Bear Spray- Accidental Discharge

[mtmiller]

What I'll do is throw it in a covered exterior pocket on the backpack, and attach some cord in case it ever falls out I don't lose it. Wearing it on the waste band is, impo, unnecessary and unsafe, as you find out lol

That's where I put my bullets, it's safer.

 

[RobG]

I read that soapy water made with "No More Tears" shampoo can help wash it out of your eyes. I put a little travel bottle of it in my pack but never have had to try it. Bear spray is really oily stuff.
[edit for clarity]

 

[TOGIE]

An accidental discharge cost me 18 years of child support

if i've learned anything in my years of firearms classes... i thought there were no such things as accidental discharge...

only negligent discharge

 

[RobG]

I put it on my back-pack belt and have never had the safety pop off. I use one of those twisty wire things to attach it to my belt so it doesn't fall off when I take off my pack. Bear attacks supposedly happen extremely fast so I don't want to be fumbling around trying to find my bearspray.

 

[MTLabrador]

I read that soapy water made with "No More Tears" shampoo can help wash it out of your eyes. I put a little travel bottle of it in my pack but never have had to try. It's really oily stuff.

It helps a lot, at least baby shampoo does.

 

[HandgunHunter]

I put a wrap of electrical tape of the safety. I have no doubts that If I need it the tape won’t slow me down.....

same thing we did with frags in the grunts..

 

[TheNorthStar]

A State Trooper called me one day as she was responding to a " two neighbors shooting at each other" complaint. I jumped in with her. As we were flying down the road at a scary speed, her OC discharged ! Opening the windows didn't help much. Minutes later we arrived at the scene. I bailed out, and drew on a whacked out moron who was pointing a Remington Model 742 30-06 at us, tears still streaming down my cheeks ! Thankfully, he complied with my orders. Having been sprayed at training (if you carry OC, you have to take a hit with it), I knew what to expect. Nasty stuff !!

I served as a reserve officer for a couple years about a decade ago. Foolishly wanting to experience the full monty, I took my training blast with my eyes and mouth wide open.

I've made some serious mistakes in my life.

 

[NvWarren]

My wife sprayed herself once. Water didn't help much. The oil in the spray doesn't wash off easy. She had to use soap and water and used some milk to neutralize it. I always have some soap. Spraying myself would be about as good of an excuse to use it as I can think of.

 

[ida homer]

An accidental discharge cost me 18 years of child support

You gotta risk it, to get the biscuit.

 

[TomTom8989]

You bet. Here’s a pic.
View attachment 150392

Do you mind sharing the brand of this? I like the look and functionality of this!

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Do you mind sharing the brand of this? I like the look and functionality of this!

Mystery Ranch quick draw bino harness with the mystery ranch bear spray holster.

 

[Tradewind]

Last season I was carrying bear spray on my waist belt and at some point while I was bushwhacking the safety clip must have popped off without me knowing. Some time after I dropped my hat and bent over to pick it up and pushed on the top of the bear spray hitting my brother with a pretty good shot to the leg. Fortunately that was the extent of it but it could have been a lot worse. He had a spare pair of pants back at camp but when he washed the pants that were sprayed and tried hunting in them again his leg was burning pretty good and he had to trash them. This year I was thinking about using one of the Mystery Ranch Bear Spray holsters on my bino harness but still think there would be the issue of the safety clip getting caught on something and popping off again. Has this ever happened to anyone or does anyone have any suggestions on ways to secure the clip a little better without defeating the purpose of carrying it and having it easy/ready to use.

On a side note if I did end up hitting my brother in the face is your best bet hopefully finding a creek or something to try to wash your eyes out and that's really all you can do?

3 solutions. I asked that question a while back. Dr. Bronner's castle soap was the best solution.
#2 was facial cold cream. #3 was whole milk

 

[dgc1963]

I served as a reserve officer for a couple years about a decade ago. Foolishly wanting to experience the full monty, I took my training blast with my eyes and mouth wide open.

I've made some serious mistakes in my life.

WOW dude what the heck were you smoking to want to do that

 

[TheNorthStar]

WOW dude what the heck were you smoking to want to do that

That which does not kill me and so on and so forth...

Volunteered to ride the taser a couple weeks later too. Alligator clips on the training cartridge, no darts.

 

[TomTom8989]

Mystery Ranch quick draw bino harness with the mystery ranch bear spray holster.

Thanks.

 

[antelopedundee]

My wife sprayed herself once. Water didn't help much. The oil in the spray doesn't wash off easy. She had to use soap and water and used some milk to neutralize it. I always have some soap. Spraying myself would be about as good of an excuse to use it as I can think of.

Since the ingredient in bear spray is probably basic in nature maybe something like vinegar [a weak solution of acetic acid] might help to wash the stuff from your clothes or skin.

