Bear Spray

[kameyosekmoon]

bear spray, good or bad? why?

[fiddlehead]

Good.
Why? It works.

[Colter]

Personally I think it's "bad" to carry things that I don't need. The odds of truly needing bear spray on the PCT are near zero. Therefore, for me on the PCT bear spray is "bad."

A reader asked yesterday why bear spray is illegal at Yosemite National Park. Rangers told us Yosemite doesn't have grizzlies, has never recorded a black bear-on-human attack, and, well, they're more worried about people misting bears (and each other) willy-nilly.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about bear safety in Grizzly country, this video was a lecture given by to NOLS employees. The instruction/demonstration about bear spray starts around minute 58, and shows why bear spray really is the best option out there for people who are inclined to carry a form of protection against bears. I found the entire video very interesting:

[HooKooDooKu]

Bear spray sounds like a good idea in grizzly country but not needed in black bear country.

Any grizz country along the PCT?

[Coffee]

No need in the Sierra Nevada, that's for sure.

[garlic08]

CDT (and PNT) maybe, PCT no.

An accident with that stuff will ruin your day. And I had a can leak in a pack and despite repeatedly washing it, I sneezed when I packed that pack for the next five years.

[garlic08]

Bear spray sounds like a good idea in grizzly country but not needed in black bear country.

Any grizz country along the PCT?

There are a very few in North Cascades NP. I'm not sure if a PCT hiker has ever seen one.

[Miner]

I've been hiking in the Sierra Nevada for over 20 years, I've never seen anyone carrying bear spray there. I've never heard of any PCT thru-hiker carring bear spray and didn't see anyone doing so when I hiked it. Hikers do carry on the CDT though.