[pct-l] Canisters, Helmets and Seat Belts

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

I agree with Jim and Carl.  I really don't care if you don't want to wear 
your seatbelt or motorcycle helmet as long as the consequences of your 
actions don't cause my taxes or insurance premiums to go up in the event you 
have an accident with claims that would have otherwise been reduced.

As for canisters, a number of people have made the argument that because 
they have successfully camped any number of nights without any bear 
interactions, that their bear deterence methods must be working and they 
will continue to use the same methods in the future.  Well, if I take 10 
trips in my car without my seat belt and do not get into any accidents, does 
that really mean I should continue to drive without my seatbelt if my goal 
is to really reduce injury to myself in the case  of an accident?

In the case of a bear, during the one failure, unfortunately it's not you 
that must deal with the worst of the consequences, it's the bear that 
becomes habituated and must eventually be relocated (only to bother someone 
else, somewhere else) or destroyed.  Remember, the goal here is to not only 
protect your food, but to protect the bear.

As for the wrist rockets, who is going to stay away all night to chase the 
bear away?  They might work while you are awake but are probably not worth 
it given that much bear activity probably (please correct me if I'm wrong, 
here) occurs at night.  And not everyone bear bags where they sleep and 
might not wake up even if the bear did make a bunch of noise.

Ah well.  I wish I had the perfect solution for everyone.  I'm planning a 
PCT hike (2003?) and may have to think about some of this stuff.  Right now, 
on the east coast, bear bagging, when done properly, is still enough to keep 
the bears from getting your food.  But, I'm really disappointed to read 
about the failures of the Ursack Ultra.

Mara

>From: "Jim Mayer" <jmayer@rochester.rr.com>
>Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 00:09:51 -0400
>
>Hi Monty,
>
>I share your frustration with "one size fits all" regulations, but I also
>disagree with your reasoning.  ...

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