January 18, 2010

An iPhone App for Bears is Backwards Thinking

I think I need a new "gadgets in the woods" category.

Instead of knowing anything about bears, just count on your iPhone to protect you! (Only it would not, really, as the app's inventor admits.)

In its own way, this is about as dumb as the people who want to turn every discussion of bears into a discussion of which large-caliber firearm is best to carry.

While I do know of cases where a large-caliber firearm was needed, the average hiker, etc., is best off when equipped with bear spray.

Bear spray is easy to use, and you do not have to worry about bullet placement. Nor do you have to feel guilty about wounding or killing a bear toward whom you otherwise bear no malice.

And you don't have to be looking at a little screen or keypad or at the mercy of batteries.

The more gadgets you have, probably the less aware you are.

(Hat tip to Tamara. If you really want to ramp up your bear-anxiety levels, visit Bear Attack News.)

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