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The easiest way to explore RV-friendly National Park campgrounds.
Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.
Our app is packed with RVing- specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 national parks.
You’ll also find stories about RVing in the parks, tips helpful if you’ve just recently become an RVer, and useful planning suggestions.
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The EPA does not regulate or offer recommendations on bear spray duration or bear spray distance. The EPA only regulates the contents of bear spray. The difference in spray distance and duration between various brands of bear spray is negligable. Other than buying a can of EPA registered bear spray, there are three primary issues for hikers. One, keep bear spray in a belt holster or chest harness where it can be reached quickly. Two, practice getting your bear spray out quickly. If you've never practiced, it's silly to think everything will go smoothly when you're facing a charging grizzly. Three, use both hands when firing bear spray. If you only use one hand, the "recoil" from the propellent will cause the can to pivot up and you'll be spraying at the tree tops and the sun.
Wise advice, Risingwolf. I had a canister that had expired and had never tried firing one. I was surprised at the recoil it had and did for a moment try to hit the sun.
I was also surprised when, on an almost windless day, I got a dose of spray myself. Wind direction might be something to consider if you have time before the bear reaches you.
But I'm not sure I'd be thinking clearly enough to consider wind direction along with everything else I'd need to be considering at the time. So if I do get sprayed and live to tell the story, I'll at least be able to wash my face before I start cleaning up the other end of me.
According to NPS website on Yosemite, bear spray and pepper spray is not allowed in Yosemite. Check out this link
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/scarebears.htm
Hmmmm. Very interesting SierraSharon. Very interesting.
bear spray and pepper spray is not allowed in Yosemite
Thats so funny. Guns are allowed but not bear spray. Now who came up with that logic?
Seems logical to do an article on "What to look for when shopping for a gun for your next National Park adventure." In the Yellowstone ecosystem, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team uses 12-gauge pump action shotguns loaded with slugs. And so on. It seems to me the decision on whether to rely on a firearm or bear spray is up to the individual, just as we choose whether to drive a Volvo or a Volkswagen, a little car or a giant SUV.
I'd add that that all or some airlines prohibit bear spray. When we were departing Kalispell, MT after visiting Glacier National Park, Delta Airlines personnel asked if we had bear spray in our checked bags. When we said we did, they seized it. They argued that the FAA prohibits bear spray from all luggage, checked or carryon.
The weapons ban was instituted during the Reagan administration. Exceptions are made by park superintendents, and bear spray (and not personal defense spray) is allowed in some places with grizzly bear populations such as Yellowstone, Glacier, and Denali. The weapons ban itself covers a lot of stuff, including slingshots. I wanted to carry one with plastic ammo to hit bears, but that's not OK.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/2.4
What allows guns is a specific law slipped into a consumer credit card protection bill. That specifically references firearms but no other weapons.
The reason behind the FAA rule that no bear spray may be carried aboard aircraft is simple.
Bear spray is highly pressurized. Some aircraft and their baggage compartments are not. Neither are some baggage compartments on larger aircraft where the passenger cabin is pressurized.
It doesn't take much to imagine what might happen if a bear spray cannister exploded in flight.