Talking about bear spray... I remember reading an article about someone in Canada who brought a can of bear spray in a restaurant and got arrested for carrying a weapon (the idea was that bear spray could be used as an accepted self protectio devce in bear country but that it was not acceptable in a restaurant). I tried to find a reference to it online but failed. Anyone remember such a case?
Finally, I've also read (can't remember where) that a water pistol full of lemon juice works fine on dogs... you aim for the eyes and mouth. Not sure this would work on a bear though... but then I don't worry about bears and dogs too much (i live in the East and all we have are relatively docile black bears).