provoke the bear into a fight, then go running past you when the bear's had enough and decides to engage and give chase. (Doh!!!)

Maybe a good defense would be to subdue a porcupine, pour warm bacon grease on him (not too hot now), stuff him in a sling, and if a bear comes around, lob the quilled critter at him. That should keep him busy for a while. (Just kidding, folks)

One problem with pepper spray is that it wears off, and you run out eventually. IIRC there was a couple that were stalked by a bear that they'd peppered a couple times till they'd run out of juice, then the bear closed on them and attacked. I believe one of them was killed by the bear, but the other escaped.

Yes, it was, hence the <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> icon. It is a common tale in Alaska, at least is was about 10 years ago when I went. At that time, guides were carrying 12 gauge shotguns loaded with 00 buck. The same week I was there, a woman dropped a sizeable griz with a .375 H&H. It was some type of a record sized bear, although I don't recall the details.

When taking a solo weeklong backpack into the smokies a year or so ago I bought a large can of bear spray from an outfit in the NW.
Curiously it has a large safety warning label that reads:
"Warning; do not seek out bears to try this out on. It may not work"
The can was so awkard to carry that it ended up buried in my pack the whole trip. By the time I climbed the first 5+ mile uphill with 50 lbs on my back the last thing on my mind was bears.
There is an excellent text on how to deal with black bears available from Smokey Mountain National Park. Worthwhile read for the eastern U.S. (pepper spray is not mentioned, Park rangers will confiscate any carried in the open.)