>>2262910We have this fucking "bear deterrent" thread twice a week.
Foremost and above all, people worry way the fuck too much about bears and other "ostensibly dangerous wild animals". You're hundreds (maybe even thousands) of times more likely to get fucked up by hitting a deer or moose on the drive to the trailhead than you are from encountering a bear.
There's tons of data that says bear spray works as a deterrent most of the time. There's also tons of data that says guns are generally a "worse experience" for both man and bear (in that you're killing when you probably only need to be warning) most of the time. There's always going to be anecdotal counter examples in either direction.
Either one is just an insurance policy. The whole discussion is about risk tolerance.
Bear spray is like an inexpensive one-time insurance policy that covers about 90% of accidents.
A gun is by comparison, a very expensive insurance policy, with a high barrier to entry (you must train in order for this policy to be effective), and some recurring fees (the kinds of guns that are going to stop us are much heavier to carry than spray), but it covers 99% of accidents.
You have to understand your own risk tolerance. But, if you don't own a car with a 5-star safety rating, with the highest class insurance coverage you can afford, but you bag on spray because it's "not as sure thing as a gun", then you're a brainlet who doesn't understand risk.