Gotta wonder how a sprayed bear deals with it over time.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Keep the trigger safety on and use a holster. Accidental pepper spray exposure is better than accidental firearm discharge. Wash exposed skin with soap and water repeatedly. Like 30 times. Force eyes open, will help facilitate tear production. OC carrier is also something that makes a difference. Think most bear spray is water-based and lower capsaicinoid % than human pepper spray. Some human sprays are oil-based which makes a noticeable difference in penetration into pores/mucous membranes.

 

[TheNorthStar]

Since the ingredient in bear spray is probably basic in nature maybe something like vinegar [a weak solution of acetic acid] might help to wash the stuff from your clothes or skin.

Gotta wonder how a sprayed bear deals with it over time.

Fox Labs® | Sudecon® Decontamination Wipes |

For over 25 years, Fox Labs® has been the world leader in protection products like pepper spray and other tactical defense products. We invite you to explore our complete collection and compare our products to our competitors — we believe the choice is clear.

foxlabs.com

 

[shines@times]

I noted the tips about baby shampoo with interest. I've often wondered if food grade mineral oil, olive oil or some similar product might produce quicker dilution and flushing of oily pepper spray products than does water. Not being a father, baby shampoo hadn't occurred to me--it seems a more practical solution.

I worked in Glacier National Park the summer of 1999 as a member of the historical preservation crew. Mostly, I worked on back-country structures such as Sperry Chalet and several fire lookouts. Late in the season, while a coworker and I were near finishing some of the season's tasks at Swiftcurrent Peak, a visitor to the lookout accidentally discharged bear spray directly into his own face while preparing his backpack for the return trip to the trailhead at Many Glacier (he had the spray canister in one of those mesh-type side pouches).

My coworker and I eased the blinded hiker to the floor of the lookout's stoop and began flushing his eyes with water from the hiker's own bottle. While advising him to keep his eyes open as much as possible, we also tried to reassure the poor guy that the pain would eventually abate. By the time that his pain was easing, we had also contributed the full five gallon contents of one of our jugs of potable water to the process. It seems, in my memory of an event 21 years ago, that the visitor hung around another hour or a bit more before he hit the trail again, his eyes still tearing significantly.

I was concerned for the man's safety hiking that trail alone in such a compromised condition. As soon as the end of my shift had neared enough that I suffered no pangs of guilt, I shouldered my own pack and took off in pursuit. I overtook the puffy-eyed and runny-nosed hiker descending the switchbacks ESE of Bullhead Lake and accompanied him the balance of the hike down to Many Galcier and the same parking lot where I had left my own vehicle eight days before.

As it turns out, the guy was a research physicist. We engaged in a very interesting conversation about particle beam weapons and antimatter, interspersed with hunt talk, through the rest of the route. One of the more memorable incidents of a very entertaining summer, for which I also received pay!

 

[antelopedundee]

I noted the tips about baby shampoo with interest. I've often wondered if food grade mineral oil, olive oil or some similar product might produce quicker dilution and flushing of oily pepper spray products than does water. Not being a father, baby shampoo hadn't occurred to me--it seems a more practical solution.

I worked in Glacier National Park the summer of 1999 as a member of the historical preservation crew. Mostly, I worked on back-country structures such as Sperry Chalet and several fire lookouts. Late in the season, while a coworker and I were near finishing some of the season's tasks at Swiftcurrent Peak, a visitor to the lookout accidentally discharged bear spray directly into his own face while preparing his backpack for the return trip to the trailhead at Many Glacier (he had the spray canister in one of those mesh-type side pouches).

My coworker and I eased the blinded hiker to the floor of the lookout's stoop and began flushing his eyes with water from the hiker's own bottle. While advising him to keep his eyes open as much as possible, we also tried to reassure the poor guy that the pain would eventually abate. By the time that his pain was easing, we had also contributed the full five gallon contents of one of our jugs of potable water to the process. It seems, in my memory of an event 21 years ago, that the visitor hung around another hour or a bit more before he hit the trail again, his eyes still tearing significantly.

I was concerned for the man's safety hiking that trail alone in such a compromised condition. As soon as the end of my shift had neared enough that I suffered no pangs of guilt, I shouldered my own pack and took off in pursuit. I overtook the puffy-eyed and runny-nosed hiker descending the switchbacks ESE of Bullhead Lake and accompanied him the balance of the hike down to Many Galcier and the same parking lot where I had left my own vehicle eight days before.

As it turns out, the guy was a research physicist. We engaged in a very interesting conversation about particle beam weapons and antimatter, interspersed with hunt talk, through the rest of the route. One of the more memorable incidents of a very entertaining summer, for which I also received pay!

Depending upon where one gets his drinking water from, most tap water is lightly basic pH around 8 IIRC to prevent corrosion of home plumbing. IMO it would be mostly useless for removing bear spray. Something mildly acidic might assist in rendering it more water soluble. Also if there is some kind of oil in the stuff then that doesn't help.
A place I used to work at used a basic aromatic amine type compound that is a skin irritant. A number of people got sensitized to it. Generally it was used in a salt for. If they had any on them and took a shower the basic water ended up releasing enough of the free base to cause some people problems.

I assume the guy eventually recovered with no permanent damage.