Bear Spray
 

I've struggled for many years with the best way to carry bear spray so it is easy to grab and spray. I read about someone rigging it so it fits in a water bottle cage. I did it prior my latest ride and it work out great. I think this will be handy for anyone riding in bear country, on or off road. Just cut a water bottle in half, insert bear spray, and duct tape it together.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/...50460239_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/...cb27aaf8_z.jpg

Never heard of a cyclist being taken by a grizzly. Happens? Certainly black bears are very shy. Drives me nuts when I see hikers with bear bells in the lower 48. However cougars do enjoy mountain biker. Bear spray probably not effective in that case. Photo location? Makes me homesick.

U-lock and pepper spray on bike, a can of bearspray will fit this way too. use a Jannd padded pump strap.

We had a close encounter with a bear up in northern BC - we didn't have bear spray at the time as we figured the black bears were pretty shy. this one came right up to me and then chased my son down the road. Here's the whole storye: http://www.examiner.com/world-bike-t...-a-bear-part-1

After that, I got some bear spray and strapped the holster on to my handlebars with nylon webbing. It was really easy to access. Of course, we never did have another encounter...

Brown bear attacks on cyclists in Alaska are happening more then you may expect. I wouldn't ride without the spray. Below are two links to recent articles about cyclists and brown bears this summer. The picture in the OP is from the south end of Eklutna Lake, Chugach State Park.

http://www.adn.com/2010/07/21/137627...n-warning.html

http://www.adn.com/2010/07/08/135949...s-tale-of.html

I think I would have crap my pant for sure.Glad all of you made it out of that.Bear spray it works on a lot of other things people too.I hear its one hot spray hope I never have to find out the hard way

"Bear spray probably not effective in that case."

It is effective in every case, just really jumped up pepper spray. Nasty stuff.

If I was a native in Alaska, I would carry a .500 linebaugh, or a .500 Alaskan rifle. But that kind of stuff is heavy.

My feeling on bear spray, if you really think there is a chance, you should carry it on your person, either as well or solely. Bad stuff happens when you are away from the bike as well as on the bike, or you get knocked off the bike. Or you are on your back. Constant access is what you need. Your most vulnerable times are not necessarily when you are riding.

This was in one of the clips:

"The spray was in Nord's backpack."

Been on the ground around grizzlies when I fished Bristol Bay. Main thing is not to act or look like prey. Behave just like another equal inhabitant of the planet. Nothing threatening, no fear. Calm. OTOH, a guy got et after coming out of the messhall door in a Naknek cannery. Those bears get way too brave when they stay close to humans. Didn't have bear spray back then. But yes, should be on your belt if you're going to have it.

I don't think the bikers who've been attacked even saw the cat coming. They're silent and they do 35.
http://www.railriders.com/blog/2009/...n-lion-attack/
So don't ride alone in cat country. Bear spray in companion's hand undoubtedly a good thing.

The reviews on the REI website are worth reading.

Researched it, talked about it with Stoker. Not going to buy/carry bear spray, even though we'll be spending a couple of days very close to the scene of a fairly recent cougar attack. From my research, it's evident that each of us would have to carry a spray can, and for it to be effective, in a chest harness. Way too paranoid for us. Way too few problems spread between way too many cyclists. We'll do what we've been doing for the past 50 years: just be another species on the planet. Kind of reminds me of the guy I saw packing at the Deception Pass campground. Freeeky.

What I see here is the visceral reaction to being a prey species. It doesn't feel good, even though it's much less of a worry than, say, flying, driving, cycling, boating, showering, eating, having sex, etc. Now there's an idea! Use bear spray on the opposite sex. Live long and prosper.

Now if there were a truck spray . . .

Yeah both cougar and bear attacks are rare enough that I wouldn't lose sleep over them. Deaths by lightning strike, bee sting, and snake bite are all much more likely.

I do concede that the OP is from Alaska where it makes a bit more sense.

I usually carry bear spray on tour, but mostly for dogs. I got the bear spray a while back and have had two encounters with black bears since then (both while camping and not on the bike) where making loud noises was sufficient to make the bears go away. So if all I was worried about was bears, I don't think I would carry it (In Alaska, or the Canadian rockies, that might change).

That being said, bear spray is very effective against dogs. It has a much longer range and a more concentrated stream than normal mace, and can be used on multiple occasions before the can is used up. Since most of the touring I do is in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, this is important.

.500 Smith and Wesson in a shoulder holster and a large practice ammo budget.
Practice. Alot... from your saddle.
Then practice riding faster than your partners.

OLIVE OIL and Garlic

i couldn't resist...

When I was out in Montana I got a call that a bear was breaking in to a house. When we got there, we made sure no one was home, then called our dispatcher and she said wait it'll the DNR gets there. The DNR shows up, a cute 100lb blond girl was the agent. First she yelled at me for not doing anything; then she yelled at the bear and threw sticks and rocks at him. That bear ran like his @ss was on fire and his head was catch'n. When she yelled at me I wanted to run too.

Bears get a bad rap, because of stupid people feeding them.

