Motion Sensors for bears

[Rubiclone]

So im pretty new to the forum, been creeping around for a bit, working on building an 80 series for a trip up to Alaska. Ive been searching for things on bear spray, and it will definately be something i will carry. However, i was thinking , i will have flood lights mounted on my roof rack for camp conveniance.

Anyone ever heard of hooking up a motion sensor to your rack lights so that when a bear approaches the camp it turns the lights on?

I would also wire in a switch so that the lights wouldnt go on when i was camping with others in a camp ground... this is more for a back woods idea.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[evldave]

Sounds like a good idea...one thing to watch for is motion sensors draw current continuously, so you would need to research how much that draw is so you don't wear down your battery.

 

[zukrider]

agree with above, but it should not be much draw. and you should be able to find 12v motions pretty easy. look at led stuff. even for home use, led is all 12v supplied from a transformer that is fed 110v.

i think that this is a very unique idea.

good luck

 

[matt s]

Cool idea...

Ummm it won't be dark.

Bears + Alaska = summer

summer + Alaska = sun stays up pretty much all night.


I am overstating this somewhat, but unless you are on the tail ends of the season you really should not need any lights.

 

[NuggetHoarder]

Bear spray will just piss them off. For Alaska, you need a minimum 44mag revolver and/or a 12ga shotgun with slugs.

Bang some pots and pans when you see a bear in the distance, and they should leave. Only kill a bear as a last resort. It would be very sad to have to kill a bear but better them than you.

You say you are traveling to Alaska. You can carry a 12ga shotgun across Canada for $25 each way. Handguns are not allowed. You can also ship your guns to yourself using Alaska Airlines freight if you want a handgun instead of a shotgun.

You also need to adhere to bear safe cooking and food storage procedures to prevent bears from being attracted to your camp. This is probably the most important thing about keeping bears away -- don't attract them in the first place!

You can also build your own bear fence or buy one pre-made...

• UDAP Bear Shock Fence 27'x27' 2 D battery amazon $215

In addition to wiring an infrared detector to your rack lights, consider using the MURS radio service to alert you to animals crossing into your perimeter. This works for quite a long distance depending on terrain. I don't use this for bears, I use it to make sure no humans are breaking into my rig but I guess it would for bears too...

• MURS Infrared detector drivewayalarmproducts.com $120
• MURS handheld radio receiver drivewayalarmproducts.com $90

If you are really paranoid about bears, then you should cook and eat at a different camp than where you sleep. They should be about a mile apart or more. It's a pain in the butt to do it, but for the truly paranoid, having separate camps will reduce bears' attraction to you. Some people stop every day around 5pm and cook their dinner and eat, then they move on at least a mile or two to their final camp and set up for the night. I don't have that much discipline, but I do keep an extremely clean camp and I use bear safe containers.

Have a great time in Alaska, I'll be driving up the Alcan in June myself.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Wireless Driveway Alert System....

.

 

[Terrainist]

Don't know if you have Costco in Canada, but they had some nifty battery powered LED motion detecting lights a couple weeks ago. They were sweet.

One thing about the motion detecting stuff, the wind/breeze makes them go nuts sometimes. A leaf skitters by, it goes on. A branch moves, it goes on. Etc.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Cool idea...

Ummm it won't be dark.

Bears + Alaska = summer

summer + Alaska = sun stays up pretty much all night.


I am overstating this somewhat, but unless you are on the tail ends of the season you really should not need any lights.

Just what I was thinking. I think you are being a little paranoid about the bear issue. If you keep a clean camp you shouldn't have any problems. My grandfather mined gold in the interior from the mid 60's to the mid 80's, always carried a 30-06 for the bears and claim jumpers. Never had any problems with the bears.

 

[mrlocksmith]

I do a lot of CCTV work and in the SF Bay Area we have a a few moth species that are attracted to IR spectrum that is used for CCTV illumination. They can set off your motion sensor and be a real annoyance. There are "pet immune" sensors that might solve your problem.

There are RF motion sensors but they will sense on any type motion including trees moving in the wind.

Mark

 

[Rubiclone]

thanks for all the info guys, yeah i know it might be a little paranoid but i figured it would be a cool thing to do, even just to figure something out that would work would be fun to try. Also, i would carry a shot gun with me but i dont have my gun license. maybe i should get that. i mean i can shoot, but just never got my license. also, dont really want to kill a bear so i figured scaring them off with the light would work. ill have to see once i got it rigged up. all i really need to do is tear appart the sensor and using the voltage that it sends to the led light to trigger a relay which can then turn on my lights on the roof rack.

the current draw is a good thing, ill have to keep that in mind, however i will have three batteries in the landcruiser so i shouldnt have to worry too much about running out of power.

Yes we have costco up in canada ill have a look around there.

 

[Sawyer]

Contact SARJeepster on here. He had a pretty cool set up with all the lights on his rig being operated by remote control.... Like a car alarm..... Might be better than ir sensor, etc. that way you can just hit the button when you hear a noise and feel the need...... the other cheap trick is fishing line and bells..... makes a nice trip wire set up....

But I doubt you will have bear problems...

There is also the Pheonix Marker system. I believe they even make a trip wire solution that you can us visible markers with.... Ie flashing lights.....

 

[Rando]

I am also headed up to the Arctic this summer for a couple of months and have been doing some investigating into bear issues.

Bear spray will just piss them off. For Alaska, you need a minimum 44mag revolver and/or a 12ga shotgun with slugs.

