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Post by rodwha on Feb 17, 2016 10:02:08 GMT -8
Though bear spray is typically very effective it has also failed a couple of times.
As I said bear spray is the best choice as the first line of defense as is likely all you'd need in almost any situation. I have bear spray but carry a high grade pepper spray.
And to be clear, if you choose to carry a firearm you had better damn well know how to use it properly. Firing at an attacking animal is nothing like time at a range of shooting in grandpa's pasture. You are accountable for every bullet you fire, and that's one reason why I don't feel it's a good idea in most places that I go. Most people are hardly qualified at the range these days.
I'm not one to fall for statistics. The boyscouts prepare for the unexpected for a good reason despite e statistics that it likely won't be necessary. Just because it generally doesn't happen doesn't mean one should discount it. It's because of the slight possibility that we lock our doors and wear seat belts.
That's not to say I feel everyone should carry firearms.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 17, 2016 10:14:21 GMT -8
That still begs the question: are you hiking in grizzly country? Is it the animals that worry you, or people? I agree with those who say it's wasted weight, but that's your choice, as long as you keep the gun to yourself. It is also possible that someone will fall and break their neck. I don't carry a neck brace and backboard with me, however. Sometimes the risk/weight trade-off is pretty obvious. To me, firearms are clearly on the wrong side of that. But HYOH. And yeah, I was thinking about condoms and tampons when I read the header
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 17, 2016 10:23:50 GMT -8
bear spray with griz. Otherwise I prefer to "spend" that weight on a PLB, much more logical when solo than a firearm which will do zero for all the situations a solo hiker statistically can fall prey to. Sprain a knee solo and with a firearm you can shoot yourself, with a PLB you can call for rescue. etc.
Plan B? Carry EpiPen if your allergic: bees kill more people in a year than bears have in the last century. Getting lost is also a big killer/injurer so carry a solid gps handheld as well as good topos and a compass with the knowledge on how to use them.
"The boyscouts prepare for the unexpected" but even they do that only within reasonable expectations: for instance I've NEVER encountered scouts all bundled in life vests on the trails of Yosemite: yet the leading cause of death in that park is drowning. Nor parachutes for that also fatal "falling off terrain", the one animal fatality? A deer kicked a child the mom was posing for a photo.....
OTOH? A Hogan's Alley with thousand pound grizzlies popping out of the trailside brush and rushing the hiker: with some full contact "reinforcement" would be highly entertaining. Because, yeah, that's not anything like a paper target at 10 yards.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Feb 17, 2016 11:36:00 GMT -8
OTOH? A Hogan's Alley with thousand pound grizzlies popping out of the trailside brush and rushing the hiker: with some full contact "reinforcement" would be highly entertaining. I'd like to play that game. Imagine 1000 pound tackling dummy charging you from the brush, about 40 feet away. You have only time to draw pepper spray or a firearm, and get off 1 good blast. How far do you think a 200 lb person would fly if hit by this padded dummy, at griz speed?
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idahobob
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Post by idahobob on Feb 17, 2016 11:49:14 GMT -8
I carry my knife in a sheath for protection.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 17, 2016 12:28:22 GMT -8
I carry my knife in a sheath for protection. good choice, without a sheath you're liable to get a nasty cut.
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johnnyray
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Post by johnnyray on Feb 17, 2016 13:28:44 GMT -8
I do not carry a firearm. I have a can of unused Counter Assault bear repellent. I have a small pepper spray, a little bigger that a disposable lighter I got because I am sick of unleashed dogs here in the Chicago suburbs jumping on me though I have never used it.
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Post by rodwha on Feb 17, 2016 14:58:07 GMT -8
OTOH? A Hogan's Alley with thousand pound grizzlies popping out of the trailside brush and rushing the hiker: with some full contact "reinforcement" would be highly entertaining. I'd like to play that game. Imagine 1000 pound tackling dummy charging you from the brush, about 40 feet away. You have only time to draw pepper spray or a firearm, and get off 1 good blast. How far do you think a 200 lb person would fly if hit by this padded dummy, at griz speed?Depends on who you are and what you are skilled with I suppose (I am nothing like this fellow even in my dreams): m.youtube.com/watch?v=CqABkG1JpHMJust as with Bill Cody I'd be a yellow belly if things got ugly! I think he'd likely put all six through an eye before a pepper spray can was halfway pulled for use...
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Post by rodwha on Feb 17, 2016 15:18:21 GMT -8
This is more what I might expect from the average Joe I've seen at ranges though (mildly graffic): m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky5Xi6RsRqkAs I said you had better KNOW what you are doing (although I may do much better at 15 yds than I typically see at 7 at the various ranges I've gone to I do not claim to be amazing by any means, hence why I'd not carry a gun if I could in most situations I've been in).
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almostthere
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Post by almostthere on Feb 17, 2016 21:25:03 GMT -8
Truth is, I am more afraid of some paranoid nut that aims at any noise in a bush with his gun than I am of any animal out there, bar none.
Park your gun somewhere far, far, far from me.
Thanks.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2016 2:16:27 GMT -8
I do not think pistol or any other firearms has a place among hikers, however if you have a need to carry one for your safety, I would make sure that it is the lightest there is, and very well concealed, so other hikers wont even notice.
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Post by rodwha on Feb 18, 2016 4:20:27 GMT -8
Truth is, I am more afraid of some paranoid nut that aims at any noise in a bush with his gun than I am of any animal out there, bar none. Park your gun somewhere far, far, far from me. Thanks. No doubt. That wouldn't be safe and is a no no.
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BlueBear
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Post by BlueBear on Feb 18, 2016 10:11:33 GMT -8
Count me as another that doesn't see any need to carry one, for me. In brown bear country I carry spray, and have met many brown bears while solo. The only time I've needed to use the spray was on a habituated black bear that was getting far too close. I've never met anyone in the backwoods that I'd have even thought I would need to use a gun to dissuade about anything. My mindset echoes Rebecca, about the gun being on the wrong side of the cost-benefit equation. I'm about a hundred times more like to accidentally hurt myself (or my kids) with the thing than need it for any useful purpose.
I learned to shoot when I was a kid, if I decide to hunt I'll take it with me, but otherwise, I see little need for "protection" with a gun in the woods or mountains.
Just me.
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Post by sasquatch on Feb 18, 2016 21:48:16 GMT -8
I definitely feel to each his/her own but as I stated in the OP, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Just for the record I am well trained with firearms so no worry with an accidental discharge. I've come across man animals and never felt the need to use it. Although once I was stalked by a pack of coyotes and had it in my hand as I walked. Attacks have happened before. linkAs for the guy's friend that shot himself "sneaking in" a gun to a National Park I'm not sure why he had to sneak it in. It is legal in most National Parks. Unless of course if he couldn't legally possess a firearm. I asked out of curiosity. Thanks for all the feedback.
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Post by ashepabst on Feb 19, 2016 7:03:40 GMT -8
guns were forbidden until 2010.
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