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Scare A Bear? There's An App For That
New Jersey lawyer develops iPhone substitution for bear bells and air horns
The days of traveling in bear country with bells and air horns may be over—if you've got an iPhone. New Jersey lawyer and inventor Alex Tiger (great name, guy!) developed the “Scare Bear Trail Companion” app as a 99-cent digital solution to frighten bears on the trail. Users can choose between the sound of an airhorn, bear bells, hands clapping, or rocks shaking in a tin can, which they activate by shaking the iPhone.The developer hopes people choose his all-in-one app when they head to bear hotspots like Aspen for hiking this summer.
“I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you could just have this on your iPhone instead of people having to buy all this stuff,’” Tiger, a 38-year-old lawyer and former Vail Resorts seasonal employee, recalled recently.There are a couple problems: While Tiger recorded the actual sounds of each noisemaker in a studio to maximize realism, they can only play as loud as the iPhone's external speaker, which means the noise doesn't reach the decibel levels of making the noises yourself. For now, forest service officials recommend you continue making your own noises.
Also, what happens when you run out of batteries? Guess you could always take a cue from the Vermont woman who chucked her iPhone at a bear.
—Ted Alvarez
iPhone app targets bear hazing (Aspen Daily News) via The Goat
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READERS COMMENTS
Watch the video on Staying Safe in Bear Country, which is very good info and made by Canadians--they have bears there, you know! Nice bear photos of all colours and sizes, and practical advise. Don't be a primadonna and try to outwit the bears; they bite, you know! Noisy hikers may dissuade bears from investigating closely. Be safe!
Posted: Jan 27, 2010 Howard in the North Cascades
Clever...I was just at Yosemite and the forest service recommended bear bells and air horns. I have a turkey call on my iphone and it works great for hunting, plenty loud enough...
Posted: Jan 23, 2010 Sumner
Do you know what you call a lawyer trying to scare a bear with an Iphone app? Lunch
Posted: Jan 23, 2010 Chuck Cantrell
What is this? A lawyer with a sense of humor? And who does he sue when BackPacker Mag tests it in the field and the App comes in second? nyrefugee2000@Y!
Posted: Jan 22, 2010 Ric
12 guage with 00 buck would definately do the trick! Although I'm much more likely to have a 1911 .45 on me while backpacking, more for protection from humans rather than bear...
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 JD
I don't like clapping, bells, or yelling "ho bear". I don't think I would like the app either. However, if you get the app, there are these birdwatcher pocket speakers they plug into their i-phones, pods and p-whatevers. They would be a nice match for this app.
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 backwoods
How about a 12 gage shot gun loaded with OO buck shot. It
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 charlie
The bears may die of laughter. Your hiking buddies most assuredly will.
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 Mike
Geez, only in America.....
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 Josh
Does it also have a Pocket Knife App to cut your way out of the bears stomach?
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 Norm
This is ridiculous. In a platform where people actually take advice from writers, you have THIS??? Really???
Posted: Jan 21, 2010 Ralph
Make sure your hiking partner has the phone and the app. It will give you a running start!
Posted: Jan 19, 2010 Mark A. Griffin
What happened to just throwing your phone at the bear? =P
Posted: Jan 18, 2010 Pete J.
Wait bear dont attack me i need to get mu phone on and find the ap so I can scare you away.
LOL
Posted: Jan 18, 2010 Kevin
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