Another issue to consider is that Bear Spray is a potent weapon. Whatever your local laws may be, you have both a responsibility and possibly some liability for not being in control of it particularly if it is on display. You don't want to be coming back to your bike and be confronted by someone who has liberated your bear spray, and now wants your money, etc... I asume the reason why cops in general, and bike cops, carry their sidearms on them, and not on the bike, is because of the kind of issues covered here, access and control.

:roflmao:

Bears, folks.

how many of you people have actually encountered a bear while touring? how about, who's run into more than a couple of bears? more than 5 bears?

Some of us have.

Here's one scenario: you're sitting around a campsite and here comes the trouble bear and he's ambling towards you and he doesn't care that you are yelling at him - what do you do?

If you want to carry bear spray, try a padded pump strap. you can get it out on the fly with practice.

I've never seen a bear on a bike, if you know what I mean. I once travelled a rail trail that had more bear crap on it than from any species any place I have been short of a sheep farm. Absolutely answered the does a bear... in the woods question for me. But I didn't see a bear except while driving by some guy's garage. :(

I heard about the people who thought Bear Spray was like Mosquito Repellent,

and so they sprayed it on themselves to ward off bears..

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::injured:

I have actually been around a fair amount of bears.
backpacking
and on the bike...

usually there is never a problem.

actually... now that I think of it.
I have a story

one night while on tour, I was sleeping and dreaming of this suffocating oppressive weight just smothering me.
I started to wake up, and realized that I was being smashed, and I was having a hard time inhaling...
I poked my elbows around, to hear tension release from my shelter, as the weight came off of me...
the slack in my shelter, I was amazed that it simply did not break...

other trips while backpacking, bears...
sleep with a slingshot near by
a pile of rocks near your head
and just like pulling guard duty on an OP (observation post)
complete with sectors of fire
avenues of most likely approach
priority targets

every bear that I have had to fling a rock at with a slingshot/wrist rocket... as soon as that projectile is whizzing thru the air... they run! when that rock ricochets off of something... its all over

yep, bears use trails and roads just like humans do- as cleared paths. they have been found to regularily use backcountry roads as part of a grid-like territory patrol that bears do.

those rails-to-trails are an improvement not only for people, but the local bears too!

Timothy Treadwell would be happy bout that (RIP)

if the wind is right and the noise of your bike doesn't carry, you can come across bear just loping along a two track and kind of roll up behind before even YOU realize its a bear.... and coming down roads at speed, sometimes there's bear just gorging themselves in the berry bushes on a cliffy road and there's no place to go except right where the bear's standing - excitement!

got to love nature!

when you see a cat, that's when the adrenalin starts to really flow. have only seen two cats clearly. suspect more close encounters.

Stephen Herrero's book "Bear Attacks" is a good read for anyone interested in bears and co existing with them. BTW he seems to recommend bear spray as one form of protection.

Having toured in Sequoia, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, I have seen a fair number when on tour, some of them up close. It never occurred to me to bother with bear spray though.

I try not to deal with hypothetical problems that are unlikely to be a real danger at least in the lower 48. If I wanted to worry about things I can think of a long list that would be ahead of worrying about bears.

I am SO proud of you for being so brave, staeph - and that locking strategy of yours!

I've camped in several noted problem bear areas in the lower 48 and campgrounds where the threat of a marauding bear intent on human foodstuffs was very real.

The park service sometimes closes entire areas to camping out these parts when bear problems get real bad. a thirty mile length of the Elwha river valley in Olympic National Park was closed one summer.

I remember one backcountry trip into Yellowstone in the afternoon when we came across the 'problem bear repatriation area' :eek:

Why are all those food lockers doing at all those campgrounds anyway? parks are protecting peoples food from the squirrels?

to each his own. I'm confident in Maryland these issues of problem bears do not often arise.

I never implied that there were not bears or that they were not a problem. In Sequoia and Yosemite they are a big problem. There are many incidents and lots of property damage (mostly car break ins and usually because people don't follow the park rules regarding food storage). I always use the bear boxes and follow the recommended practices.

I just don't see why I'd carry bear spray, given that the odds of being a victim of a bear attack are minuscule especially in the lower 48. There have been 3 bear caused human fatalities this year so far in the US and Canada according to http://www.blackbearheaven.com/bear-...statistics.htm and that is about average or a bit higher than average for the last ten years. Yosemite alone has something like 3.9 million visitors a year. Yellowstone, Sequoia and Kings Canyon probably all have a bit fewer visitors, but still in the millions. The odds are pretty good that a touring bicyclist has never been killed by a bear while on tour in the lower 48, ever. It isn't exactly foolhardy to skip the bear spray. I figure the odds at 1 in several million.

As far as carrying it to thwart cougar attacks again the threat is pretty small with less than one death per year in the US and Canada combined.

...like a butterfly in the wind....

Thinking back, three cat sightings, (mountain loop, john wayne trail, one in norcal) not two, and one wolf sighting as well.

One of those cats had a radio collar, i think, that said "my name is fluffy" and it wasn't afraid of humans!

:D