I'm gonna do a chunk of the Appalachian trail. This is black bear territory. Gun laws are tricky at best and I'd probably end up in legal trouble if I actually shot a bear. Did some reading on non gun methods for bear deterrence. Looks like bear spray is about 99% effective according to some study from like 1990. Others recommend talking often while hiking so you don't accidentally surprise one. Saw some sites that said if you see a bear that's over 40 feet away that seems like it's not going away, use noise makers. There's a pretty nifty "bear banger pen" which seems like a great option, but it's illegal in the US for some goddamn reason. Then I found this thing which seems good, but you'd have to put the cartridge in the barrel right before using because it'll probably fall out otherwise. Then I thought, why not just use bottle rockets or firecrackers? It would take just as long to activate those. (It probably wouldn't cause a forest fire. The Appalachians aren't as dry as some places.) Some firecrackers are loud as fuck, similar to an actual bõmb. Again this is a secondary action between maintaining low/moderate human noise, not making eye contact, and bear spray. (And if none of that works then try to stab it in the throat while I'm being mauled I guess.)
