Bear Spray,out of date warning.

Hi Folks..i have not been on the site much this summer with other things keeping me busy but you have to see this.



if you have a bear spray and it's going out of date or is a more that a few years old get rid of it in a safe way.
the leaky one in the photo is many years old,i think i got in in the early 90's.a few years ago i got a new one for the canoe trips and set this on a shelf and more or less forgot about it.
last night i was getting something off that high shelf and got a dark oily stuff on my finger,not much.i washed it off with soap and water and went back to eating a bag of popcorn.the first bite left a hot burning in my mouth!--after washing!
i got on a stool for a look on that shelf and saw the bear spray had leaked out and left a good size dribble of pepper oil on the shelf.
well i cleaned up the spill with many-many paper towels with dish soap as per the info on the web about the spray and drank a lot of milk and spoons of honey for the mouth burn.
this oil is so nasty that when i washed a tiny bit of it off my arm it filled the wash tub in the basement with fumes that made my eyes water,this is with lots of cold water running!
i plan to get rid of my new ones.using them to chase a bear out of my camp could leave me in a world of hurt from the blow-back.i have another way to deal with bears and i'll take it along.if you have a spray and want to keep it i would put in in a plastic bag inside a plastic box.if mine had been with the rest of my camping gear,tent,sleeping bag,so on and leaked all that would have had to be tossed out.
it's been about 12 hours and i can still feel it on my lips and thats just from handling a bit of food with a washed hand!

A friend had to toss out a nice down jacket after having pepper
spray go off in the pocket when getting into his car after a day
or bow hunting. Took a long time before he was able to clear the car enough to drive home.

Thanks for the heads up. I have several cans of pepper spray about. I will pay closer attention to the expiration dates.

So I take it that you do not recommend bear spray as a condiment?

Garly..i found it hard to believe that it could be so nasty and just about impossible to wash away.i would think you would have to move out of any camp you blasted a bear in.

I don't know, in my books a 98% chance of walking away relatively unharmed if I come into contact with an an aggressive bear makes any hassle or potential discomfort from the after effects worthwhile.

For me, the improved likelihood of me walking away from such a situation is more important than the possibility of experiencing discomfort or inconvenience if I walk away from the encounter.

It's also worth noting the likelihood of experiencing discomfort if you use spray against a bear based on the data that's available. Tom Smith's research paper on the 83 known bear spray incidents in Alaska (the one I linked to above) noted that in 10 cases the user reported minor irritation and in 2 cases near incapacitation was reported.

All that said, it is definitely a good warning to be extra careful regarding the storage of spray; I might have to move mine out of the dresser in my bedroom! That also reminds me, I've been meaning to look into making a storage & transport container out of PVC pipe with a screw on cap (something along these lines).


I think this is absolutely necessary; from what I understand, bears are attracted to the ingredients in the spray after it's been dispersed (it is food) and are therefore likely to return.

Dennis..my reaction to a nasty evening at home with the spray may have made me a bit "gun shy" on the subject of pepper spray.
you know when i drive North to canoe country and pull off the freeway it's all black bear this and black bear that.black bear cafe,black bear real estate,black bear lodge-so on,but once i'm out on the lakes and in the camp site a bear sighting is very rare.since 1983 i have had only one in my camp and it ran off after i did some pot banging.it was early AM and i just packed up and move on for the day.
the bears in my neck of the woods don't seem to be the aggressive gang found out West or in Alaska and there has not been a bear attack in the canoe park,BWCA for 20 or so years.
when i prep for anything i look at history so i don't have a basement filled with food or water because Minneapolis is not the sort of place that gets earth quakes,hurricanes and so on.
you can see where i'm going with this.
it's sort of like a PFD,i have never needed one but the one i do have has a ditch kit in the pockets.i do have a smaller spray that i carry in a pocket on the portage trails.maybe i'll keep that as a security blanket on my solo trips.
like all this survival stuff there are some hard choices between what you really need,what you think you need,and what you have just because its neat to have.

That may not be a bad thing; I think most of us (myself included) forget that those can's are serious business and need to be treated with care & respect.


That's a great point about risk analysis aspect; I was talking about bears with a friend tonight as we planned for an upcoming trip and we noted that we are taking a way bigger risk getting into our car and heading to work in the morning (or in my case hopping on a motorcycle) than we are when we head into the woods backpacking.

And really, that's what it all comes down to - understanding the risks and determining how, or even if, we are going to mitigate the risks. My main point in posting the above was to try and help ensure those reading this can make their decision based on the best information we have available to us.

Thanks for the warning. I have a couple of decade-old cans around, though they're in dry storage.

Time for some (very careful) target practice and then disposal.

I swear by the stuff,it always goes camping with us.I did a test spray and with light wind away from us still felt it was sprayed,however a bear wouldnt say that,they most likely would be in trouble.

Been to lots of bear country and heard many close encounters and seen LOTS of bears,and they arent Yogi and BooBoo,so if it says bear this and that,believe it.IMHO only.

You have hit the nail on the head! This statement is worth a separate thread all on it's own, but I didn't want to steal your idea. I am coming full circle around what I really need, and in the process, shedding a lot of 'neat' stuff.

In all my years in the MN, WI, and MI forests and prairies, I have never been attacked by a bear, coyote, or wolf. I was attacked once by a rabid skunk in broad daylight, but I was hunting and therefore had the means to humanely dispatch the sick animal.

I hope you start a new thread with the great quote you made. It would be fun to discuss again.

I don't get it. My garage, closet, and second flor are full of items that are absolutely vital. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent a fortune on them....

I agree, that is a superb statement.

The bears don't come back because it is food. They come back because they know you are out of bear spray.

As I mention in the other spray thread,there are times when you may have to use it for 2 legged threats too,dont want to dismiss that possibility.That can be a far more serious threat than bears.