A bear bell with a carabiner for clipping to a pack, a belt loop or a dog's harness.

Most bad bear encounters are surprise encounters. A bear that hears you coming moves off before you get there, which is why making noise is the first thing every ranger station tells you to do in bear country.

A bell works best as part of that noise rather than all of it. Wind and running water cover a lot of sound, so the standard advice is to keep talking, clap at blind corners, and call out before creek crossings — with the bell adding to it the rest of the time.

The carabiner is the practical part: it clips on and off, so it is not jingling in your tent at 2am or on the drive home.