Bear spray - any opinions

Which is best, and what do I look for as far as reach, effectiveness, type or ingredients that are essential?

I would go with the stream type rather than the fog type, myself. I probably wouldn't be paying attention to which way the wind is blowing, and disabling and seasoning myself for the bear would seem to be counterproductive.

IMO.

Sue

I'd check and see what big game hunting guides recommend.

Are you talking about spraying grizzlies?
That's pretty gutsy.

Pete

No, you use this to keep bears from sticking in the frying pan.



(Please pardon me. It's been a very long day :-)

Get the strongest pepper spray you can find and if you need to use it use plenty of it.

Some time ago I was reading an article that suggested that too frequent, and ineffective exposure to pepper spray has allowed some bears to develop a taste for food spiced with pepper spray. Knowing my luck I would get the grizzly that likes his hikers extra spicy. I guess that once I recognized that the bear likes the spray, assuming I lived that long, I could spray another hiker and run.

http://www.outdooreyes.com/bearpepperspray.php3

(I hate just posting a link, but it is late here is and this saves me typing a lot of words)

A comprehensive link with advice:

http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/b_spray.html

You are going to want to review the whole topic of bear country disciplines, use of bear cannisters for food, ecetera. Here's another link:

http://www.wild-ideas.net/products.html

more good info here:
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/pepperspray/pepperspray.htm

This is good stuff....

http://www.counterassault.com/

Another vendor

UDAP

Having never actually owned or used one (even after doing a fair bit of camping in grizzly country) I can only take a few suggestions that I have read to heart and add a few logical ideas of my own.

1. Get the big size. It lasts longer therefore a more potent dose. If you don't use it all the first time around, the bear could possibly come back a second time after bluffing you. But it comes in a 10-lb extinguisher, you may want to pass on carrying that much weight!!!

I'll let somebody else comment on the type of spray and level of Caspian active ingredients.

3. Get the holster and wear it within easy access. A bear spray sitting in your pack does you no good upon a chance encounter!

4. Get the one that has the farthest range and produces a large fog cloud that the bear will have to charge through to get to you. A cannister with a stream spray will be nearly impossible to hit on target especially when you are excited.

5. If you can, get a cannister to practise with before relying on it for your life. Don't wait for the bear to get too close, they can be very fast and be upon you in a second while it also takes a second or two for the fog cloud to build and provide an effective barrier!

6. Don't just stand there in the open! Find a tree to get behind to provide an additional obstacle for the bear to get around! Use a stick, branch or hiking staff or rocks as an additional weapon. Wave your arms, make yourself look big, make lots of noise and generally look threatening! The bear is likely more afraid of you than you are of it; give him a chance to back safely out of the situation too!

7. Of course, if you are facing a cougar, wolf, dog or angry moose the challenges and response are going to be slightly different.

8. This probably goes without saying but you should also try to manoeuvre yourself so that you are UPWIND of the spray and the pepper spray doesn't immobilize YOU instead of the attacking bear! Does anybody actually think about this in the event of a bear encounter? Maybe, maybe not -- maybe you "fill your pants" before you can get your thoughts together! Everyone reacts differently. All the better to prepare and remind yourself as you pack up and hit the trail-head so that it is fresh in your mind about how to react. Discuss the actions with your partner(s) so that they can remember to "take cover behind the cannister guy" and not become collateral victims of the spray!!!

9. Lastly, pay attention to various local laws regarding the use, transportation and disposal of the cannisters. For example: don't try to bring them across the border into Canada, they will be confiscated. You can buy them here. If not used during your trip you may be able to sell them to another hiker on the trail head otherwise dispose of the cannister in a legal manner.

I've been carrying bear spray for years on the trail. Have encountered countless black bears, including mamas and cubs, and have never felt threatened so haven't used it. I now carry bear spray, on my backpack's hip belt, primarily for defense against humanity's two-legged savages.

I carry bear spray from REI (the red canister) and Cabela's. REI's requires buying a separate holster from them ($13 for the hip holster). Cabela's comes with a neoprene holster and fits perfectly on my mountain bike's handlebars so that's where it stays. If I were buying another today, I'd go with Cabela's because of the holster being included. Also, the Cabela's spray's black motif is less obvious on my black mountain bike and black hip belt.

If I were going to be in Grizzly country I'd know more about the composition of the sprays and real-life experiences with them. I'm sure either will deter my primary targets.

I really like the safety mechanism on both canisters. It's instinctive, secure yet easy to flick off for use. And they both glow in the dark (I also keep a canister on my night stand).

It'd be well worth reading the 22 customer reviews at this Cabela's link:


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...&hasJS=true

"This product saved my life in Sept. of 2002. I was 14 miles from a road when the Grizzly broke and mangled my leg. When I yelled out, my friend got up to his knees and took on the 400 lb mother griz with cubs. She got off of me and charged him. He stopped her cold at 5 ft with a can of UDAP pepper spray. She hit the spray like she hit a wall and we never saw her again. If you are going to be in bear country and plan to ever leave your car, BUY THIS PRODUCT and read the directions and bear advise booklet enclosed. I am a veterinarian and a shooter and a griz survivor and I can't stress this enough: I would take UDAP pepper spray over a gun any day. We probably won't need seat belts or insurance but you get and use them anyway. You probably won't need the pepper spray either but consider the consequences of not having it. This is especially true for those who travel with their wives and children. If you can't protect them, who can?? I can't say enough about UDAP pepper spray. Without it I wouldn't be here to say anything at all!!!!!!"

Interesting topic.

I've just lined up four bear cannisters in front of me. Three have expired without being used. (Guess I'm doing something right.) The fourth I just bought from a reputable outdoors retailer.

All have 1% Capsaicin (except the one that recently expired, at 0.857%, which goes into the night stand).

I agree that there's no excuse for being without one. This is cheap insurance, and any rational person would not hesitate to carry or use it.

Good advice about keeping it very handy. There are stories of hunters stalking with loaded rifles who get blindsided by an angry bear just about every year. That's how quick a bear can be.

But of course, the hunters are trying to be quiet. Then there's me, solo, grinding down a trail in the Canadian Rockies in the sleet, and I've lost/misplaced my big bell. So as I go around the blind corners I'm belting out the only songs I can think of, which for some unfathomable reason are all out of The Sound of Music. "These are a few of my favourite &*$%#@ things! you stupid *($#@%* bear!" (True story.) No bears in sight; apparently they don't care for Rodgers and Hammerstein.

lol.....next time try the soundtrack from Mama Mia.

Jaywalke said:

Are you talking about spraying grizzlies?
That's pretty gutsy.
...No, you use this to keep bears from sticking in the frying pan.
-----------------------

Good one! I could never figure out how to get all that nasty furry stuff out of the bottom of the cookware. :-)

Pete

I've found myself in similar situations once or twice. I think singing those songs may (technically) be excusable as long as you left the choreography alone.

Thanks for the laugh!

I hear ya Doug!

I was charged by a black bear about 10 years ago when I mistakenly got too close to her cubs. It was a rainy wet day and I just walked up on them on an overgrown cutover trail. By the time I got my pepper spray out of my rear cruising vest pocket and out of the holster and wrapper the bear could have mauled me for sure. From about 10 feet away she just pushed me back from her cubs, and I was more than happy to comply!

I did have to do some forest survey work in that area so when I returned a couple days later I also sang like I was on Broadway, anyone around would have thought I was crazy, but I never saw any more bears there.

Mike

"I also sang like I was on Broadway ... I never saw any more bears there."

Mike, Ontario's newest bear repellent! Can be rented by the hour, day or week

Sue