If you are reading this than you most likely have rented a bear spray from us and were referred to this page on your order confirmation. Kudos to you for being proactive and taking the time to learn the proper use of bear spray. We promise to keep this brief so that you can get on with enjoying our beautiful region. There is so much good information that is already online that we are going to refer you to a few of these documents/videos. Specifically information that has been published by either the National Park Service, Bear Aware, or other sites we would consider to be the subject matter expert on bears. We would recommend you read/watch, at a minimum, the links we have provided under “The Essentials” section listed below. If you want more information we have additional resources for you to check out listed under the “More Information” section. Let’s get started…
Using Bear Spray…The Essentials
Before you get started with the links below it is important to note that bear spray is a deterrent and not a repellant. You do not spay it on yourself, as you would mosquito repellant, before you head out into bear country. Bear spray is a deterrent that, in most cases, will be returned to us completely unused. Now that we have that out of the way, please review the following videos and documents.
First and foremost, we use UDAP “Pepper Power” Bear Deterrent. The instructions that are provided by the manufacturer are location on each canister and we strongly recommend that you read that. You can also read/review the canister label by clicking here.
Become Bear Aware – Video (2 minutes 28 seconds)
What You Should Know About Bear Spray – PDF Document (2 page brochure)
How to Use Bear Spray – Video (30 seconds)
Bear Spray Demonstration – Video (1 minute 30 seconds)
Please do yourself a favor and click all of the links above and read/watch everything. It should take less than 10 minutes and the information is invaluable.
Using Bear Spray…More Information
If you want even more information or have a little more time to dive deeper into our bears, bear spay, and other related matters, then we recommend checking out the following links:
National Park Service – Black Bears (website)
Bearwise.org – A great resource about existing responsibly with bears (website)
Black Bears in Gatlinburg (website)
Remember to be safe and be bear aware!