When do you carry bear spray?

[GarrettM]

My suggestion? Don't do it as a dayhike! LOL

I'll send you a PM, but will say I hope you are good at route-finding. The "trail" from the main trail up to Kerlee Lake would have been almost impossible to find had I not been there with someone else that knew where to find it. And steep!

Overall, though, it is a beautiful area and we didn't see anyone after we broke off the Tin Cup trail. If you're going to be there a couple of days, you could also try climbing the Como Peaks and the Lonesome Bach, they are actually right above Kerlee Lake.

I'll do my best to find it. If anything, I'll just continue on to Tin Cup lake. Also looks to be a beautiful area.

 

[Rockskipper]

I have not heard that story.

https://backcountrypost.com/threads/be-careful-with-that-bearspray.6974/

 

[Dr Nebz]

THIS. A dozen times over. Bear spray, like an ice axe, map and compass, or a firearm, is not only useless if you're not skilled in using it, but dangerous to yourself and others. If you're going to carry bear spray, keep it in a convenient place and practice arming the can. The griz is not going to wait for you to read the instructions before she charges you. I can go from hiking to standing with an armed can (safety off) in 1-2 seconds. I anticipate that if the worst happens and I am attacked, I'm not going to have much more time than that to prepare. So best to be skilled using it.

The Rangers in Denali at our class for our backcountry permit told us you only have 2-3 shots with a gun before a bear is on you in a dead charge. You better be Wild Bill Hickok if you carry a pistol to hit a moving target coming right at ya. Even with a rifle it is gonna be tough to stop a pissed off mother with cubs. Your whole party would have to be armed. Solo you're screwed. Statistically, bear spray has a 96% survival rate, fire arms 88.4% survival rate. Not that any of that means jack shit when you are face to face a Bruin in the wild. For me I would just rather not see them. Evasion, and good planning go a long way from having a bear encounter. I treat Bruins like I treat avalanches, I don't want to see them or be near them. If you are heading into a new area, its not a bad idea to call the local ranger and ask about the bear activity in the area you are looking to visit.

 

[Rockskipper]

As well you should be. Hopefully you are crying because you are laughing so hard.

My only "lethal" encounter with capsaicin was in an Asian restaurant where I took a bite of a pepper that left me literally speechless. No idea what it was. After draining everyone at my table's water glasses, I stumbled outside and leaned against someone's car, truly thinking I needed to go to the ER. After about 10 minutes, the worst passed, but it took me a day to feel the inside of my mouth. I can't imagine what getting sprayed must feel like.

 

[wsp_scott]

Yes, I too am a bear spray survivor. I actually sprayed myself with bear spray back in 2013 near the pass between Thorofare Mountain and Younts Peak in the Teton Wilderness. After encountering a Grizzly climbing up to the pass, I was holding my can in my right hand just in case there was another bear - the bears were feeding on Army Cutworm moths on the slopes of Younts Peak. When I got to the pass, I went to place the bear spray back in my holster without remembering to reinsert the safety clip. As I pushed the can into the holster it discharged between my fingers on my right hand and the small cloud it created blew back onto the right side of my face. Alright everybody, you can stop laughing now. Needless to say, it took a couple of minutes for my eye to stop watering and a few more for the burning sensation to go away, and maybe twenty minutes to get the burning sensation out of my throat. The worst of it by far though was the burning along the webbing and skin between my fingers since they took the brunt of the spray. I even had trouble sleeping that night because of the irritation still on my fingers, this even after numerous rinses. So even the best of us (or in my case, worst of us ) make mistakes on occasion. So @LarryBoy's advice on knowing how to deploy, fire, and safely put away your spray is spot on. It becomes easy to forget small things (safety clip in my case) when your heart is racing and adrenaline is running through your veins.

Moral of the story: Be extremely careful when backpacking with Scatman for he is a menace (though most likely to himself).

View attachment 72081
Before the self spray.

View attachment 72080
No, I'm not winking at you. Taken maybe five minutes after I sprayed myself. And no, I am not smiling!

View attachment 72079
Orange color is bear spray residue.

Just think if the wind blew it up your skirt, I mean kilt

 

[scatman]

My only "lethal" encounter with capsaicin was in an Asian restaurant where I took a bite of a pepper that left me literally speechless. No idea what it was. After draining everyone at my table's water glasses, I stumbled outside and leaned against someone's car, truly thinking I needed to go to the ER. After about 10 minutes, the worst passed, but it took me a day to feel the inside of my mouth. I can't imagine what getting sprayed must feel like.

I used to eat a ghost pepper every Corndog Day for six or seven years to the amusement of those attending. I didn't eat one last March though. I'm finding the older I get that I am unable to withstand my body';s reaction. Eating a ghost pepper was worse than my reaction to the small amount of spray I had to contend with.

 

[scatman]

Just think if the wind blew it up your skirt, I mean kilt

Hadn't thought of that scenario. There were some snow patches along our route in that area. I guess I could have sat in one of them for as long as I could stand.

 

[Rockskipper]

I used to eat a ghost pepper every Corndog Day for six or seven years to the amusement of those attending. I didn't eat one last March though. I'm finding the older I get that I am unable to withstand my body';s reaction. Eating a ghost pepper was worse than my reaction to the small amount of spray I had to contend with.

