Recently, there have been numerous bear and coyote visitors in our gated community. To date, no attacks on humans have been reported, but I do want wife and self to be prepared, especially now with sunset around 5:30 pm. We have seen bears in our yard during early evening and early morning hours, when we might be walking between car and house.

Firearm discharge is prohibited in the city, and if necessary would be last resort for us, so I am looking at bear spray.

I see numerous brands boasting the "EPA maximum" 2% Capsaicinoids. Is there any reason other than price to pick one brand vs. another?

Not sure about which spray as they are all much the same.
But I wonder what a taser would do?

I lived for 5 years in Alaska and frequently hiked and fished in grizzly bear country (heck, Anchorage had 60+ living in city limits year around). I liked counterassault brand bear spray for several reasons:

they sold a 3-in-1 holster . Could be carried as a chest holster, attach to backback strap, or attached to belt. Chest holster is great for in fishing waders or wearing a backpack.

they sold an inert training cannister so you could get a feel for the 2 second spray and then if that didn't work spraying the rest of the canister (~5 seconds).

it's one of the oldest bear spray brands and lots of success testimonials. In other words, not some fly by night copy cat with questionable canister and questionable contents.

One thing that tends to happen is people will put their bear protection in a backpack which is slow to access. Even worse, people will leave their backpack onshore and go wading out into the river. The counterassault 3-in-1 holster was so easy to have with you regardless of whether you were hiking or standing in the middle of a river.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I would say 10mm spray

I'm curious the answer to this question as well.

Find out what works from the local hunt shop.

I don’t think the average shop in FL will have options that would be in MT or AK. The Cabela’s/ Bass Pro may have something.

Some of those canisters are kinda big, the serious ones ment for out west or AK. One could split the baby a little, just carry regular defensive spray. It’s kinda a lower likelihood chance of use anyway.

I buy whatever is at the sporting goods store in the mountains when I need to replace my expired spray. I carry it because it makes my wife feel better when I’m in the woods fishing or otherwise messing around. I wouldn’t bother otherwise. Just black bears.

Counter Assault and UDAP are what I have used. No first had experience with bears, but UDAP did work rather well on an aggressive panhandler.

This is an older post but all encompassing info in all things pepper spray, if you want to learn about it in detail.
https://www.thehighroad.org/in...ay-the-truth.768705/

Counter Assault is from my home town, Kalispell MT, seemingly the home of a shipload of mean, nasty grizzly bears. I trust them totally.

I’ve been taking the ADAP Bear Spray with me on our overlanding camping trips. Had a chance to use it one night on a monstrous black bear (+400#) who was interested in what we were cooking for dinner. One good spray from about 15 feet away sent him back in the bushes snorting like you wouldn’t believe. He came back out about 15 minutes later but we were in the camper and a quick shot of spray sent him scurrying.

If you get a chance some manufacturers include an inert canister to practice with and would recommend trying that.

When using spray, make sure you get the wind right

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
<snip>
UDAP did work rather well on an aggressive panhandler.

Is it necessary to report such an incident to the police?

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
<snip>
UDAP did work rather well on an aggressive panhandler.

Is it necessary to report such an incident to the police?

I think it may depend on where you are. That UDAP spray is nasty, in some locations, a true face full into an aggressive panhandler may not go over well.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Just saying, over the years I’ve had plenty of panhandlers around, annoying at times, but low threat.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmoid:
Not sure about which spray as they are all much the same.
But I wonder what a taser would do?

Tasers often fail on human targets. I know, I got three broken ribs and a gun grab for my falsely believing in the taser.

I would not recommend the use of a taser for bear repellent. Bear repellent is what the OP needs for repelling bears.

Are there any food sources present or is the bear just going for a stroll? The game warden should be of assistance as well.

Our Costco sells Bear Spray which comes with a holster. Might be a location thing as to which store sells them. (we have Bears in our back yard)

Counter Assault has a good reputation here in western Montana. As always plan how to carry and practice your draw.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I see numerous brands boasting the "EPA maximum" 2% Capsaicinoids. Is there any reason other than price to pick one brand vs. another?

I don’t think so, unless down there you see a brand you’ve never heard of before. Any of the brands sold in the northern Rockies would work just fine for you and your wife. FWIW, the fog from a can of bear spray has a range of roughly 15 - 20’. It would be nice if you had a contact with Florida’s Division of Wildlife (or whatever they call game and fish there). Perhaps they have a can or two of expired bear spray that you could deploy to get an idea of difficulty drawing, range, wind effect, etc.

I've kept UDAP on hand at my camp in the UP. Never had to use it and hope I never do. I tried out an expired can once with a 20mph wind at my back. It has impressive range. Even with the favorable wind, I was coughing and my eyes burned and watered for a while. Having to use it facing into the wind or even in a crosswind would leave me in pretty uncomfortable shape... but better than losing a fight with a bear, I suppose.