Let my experience with BEAR SPRAY be a lesson to everyone...
Although I'm embarrassed and ashamed to admit this, I'm posting about my experience in order to spare others the pain and inconvenience caused by my stupidity...
We live in close proximity to both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, hence we spend most of our camping days out there. As most of you know, grizzly bears are found in good numbers here so we ALWAYS carry our Bear Spray in the backcountry. For the past year, we have kept our bear spray in our new pickup with no thought as to the consequences of an unintended discharge in the cab (we kept it in it's holster on the dashboard). Last week, it got up to 93F on one day. I noticed a huge "bullseye" fracture on my windshield and thought someone hurled a beer bottle at it. When I opened the drivers side door, I immediately got a lungful of an irritant that burned my lungs. It was then that I realized that the heat had caused the bear spray canister to explode, raining pieces and parts of the can and it's holster throughout the cab. The active ingredients had pooled on the dashboard but the miniscule droplets that were invisible coated everything inside. My insurance had me get the cab detailed to remove the irritants as best possible. They charged $250 for the detail because they were getting burned in the process and actually had to wear respirators to avoid inhaling the droplets stirred up by the shampooing machine. I had to get the windshield replaced, and there is still damage to the dashboard that will have to be repaired. As much as they scrubbed the interior, there will probably always be remnants of spray that remain. I know this because i have rubbed my face, nose, and eyes, and immediately the burning starts.
As much of a pain in the butt as this unfortunate incident has been, how much worse would it have been if the spray had deployed while I was driving on the interstate at 75 mph? There is no way I would have been able to maintain control of the truck if that had happened, as the pain and discomfort is immediate and intense. Talking to my coworkers has turned up similar stories, so this was not an isolated occurrence. I sure would hate to be a bear who got a faceful of this stuff. People tell me that there are boxes available that are designed to prevent this kind of thing from happening. I'll be sure to pick one up when I purchase a new can of bear spray here soon.
We live in close proximity to both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, hence we spend most of our camping days out there. As most of you know, grizzly bears are found in good numbers here so we ALWAYS carry our Bear Spray in the backcountry. For the past year, we have kept our bear spray in our new pickup with no thought as to the consequences of an unintended discharge in the cab (we kept it in it's holster on the dashboard). Last week, it got up to 93F on one day. I noticed a huge "bullseye" fracture on my windshield and thought someone hurled a beer bottle at it. When I opened the drivers side door, I immediately got a lungful of an irritant that burned my lungs. It was then that I realized that the heat had caused the bear spray canister to explode, raining pieces and parts of the can and it's holster throughout the cab. The active ingredients had pooled on the dashboard but the miniscule droplets that were invisible coated everything inside. My insurance had me get the cab detailed to remove the irritants as best possible. They charged $250 for the detail because they were getting burned in the process and actually had to wear respirators to avoid inhaling the droplets stirred up by the shampooing machine. I had to get the windshield replaced, and there is still damage to the dashboard that will have to be repaired. As much as they scrubbed the interior, there will probably always be remnants of spray that remain. I know this because i have rubbed my face, nose, and eyes, and immediately the burning starts.
As much of a pain in the butt as this unfortunate incident has been, how much worse would it have been if the spray had deployed while I was driving on the interstate at 75 mph? There is no way I would have been able to maintain control of the truck if that had happened, as the pain and discomfort is immediate and intense. Talking to my coworkers has turned up similar stories, so this was not an isolated occurrence. I sure would hate to be a bear who got a faceful of this stuff. People tell me that there are boxes available that are designed to prevent this kind of thing from happening. I'll be sure to pick one up when I purchase a new can of bear spray here soon.