OMG you solved the mystery of what that was. I've been wondering for years. I just googled ghost pepper, and had forgotten it was an Indian restaurant in Boulder, CO. The photo fits perfectly.

I can't believe you would eat one of those. HUGE RESPECT (for your insanity).

From Wiki: In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the ghost pepper was the world's hottest chili pepper, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. The ghost chili is rated at more than 1 million Scoville heat units (SHUs).

 

[scatman]

OMG you solved the mystery of what that was. I've been wondering for years. I just googled ghost pepper, and had forgotten it was an Indian restaurant in Boulder, CO. The photo fits perfectly.

I can't believe you would eat one of those. HUGE RESPECT (for your insanity).

From Wiki: In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the ghost pepper was the world's hottest chili pepper, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. The ghost chili is rated at more than 1 million Scoville heat units (SHUs).

I don't believe the ghost pepper holds the top spot anymore though. I think the Carolina Reaper and the Trinidad Scorpion passed it on the Scoville Scale (could be wrong on this). There are probably even others that are hotter now, but once you're near the top of the scale does it really matter?

My dad used to feed me hot peppers when I was a young boy. He'd cut slices off for me of whatever pepper he was eating at the time. So I grew up enjoying hot/spicy food(s). But like I said before, over the last three or four years, my stomach just can't seem to handle it anymore.

 

[Rockskipper]

I don't believe the ghost pepper holds the top spot anymore though. I think the Carolina Reaper and the Trinidad Scorpion passed it on the Scoville Scale (could be wrong on this). There are probably even others that are hotter now, but once you're near the top of the scale does it really matter?

My dad used to feed me hot peppers when I was a young boy. He'd cut slices off for me of whatever pepper he was eating at the time. So I grew up enjoying hot/spicy food(s). But like I said before, over the last three or four years, my stomach just can't seem to handle it anymore.

I think you're right about others now being hotter, as I looked again at Wiki and it mentioned a couple more. But you're right, once you hit a certain level, what diff does it make if you can't feel your mouth anymore?

(Skipper wanders off, shaking head about having once accidentally eaten a ghost pepper and almost died while the Scatser does it for fun...)

 

[ImNotDedYet]

Apparently a robot in an Amazon warehouse accidentally punctured a can of bear spray injuring a number of humans in the warehouse.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/365332/amazon-robot-sprays-54-workers-with-bear-repellent

Multiple outlets are calling it bear repellent. On HLN this morning, the main anchor asked another anchor, who was familiar with using bear spray, if it hurts to put the repellent on.

Moral of the story...robots should not carry bear spray. And most humans have no clue about bear spray.

 

[Jackson]

Apparently a robot in an Amazon warehouse accidentally punctured a can of bear spray injuring a number of humans in the warehouse.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/365332/amazon-robot-sprays-54-workers-with-bear-repellent

Multiple outlets are calling it bear repellent. On HLN this morning, the main anchor asked another anchor, who was familiar with using bear spray, if it hurts to put the repellent on.

Moral of the story...robots should not carry bear spray. And most humans have no clue about bear spray.

I've read that bears are actually attracted to the scent. So it works completely opposite to how repellants work. Then a bear can eat spicy human instead of regular bland human.

 

[Absarokanaut]

When I was a boy and young man working horse packtrips into the Teton and Washakie Wildernesses the only Bearpsray we had was the Chunky Style. We had far fewer grizzlies then, we thought nothing of sleeping right under the cook fly. I had a bad experience with guns abroad in the earliest 80s and haven't fired a gun since then but don't have a problem with the responsibly and rationally armed at all.

When I came back to Wyoming "full" time in 2002 I had already begun carrying bearspray religiously here in 2000. I had several close encounters where the spray was drawn with the safety off but for 12 years the only time I used bearspray was electively on problematic black bears on the Ranch. Figured out that was futile and ultimately counter productive after a couple of weeks when they got habituated to it and knew to avoid me.

In early July 2012 I was hiking the Bonneville Pass trail not long after dawn when a huge boar grizzly fully charged me. I sprayed when he was just over 43' out and he charged right into the cloud. He quickly started grinding his face into the ground and rolled up about 6' in front of me before running off. I darn near pooped my pants but figured the odds were I wouldn't have any more problems that day.

Less than a half hour later I came up to a seasonal creek crossing and knew I was smelling bear just ahead of me. I let out a louder than usual "hey bear" and darn if two juvenile grizzlies didn't pop up out of the willows about 25 yards or so in front of me and run off. That was enough for me for the day and I turned around since I'd already hiked Austin Peak dozens of times.

Later on I came to what I think to be a sound speculation of how this happened. There was a pretty good fire going on not far away across the Divide in the Teton Wildeerness. I'm guessing smoke over there sent multiple bears across the divide and that large boar thought I was just another bruin punk.

The odds of someone needing to use bearspray here in Greater Yellowstone are incredibly low; but in the opinion of this sometimes old codger you're crazy not to properly holster spray on every step here; far better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Yes, bearspray is far from a 100% guarantee, particularly with a sow with cubs, etc. Nonetheless it has been statistically proven to be an exponentially better choice than any handgun smaller than the monster kind you need to fire a .454 Casull if you can properly holster that and develop a fast draw time.