Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bear Repellent?

More than one company markets bear repelent pepper spray. It is sold in stores like Sports Chalet. Have any of you tried it? How did it work?

Not needed in California. I carried pepper spray while backpacking in Glacier NP, but there are grizzlies there. While black bears can be aggressive I think the risk level is so low that there's no need to carry pepper spray in the Sierras.

In grizzly country I felt that having the spray gave me an extra margin of safety. Thankfully I've never had the opportunity to test it, so I guess I can't answer your question.

Although I did meet a Brit in the Glacier backcountry who told me he decided to give it a "test spray". Unfortunately the wind blew it back in his face, leaving a debilitated grizzly snack writhing in pain on the ground until he recovered. Apparently it's very effective on humans. : )

Yes, and you can buy bear bells for your pack, too.

But, as the tour guides in Denali Park tell it:

If you're walking down a trail and come across a pile of bear scat, how do you know if it's from a black bear or brown (grizzly) bear?

Simple...kick the pile apart. If it smells like pepper and has bear bells in it, it's from a grizzly...

You can also try running shoes. You can't out-run a bear, but you don't have to. Just outrun your hiking partner.

Pepper spray is very lightweight, compact and adds peace of mind, IMHO. Your chances of running into a crazy human are far greater than a dangerous bear encounter. Spray is good for both. But of course keep it out of your own face, duh. I'm always suspicious of advice from people who can't operate the device in the first place. A can of shaving cream can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Nothing short of a handgun will work against a hungry grizzly. They eat black bears. Luckily we don't have to worry about them in California. I suppose someone will suggest reintroducing them.

Re: Pepper spray. There is a significant body of evidence that pepper spray is actually a bear ATTRACTANT! Not when spraying them in the face, but just the scent.

That being the case, it would seem to say that simply having it increases the chance of a bear encounter.

I saw a woman carrying a poodle on the trail to the Grinnell Glacier. There might be a better way to attract a grizzly, but I can't think of one. Unless you wrapped the poodle in raw bacon.

A leading fictional university did a double blind study of pepper spray consisting of 1000 backpackers in the Sierras. 500 of the backpackers were given a can of pepper spray and 500 were given a can of placebo. All 1000 backpackers came back safely without being attacked by a bear.

Almost immediately a company sprung up that started selling cans of placebo spray, claiming that it was as effective as pepper spray for protection from bears in the Sierras. When the CEO was asked why his company was so successful, he said that the industry of products that people don't need is a very hot field.

Regarding Ken's comment:

http://www.3bears.net/yosemite/beare/pepper.htm

It's just the ornery ones that you have to watch out for:

http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=123828

Also, I thought I remember seeing one of Steve C's pictures where a bear had ripped one of his pants.

I've got a co-worker who's pretty repulsive. You'd be doing all my wco-workers and me a favor by taking him along on your next hike into bear country. He can't run very fst either.

Seriously, if the only thing to worry about was black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, etc., I wouldn't carry pepper spray. The only reason I take it is to use on off-leash dogs that come charging at me. I've been bitten twice and won't put up with that "don't worry, he's/she's friendly" crap again.

I carry my bear spray in the Sierra but I don't really anticipate having to use it - at least on a bear. There are "rogue" aggressive black bears out there from time to time but it's somewhat rare. I also carry a big K-Bar knife for mountain lions. Again, a rare occurrence but it's cheap insurance that makes me feel like I have a fighting chance when I'm out there alone. I'm heading up to Glacier soon and I always carry my spray there as well as NEVER hiking alone. When I'm camping in griz country I pack a .44 magnum with a very heavy load. It gives me a little peace of mind when I'm in my tent - where spray would most likely not be terribly effective. For the person who said that nothing short of a handgun would do against a hungry grizzly I have to say that MOST handguns won't do anything other than really piss off a grizzly. The odds of hitting a bear in a vital, lethal area are pretty low when you're in the process of soiling your pants and absorbing a massive shot of adrenaline in your nervous system. The guns that are easiest to shoot aren't big enough to do anything to an 600 - 800 pound animal. Also, shooting a grizzly is like shooting a guy who's stoned out of his mind on PCP or magic mushrooms. He - the bear - just doesn't know that being shot is bad for his health. I asked a guy up in Glacier last year whether he thought my .357 magnum would be enough to insure my safety against a grizzly and he said sure, just shoot him as well as you can with your five bullets. I told him my gun holds six. He said, yeah, the last one's for you. That nixed my thoughts of carrying that gun. The truth is, the only firearm that will really be effective against a grizzly is a high powered rifle with at least one very well aimed shot. I did speak with a woman up in Montana last year that HAD used pepper spray on a large grizzly and it thwarted the attack so I feel more confidence from the spray than I do my handgun.

