Torch advice

[harrypalmer]

I have a set of white xmas tree lights that run off 3 AA batteries and they are perfect in my old Vango Force Ten Mk5, you get three or four weekends of light from the 3 batteries.

[Mortblanc]

I was confronted with the need for a new "torch", as you call them, a few weeks back. My trusty Ray-o-Vac Roughneck AAA light lost control of its switch and stuck permanently in the on position, then fell apart when I attempted to fix it.

I bought that light in 1994 and it had endured thousands of miles of travel, hiked the Appellation Trail, and provided emergency lighting at hundreds of reenactment camps and modern camps for its 20 year life.

Needless to say, they do not make the same model any more.

Being slightly old school I replaced it with a D-cell Maglite rather than some LED gizmo. I have several of the LED lights and I consider none of them rugged enough, at a reasonable price point, to do the job or provide the steady light that I need.

Additionally, the Maglite is still the world standard for "whooping upside the head" use. I found that very comforting while camping with the bears this past weekend. They tend to poke their noses against the tent sides and it is pretty easy to crack them on the snout, but it takes a good light to do it.

I wrapped a strip of luminous tape around the barrel to aid finding it in the dark.

[harrypalmer]

You hit a bear on the nose with a flashlight? WOW, your a brave man. You had a firearm as well I hope, that could keep you off the Darwin awards list when the peed off bear decides to rip your head off.

[Mortblanc]

Well yea there was a firearm involved but I was in an area where shooting would be a bit of a hazard for those around me while a bear squealing and running through the woods with a bloody nose would just be conversation for the next night's campfire.

All this is done through the tent wall and bears are not the brightest critters in the world and sometimes fail to make the connection between the whack on the nose and the presence of a mere human inside the tent.

Of course every year someone gets dragged out of their tent sleeping bag and all, carted off to the woods and consumed like a down wrapped Slim Jim, but that is because they were equipped with a dinky little LED light and not a good sturdy light capable of properly denting a bear's skull.

You guys don't have to deal with bears, coyotes, panthers and other assorted predators. You just get to where you deal with them and carry on. We had two out of the three with us this weekend. No mountain lions were available but you really never know. They like to hide and jump out on your back, so you do not know they are there until they sink their teeth into the back of your neck.

The bears and coyotes were thick. It is getting to be that way all over the eastern U.S. I camped in the same area back in 2001 and neither animal was common. This year they were everywhere. The little wolves had our camp surrounded for most of the weekend and made the night sounds a real chorus or howls.

[Carnebwen]

for now I picked up 3 torches from millits that were old stock and reduced to about £2.50 each. Single LED, one standard battery. Last about 3 hours apparently. Ideal for stuffing in a coat pocket.

Ill but something decent in the sale on hennie or something later in the year.

[Mortblanc]

(27 October 2016, 19:17)harrypalmer Wrote: You hit a bear on the nose with a flashlight? WOW, your a brave man. You had a firearm as well I hope, that could keep you off the Darwin awards list when the peed off bear decides to rip your head off.

I must add here that I did not hit a bear in the snout with my Maglite.

Not this trip anyway.

It is one of those things that can happen and on occasion does happen and you plan around the fact that eventually you will have a close encounter with bears if you camp in their habitat.

I did smack one somewhere in the shout region with a hiking boot once, about 15 years ago up in our eastern mountains. That was also done through the tent wall.

That same year, in the region I was visiting, a less than alert camper had a mess of Barbeque ribs slathered in sauce, which he got all over his clothes, then climbed into his hammock for a nap.

Two of the local bears shared him as an afternoon snack.

[CharlesHarris]

I live in bear country, and the majority of the time I am on the bear's side, because people do not appreciate that they are wild animals and therefore do stupid things. Paramount is keeping food secured in an airtight, odor tight, rugged container, and hoisted up in a tree away from your camp. In bear country the cooking and eating area must be well separated from the sleeping area. You do not keep snacks in the tent which you sleep in.

The biggest offenders are city people who think that bears are cute, and they want to feed them and get too close to take pictures. The bears become conditioned to city people driving small cars, carrying cameras and talking baby-talk to them as a source of food. They loose their natural fear of humans and become a nuisance.

Such people who claim to "love" the animals are culpable in their death, because nuisance bears will be tagged, removed to a remote area, and be released, and if they return again they will be killed. Life isn't fair.

I "love" the bears by yelling loudly and cursing at them, shooting at them with rubber buckshot from my 12-bore if they come inside the tree line of my property, and I send the dogs after them to chase, which they absolutely LOVE doing! I instill a proper fear of humans into them, and try to impress upon my part-time vacationing neighbors not to leave bird and pet food outside, and to keep garbage cans, etc. secured inside the garage until trash day. If cans must be left outside, the n they are liberally sprayed with MACE chemical protective spray (which is legal here) to discourage the bears, racoons and other critters.

Yes, I LOVE watching the bears, from a discreet distance, with a telephoto lens. I smile when he reacts to my banging the metal trash can lid with a hammer. He has learned his lesson well. Long Live The Bear!
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm

[CharlesHarris]

P.S. - you don't need a large dog to chase the bear. Indeed a large, highly aggressive dog such as a Doberman may induce the bear to stand and fight instead of just wandering off.

Best are loud howling hounds, black & tans, or Plotts are widely used here for bear hunting, often encouraged by an energetic rat terrier, or Jack Russell or two as the dog team cheer leaders who run circles around the bear, while nipping happily.

Border collies are especially good at defending their yard from the bear.

[Mortblanc]

We also have these things hanging around the suburbs of some areas.

http://www.wpbf.com/article/biologists-c...ly/7665754

[Mortblanc]

I really do not mind the bears and panthers. They were here long before the towns and cities were built and roamed the forests with all the other hunters and predators.

You deal with them and go on with your outdoor activities.

The coyotes get to me though. They are invasive, have no control species in the eastern U.S. and have almost wiped out much of the small game in my region.