Biere a Terre
Paddler
I'm just a random Eagle & Venturing scout that has hiked and backpacked around the PNW & Maine. So take my opinion for what its worth from an alcoholic-ghost profile-pic internet enjoyer.
I find safety in the wild to be a two part concept. First is behaviour, and second is remediation.
Concerning bears, if you are heading out into the wild in bear country assume there are bears or bear dens around, especially off of well worn human trails or near game trails. And likelihood is higher May through November. In general wildlife doesn't like to be near potential threats, so making yourself known through sound is most of the effort. Groups of people naturally make lots of noise, talking, laughing, singing, traversing. Individuals are much quieter, because talking to yourself is irregular for many people. But do that! Talk out concepts, emotions, stories, sing songs. Ever been out with kids and been annoyed with them screaming or hitting sticks? This is when that is good. Don't be afraid to indulge yourself, and even give a good whack on a tree with your special tree whacking stick every once in a while. Animals, including bears, will hear you and stay away.
That is almost the whole nine yards. Bear attacks are rare, and fatalities even rarer. I'm not sure of the stats, especially between countries, but its one out of many millions for bear attacks.
Yet bears are naturally curious, and are motivated by basic needs. What do bears want? [Seems like the intro to a meme.] Food. Are you food? No. But you might be carrying food. If backpacking make sure food is sealed in, at least, airtight containers, or 'bear proof' containers, and when at camp store food safely: I was taught 100 ft away from your camp, in either a 'bear proof' container and hanging it from trees. Same with cooking, keep it away from your camp and downwind if possible. I see the official recommendation from BC Parks is a 50 metre triangle, with your campsite, food prep, and food storage at each corner.
But indeed I realize the OP question was about the hardware, what to carry for remediation. And this is a paddling website. In the US I've only ever carried bear spray, and it's been whatever is at REI. In three decades I've never had to deploy it, and only a couple of times have I seen bears in the wild with my own eyes at distance, generally by rivers or streams. The states are almost entirely black bears, which I understand to be a little more timid.
The coastal brown bears here and grizzly bears in the rest of Canada can be more intense, I'm told. So when I realized our bear sprays had passed their expiration date, we got two Kodiak bear kits here at MEC. These include spray with with pen flare bangers. And we put them on either our hip when we're out and about in provincial parks and beyond. We looked them over and watched a YouTube video on how to deploy if we ever need to, so we're familiar in the event of urgent need.
I don't think you'd ever need more than that for hardware. There are of course extremely rare edge cases on already rare events, such as coming across a bear and its young cubs. Animal behaviour can be bizarre and unpredictable, and I haven't met people hiking around with a sword and a shotgun looking for a bear fight.
I can definitely offer my opinion on what not to do, though, and that is arm yourself for forest warfare. In 2014 I was on the Allagash River with my brother David and his young daughter Emily, just a regular canoe trip. We just had lunch near the ranger station before the falls, and went back to shore before the falls for a pit stop. I stayed with the canoe while they went to take care of business. Em comes bounding back down to me to say they ran into the military! What!? Dave gets back and tells me they were getting into the bush and suddenly coming up on them is a family with three young girls. Mom and dad both were carrying in their hands sand-coloured pump-shotguns, pistols on their hips. What the hell? All three girls with pink pistols on their hips as well. He was flabbergasted. Dave asked if there was an armed violent offender on the loose out here. Dad answers, "No, we're just being bear safe." !!! Wow, are you hiking the whole river or something? "No, we're just out here for the day." Dave and Em are both wearing PFDs, but the dad asks. "Uhh, how about you, you two out for the day?" Dave tells him we're five days into a canoe trip... the dad was more shocked than Dave was! I think the chances of that family having a firearm related accident were far, far higher than being eaten by a bear within walking distance from the parking lot.
I find safety in the wild to be a two part concept. First is behaviour, and second is remediation.
Concerning bears, if you are heading out into the wild in bear country assume there are bears or bear dens around, especially off of well worn human trails or near game trails. And likelihood is higher May through November. In general wildlife doesn't like to be near potential threats, so making yourself known through sound is most of the effort. Groups of people naturally make lots of noise, talking, laughing, singing, traversing. Individuals are much quieter, because talking to yourself is irregular for many people. But do that! Talk out concepts, emotions, stories, sing songs. Ever been out with kids and been annoyed with them screaming or hitting sticks? This is when that is good. Don't be afraid to indulge yourself, and even give a good whack on a tree with your special tree whacking stick every once in a while. Animals, including bears, will hear you and stay away.
That is almost the whole nine yards. Bear attacks are rare, and fatalities even rarer. I'm not sure of the stats, especially between countries, but its one out of many millions for bear attacks.
Yet bears are naturally curious, and are motivated by basic needs. What do bears want? [Seems like the intro to a meme.] Food. Are you food? No. But you might be carrying food. If backpacking make sure food is sealed in, at least, airtight containers, or 'bear proof' containers, and when at camp store food safely: I was taught 100 ft away from your camp, in either a 'bear proof' container and hanging it from trees. Same with cooking, keep it away from your camp and downwind if possible. I see the official recommendation from BC Parks is a 50 metre triangle, with your campsite, food prep, and food storage at each corner.
But indeed I realize the OP question was about the hardware, what to carry for remediation. And this is a paddling website. In the US I've only ever carried bear spray, and it's been whatever is at REI. In three decades I've never had to deploy it, and only a couple of times have I seen bears in the wild with my own eyes at distance, generally by rivers or streams. The states are almost entirely black bears, which I understand to be a little more timid.
The coastal brown bears here and grizzly bears in the rest of Canada can be more intense, I'm told. So when I realized our bear sprays had passed their expiration date, we got two Kodiak bear kits here at MEC. These include spray with with pen flare bangers. And we put them on either our hip when we're out and about in provincial parks and beyond. We looked them over and watched a YouTube video on how to deploy if we ever need to, so we're familiar in the event of urgent need.
I don't think you'd ever need more than that for hardware. There are of course extremely rare edge cases on already rare events, such as coming across a bear and its young cubs. Animal behaviour can be bizarre and unpredictable, and I haven't met people hiking around with a sword and a shotgun looking for a bear fight.
I can definitely offer my opinion on what not to do, though, and that is arm yourself for forest warfare. In 2014 I was on the Allagash River with my brother David and his young daughter Emily, just a regular canoe trip. We just had lunch near the ranger station before the falls, and went back to shore before the falls for a pit stop. I stayed with the canoe while they went to take care of business. Em comes bounding back down to me to say they ran into the military! What!? Dave gets back and tells me they were getting into the bush and suddenly coming up on them is a family with three young girls. Mom and dad both were carrying in their hands sand-coloured pump-shotguns, pistols on their hips. What the hell? All three girls with pink pistols on their hips as well. He was flabbergasted. Dave asked if there was an armed violent offender on the loose out here. Dad answers, "No, we're just being bear safe." !!! Wow, are you hiking the whole river or something? "No, we're just out here for the day." Dave and Em are both wearing PFDs, but the dad asks. "Uhh, how about you, you two out for the day?" Dave tells him we're five days into a canoe trip... the dad was more shocked than Dave was! I think the chances of that family having a firearm related accident were far, far higher than being eaten by a bear within walking distance from the parking lot.
