Last week I decided to spray just a little of my bear spray to test it to see if it was still functional and charged. I purchased it 1.5 years ago.
My 26 years in Law Enforcement taught me to check my gear. The gear that could save your life needs to function properly.
As a cop we replaced our pepper spray often and gave it a "little" squirt to make sure it was still pressurized and the pepper still smelled strong.
We always did this outside and we sprayed it down wind and just gave it a small spray to test it and let up on the pressurized button so you wouldn't waste pepper spray.
I took off the safety cap and pointed the spray down wind and barely pushed on the pressurized button.
The plunger of the bear spray sucked down immediately and emptied the entire contents of my $57.00 bear spray. I attempted to get the plunger for the spray to get back up but it kept blasting away.
It was an expensive test but I guess if a bear was charging me my life is worth $57.00 and I would want to empty the entire contents on it.
I have already order a new canister.
For those of you that shake your heads and say there are no bears in southern wisconsin...I have had encounters 5 times and all of them have been with baby bears .
The bear spray is also used for aggressive dogs, bulls, and landowners.
I have also been freaked out once by 4 coyotes around me howling at first light.