Do You Really Need To Buy Bear Spray Before Going Camping?

Do you really need to buy bear spray before you go camping in an area that has even the slightest chance of seeing a bear? No, technically you don’t need to do anything. You don’t need to bring a tent but you better hope the bugs aren’t too bad and it doesn’t rain on you whilst you sleep. While you are at it I wouldn’t wear a seatbelt while you are driving to your camping destination. I mean legally that is breaking the law but you don’t need to wear a seat belt as the car will drive just fine whether or not you’re wearing one. Also, I wouldn’t let any friends or family know that you’ll be out of town on a camping trip when you go. Just let them freak out and worry themselves sick and possibly even report you as a missing person to the local authorities. I mean it would be nice if you put your loved ones at ease by alerting them to the fact that you’ll be out of town but you don’t need to tell anyone anything.

Do you see the point I am trying to make here? Chances are very good that if you go camping in bear populated areas you would probably survive just fine without bear spray as fatal bear attacks are pretty rare, even in areas with heavy bear populations. Will you wear your seat belt when you drive to your camping destination though? Because fatal car accidents are much more common than bear attacks but still relatively rare when compared to the number of people that drive a car each and every day. Your chances of being injured in a car accident is less than 1% each time you get in a car, but you still wear the belt, right? Why? Because you have common sense, that’s why. The same common sense should apply when deciding which items to bring camping.

I always bring a first aid kit even though I have never used it and I always will bring it just in case. Why on Earth would I risk being mauled to death by a half ton grizzly bear when all I have to do is go online and pick up a bottle of bear spray and make sure I have it on me when I’m camping? It just makes zero sense to me and it always kills me when I hear stories of people being attacked by a bear while they are camping in an area where they knew full well a bear had the possibility of showing up. The last fatal bear attack in Yellowstone happened earlier this year and the unfortunate soul who lost his life did not have bear spray. Of course it is impossible to tell if things would have been different had he had bear spray but I can assure you that the stuff works and if he did have bear spray he would have drastically improved his chances of living to see another day.

So please, for your sake and the sake of the people that care about you buy bear spray if you are going to go camping and make sure that you have it on your person at all times. Also, wear your seat belt.


Stay Safe,

Carl Vouer


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