My New Best Friend

I know many of you will be happy to know that I now have a new best friend. My best friend is not a good listener, and is of few words. I even had to pay my best friend $40.00 to agree to be seen with me. I figure $40.00 is a small price to pay if my best friend has to save my life or the lives of any of my family members, so I willingly forked over the cash. As you've probably guessed, my new best friend isn't even human. It's Counter Assault Bear Deterrent!

During this time of year in Alaska, the locals swear by bear spray. I'm not yet convinced that we actually need it, but when it comes to bears and the safety of my family, I'm not going to be a nay-sayer. Before we go on a hike or even a walk in the neighborhood now, we grab the bear spray. We haven't seen a bear yet, but we did see three moose just off the trail we went hiking on this morning. We didn't bother them, they didn't bother us and we all went on our way.

Basically bear spray is a very strong pepper spray. Recent studies claim the spray is 98% effective against bear attacks. In theory, the spray has a range of 32 ft. and the canister can be emptied in 9.2 seconds. That's pretty crazy! I do admit, because I'm not convinced I will actually have a close encounter with a bear, I do feel silly carrying the spray while I'm on my walk. I figure many women carry pepper spray for other reasons, so I'm no better or worse.