I don't think this is true. Being a nerd I looked for some actual studies of the effectiveness of pepper spray, and it appears that it is an excellent deterent:

Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska

ABSTRACT We present a comprehensive look at a sample of bear spray incidents that occurred in Alaska, USA, from 1985 to 2006. We
analyzed 83 bear spray incidents involving brown bears (Ursus arctos; 61 cases, 74%), black bears (Ursus americanus; 20 cases, 24%), and polar
bears (Ursus maritimus; 2 cases, 2%). Of the 72 cases where persons sprayed bears to defend themselves, 50 (69%) involved brown bears, 20
(28%) black bears, and 2 (3%) polar bears. Red pepper spray stopped bears’ undesirable behavior 92% of the time when used on brown bears,
90%for black bears, and 100%for polar bears. Of all persons carrying sprays, 98%were uninjured by bears in close-range encounters. All bearinflicted injuries (n¼3) associated with defensive spraying involved brown bears and were relatively minor (i.e., no hospitalization required). In
7% (5 of 71) of bear spray incidents, wind was reported to have interfered with spray accuracy, although it reached the bear in all cases. In 14%
(10 of 71) of bear spray incidents, users reported the spray having had negative side effects upon themselves, ranging from minor irritation
(11%, 8 of 71) to near incapacitation (3%, 2 of 71). Bear spray represents an effective alternative to lethal force and should be considered as an
option for personal safety for those recreating and working in bear country. ( JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 72(3):640–645;
2008)

(source: http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/RegionalNews/dh-bear spray.pdf )

Definitely take and carry Pepper Spray and you can consider a shotgun. Pepper spray has the advantage of being much lighter and easier to carry than a gun, as well as being effective in situations where you couldn't use a gun, such as when a bear is already close to people. It also takes a lot less skill under stress to effectively use pepper spray. Electric fences have also been demonstrated to be effective, particulalry if you are going to be out backpacking and not have the refuge of a vehicle.

All this being said, the best 'bear protection' is avoiding bear encounters by following the guidelines for travelling and camping in bear country.

Bang some pots and pans when you see a bear in the distance, and they should leave. Only kill a bear as a last resort. It would be very sad to have to kill a bear but better them than you.

You say you are traveling to Alaska. You can carry a 12ga shotgun across Canada for $25 each way. Handguns are not allowed. You can also ship your guns to yourself using Alaska Airlines freight if you want a handgun instead of a shotgun.

You also need to adhere to bear safe cooking and food storage procedures to prevent bears from being attracted to your camp. This is probably the most important thing about keeping bears away -- don't attract them in the first place!

You can also build your own bear fence or buy one pre-made...

• UDAP Bear Shock Fence 27'x27' 2 D battery amazon $215

In addition to wiring an infrared detector to your rack lights, consider using the MURS radio service to alert you to animals crossing into your perimeter. This works for quite a long distance depending on terrain. I don't use this for bears, I use it to make sure no humans are breaking into my rig but I guess it would for bears too...

• MURS Infrared detector drivewayalarmproducts.com $120
• MURS handheld radio receiver drivewayalarmproducts.com $90

If you are really paranoid about bears, then you should cook and eat at a different camp than where you sleep. They should be about a mile apart or more. It's a pain in the butt to do it, but for the truly paranoid, having separate camps will reduce bears' attraction to you. Some people stop every day around 5pm and cook their dinner and eat, then they move on at least a mile or two to their final camp and set up for the night. I don't have that much discipline, but I do keep an extremely clean camp and I use bear safe containers.

Have a great time in Alaska, I'll be driving up the Alcan in June myself.

 

[Rubiclone]

thanks for the info, i have heard that it is effective also around the site, but im sure like anything there are always people who are biased to one thing.

I however will definately be bringing bearspray with me, along with taking some precautions i should be fine.

Anyone know of any other well known bear sprays that are ACTUALLY bear spray and not just the knock off brands? i dont know much about the actual stuff, dont you have to sign off for it or something?

 

[Rando]

For some reason this tends to be a contentious issue. If you go to a 'sportsmans' forum the answer is always that you need a really big gun. If anything the actual data shows that bear spray is as effective as a gun, and has a lot of secondary advantages as well. Not saying you shouldn't take a gun if you know how to use one, but my plan is to go for the bear spray first and reach for the shotgun second.

As for brands there are several that are 'real' bear spray e.g.
UDAP - http://www.udap.com/
Counter Assault - http://counterassault.com/

 

[Mamontof]

Any proper Motion sensor what good to hunt a deer will be secure camp base , simple adjust body weight of intruder you aspect and way that creature

could came

http://www.nextag.com/deer-motion-sensor/stores-html

What difference it make : wolf , coyote , bear or simple way not nice neighbor

You need good sleep - so let other stay a way and be a scare a little ( with light adjustment you can install bright halogen lights and Aviation siren or

firecracker or what ever make you feel more safety and you thing it work for you http://www.southwestmicrowave.com/pdfs/MS15-MS16-Data-Sheet-EN.pdf

http://www.jansenelectronics.net/shoppingcart/pages/Security-Sensors.html



Adjust any cheap Motion sensor system to make noise/ light flash ctr and

sleep okay before shacalakabom shake your car and drop you from a bed


If it good for Army , why you not try to use one of that http://forums.warpig.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=84&sid=ed411a21e0017f13583229ec9368b716