WhitRat, not certain about this, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal to carry firearms in National Parks, even in the backcountry. I could see doing that in the Bob Marshall, south of Glacier, though.

Quandary98, it's my understanding that you are right - it is illegal to carry a firearm in the national park. When push comes to shove on this one though, I'm still going to try and do everything I can to protect myself in grizzly country. Incidentally, I have a bunch of friends that live in Kalispell and most of them do the same. I guess I'd rather deal with the law after the fact than be dead and not deal with the law.

Gotcha. ; ) How much does your .44 weigh? I imagine you might be cursing it at the end of a long day!

Q98, it weighs about 2.5 lbs loaded. To make up for it I bought a steripen to replace my pump, a 3lb tent and a much lighter down bag. So it has cost me more in dollars than in added weight. Still, not that heavy a price to pay for a little peace of mind. Last summer in the Bob and in Glacier I couldn't believe how much evidence I saw of grizzly activity. I saw scat about every half mile on the trail. All joking aside, you can tell grizzly scat because it often has fur in it. And there are tree scratchings everywhere. Thankfully, I never saw one.

Smith and Wesson is marketing bear protection in what they call, "Model 500ES - Emergency Survival Tool Kit". Below is full description of the survival tool kit:

Smith & Wesson Model 500, 2 3/4" Barrel with Bright Orange Hogue® recoil reducing grip
Waterproof Storm® Case
Blast Match™ Firestarter and WetFire tender
Saber Cut™ Saw with fabric sheath
Jet Scream™ whistle
Star Flash™ signal mirror
Polaris® compass
Two MPI Mylar Space® Emergency Blankets
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops Liner Lock Folding Knife with Black Sheath
"Bear Attacks of the Century - True Stories of Courage and Survival" book by Larry Mueller and Marguerite Reiss

This is what I call good bear protection. Not worth the weight on a hike in the sierra's as far as I am concerned but I usually have something like it when camping in our National Forest and PARK camp grounds because they are so lousy with black bears and they have occasionally attacked and eaten people. It is just an option that can be exercised if you have it with you. Better to have and not need than need and not have.

In general, that is correct. The are some exceptions, like one section of Yellowstone where hunters are allowed to carry unloaded, cased guns though a remote part of the park to get to a hunting area outside the park boundaries.

I asked a Yellowstone ranger with whom I work what would happen if someone carried a gun for emergency use into the backcountry and used it to defend themselves against an actual bear attack. The answer was that they would be arrested and a judge would decide how to handle it.

Sierra Sam, that's pretty much how I figured it would be. Needless to say, I'll take my chances with a judge rather than a brown bear.

How about a little survey here. Suppose you went backpacking alone and unarmed in the Sierras. What do you think are your chances that you will be attacked by a bear where you could get injured or killed? 1 chance in ...? It might be interesting to see what answers people here come up with. You don't have to justify or defend your answer so feel free to guess any number. 1 chance in ...? Thanks.

1 in 70 million per year.

based on a bear attack every two years, and a population in Ca of 35 million.

of interest:

http://tafkac.org/animals/bear_attacks.html

http://www.bear.org/Black/Black_Bear_Facts.html

http://www.bear.org/SlideShows/HowDangerous/Slide_01.html