Bear Spray In Your Pack Is Useless—Trainer's 23-Year Data Proves It

Bear spray advocates love claiming their product deploys faster than a firearm. That talking point gets repeated until it sounds like settled science. It isn't.

Canadian wilderness instructor Dave Evert spent 23 years teaching Bear and Cougar Encounter Courses and developed the Western Canada Wilderness Handgun Course. He trained hundreds of students and clocked bear spray draws in under two seconds, repeatedly and reliably—some hitting one second flat. His conclusion: speed is not about the tool. Speed is about carry position, holster design, and practice.

The word that kills people is *buried*.

A canister stuffed in a pack pocket or clipped to a sternum strap might as well be back at camp. Same goes for a pistol jammed in a bag, or a rifle slung across your back with an empty chamber because someone decided that's "safe." Accessibility beats capability every single time. The best defensive tool in the world is worthless if you can't get to it before the threat gets to you.

Evert ran students through drills with inert training spray—because you cannot practice a fast draw with live capsaicin. He also required two canisters in a cross-draw configuration for redundancy, plus a fixed-blade knife as a last-ditch backup. That is a layered, serious defensive system built by someone who actually thought through what happens when 400 pounds closes distance in under three seconds.

The Glock 20 in 10mm—the pistol most serious backcountry carriers trust—sits in the same speed tier as a proper bear spray holster when both ride on the hip and the user has trained. A rifle or shotgun held at the ready with a chambered round is actually faster than both. The problem is nobody carries a long gun at port arms while cooking breakfast.

The takeaway for every backcountry gun owner is simple: keep it on your body, practice the draw until it's automatic, and reject anyone who tells you to choose between spray and steel. Carry both. Train with both. The bear doesn't care about your opinion on the debate—and neither does physics.