* No bears were harmed at all that day.
Over the course of the last few years I've found myself in bear country. Not those timid black bear types, I'm talking grizzly types. I spend a lot of time outdoors hiking and fishing. The last thing I want to do is encounter a critter that is a little higher up the food chain than myself without a way to protect myself. I carry a pepper bear repellent on my belt. It's good insurance in avoiding becoming a statistic.
And I have a bit of the hoarder gene that I inherited from my mother. So after I don't need the bear spray any more, I store it away for future use. Because you just never know when it will come in handy.
I keep my 2 bear spray canisters in an overhead compartment in my motorhome. It's the same space that contains things like batteries, binoculars, bungee cords and various other sundry items. Yesterday I needed an extension cord so I could plug a toaster oven outside to cook some atomic buffalo turds. The turds are actually better tasting than they sound. But I digress.
So I reach up to remove the box that is blocking the electrical cord. Since I already mentioned I hoard, the storage space probably contains more junk than it should. Pulling down the box to about chest height caused some of the other items in the space to fall out. Luckily they fell into the box that I was removing. Unluckily the item fell right on to the trigger of the bear spray canister. It was just enough pressure to release about a 1/4 second blast of peppery deterrent. I didn't realize this even happened until I got a lungful of the spray. I began to cough with each inhale. My only salvation was to exit the motorhome and head outside to get some fresh air.
This occurred right around dinner time. We've been grilling and eating dinner al fresco a lot this summer. Vrai was outside making dinner preparations when I hastily exited my abode, while forcefully coughing. She inquired as to what was wrong with me. Summoning what little breath I could manage, I was able to weakly blurt out 'bear spray'.
She thought I was joking. I was still coughing fairly forcefully but the fresh air was helping. I told her No that I had indeed just inhaled an inhalant that is capable of stopping a 600 pound bruin in it's tracks.
So being the curious person that she is, then proceeds to enter the chamber of death to experience it for herself. I've had a few sessions in the gas chamber in the past. While quite uncomfortable, it is manageable on some level. If you don't inhale too deeply you can spend a few prolong seconds in the chamber. Not so much with bear spray.
So in she goes. Nothing like experiencing something for yourself. I get the yeah that was pretty intense response followed by I thought you were making that up. Bear spray is just too serious a subject to joke about. We spend the next 15 minutes going in with our shirts pulled up around our noses anytime we had to go back in to get something we needed for our dinner preps. I was able to stay in long enough to get the overhead fan opened and activated.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. I'm now on the lookout for some sort of guard to put over the bear spray trigger. Dinner was yummy. There was even an amazing sunset that drew a large crowd down to the beach to take photographs.
Bear spray. Don't be caught in the woods without it.
Over the course of the last few years I've found myself in bear country. Not those timid black bear types, I'm talking grizzly types. I spend a lot of time outdoors hiking and fishing. The last thing I want to do is encounter a critter that is a little higher up the food chain than myself without a way to protect myself. I carry a pepper bear repellent on my belt. It's good insurance in avoiding becoming a statistic.
And I have a bit of the hoarder gene that I inherited from my mother. So after I don't need the bear spray any more, I store it away for future use. Because you just never know when it will come in handy.
I keep my 2 bear spray canisters in an overhead compartment in my motorhome. It's the same space that contains things like batteries, binoculars, bungee cords and various other sundry items. Yesterday I needed an extension cord so I could plug a toaster oven outside to cook some atomic buffalo turds. The turds are actually better tasting than they sound. But I digress.
So I reach up to remove the box that is blocking the electrical cord. Since I already mentioned I hoard, the storage space probably contains more junk than it should. Pulling down the box to about chest height caused some of the other items in the space to fall out. Luckily they fell into the box that I was removing. Unluckily the item fell right on to the trigger of the bear spray canister. It was just enough pressure to release about a 1/4 second blast of peppery deterrent. I didn't realize this even happened until I got a lungful of the spray. I began to cough with each inhale. My only salvation was to exit the motorhome and head outside to get some fresh air.
This occurred right around dinner time. We've been grilling and eating dinner al fresco a lot this summer. Vrai was outside making dinner preparations when I hastily exited my abode, while forcefully coughing. She inquired as to what was wrong with me. Summoning what little breath I could manage, I was able to weakly blurt out 'bear spray'.
She thought I was joking. I was still coughing fairly forcefully but the fresh air was helping. I told her No that I had indeed just inhaled an inhalant that is capable of stopping a 600 pound bruin in it's tracks.
So being the curious person that she is, then proceeds to enter the chamber of death to experience it for herself. I've had a few sessions in the gas chamber in the past. While quite uncomfortable, it is manageable on some level. If you don't inhale too deeply you can spend a few prolong seconds in the chamber. Not so much with bear spray.
So in she goes. Nothing like experiencing something for yourself. I get the yeah that was pretty intense response followed by I thought you were making that up. Bear spray is just too serious a subject to joke about. We spend the next 15 minutes going in with our shirts pulled up around our noses anytime we had to go back in to get something we needed for our dinner preps. I was able to stay in long enough to get the overhead fan opened and activated.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. I'm now on the lookout for some sort of guard to put over the bear spray trigger. Dinner was yummy. There was even an amazing sunset that drew a large crowd down to the beach to take photographs.
Bear spray. Don't be caught in the woods without it.
Glad I didn't see that bear spray yesterday! I'd have been skeered away for sure. lol: