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Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/8261
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

<p>So <a href="http://www.mec.ca/product/4007-146/tru-flare-pen-launcher-kit/?q=bear%2Bbangers" rel="noreferrer">pen launcher bear bangers</a> have apparently been around for quite a while, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNh-KyndVOk" rel="noreferrer">training video</a> for Truflare looks like something from out of the 90's, but they don't appear to be very popular, and I don't hear many people recommending them as an alternative to bear spray, despite the fact that they're much cheaper than bearspray.</p>

<p><sup>The smaller flare cartridges below are classic red signal flares, the larger cartridges are the bear bangers, which have a delayed explosive charge that makes a <em>really</em> loud bang.</sup></p>

<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/UxiHd.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>I'm familiar with bear bangers that you fire from a shotgun, but those are different, they're actually a large rubber wad that you shoot the bear with, so the bang is the impact the shot makes when it hits the bear. These pen launcher bear bangers get shot in the air, so the bang is the noise from the explosion. </p>

<p>Aside from being a lot smaller and lighter (and cheaper), these seem to me like they could potentially be a lot more effective than bear spray, especially considering you could choose to aim the banger <em>at</em> the bear in desperate situations, and it would be effective from a greater range, and could be deployed against more than one bear at a time. </p>

<p>How effective are bear bangers compared to bear spray? </p>