A bear bell with a magnetic silencer, finished in red.

The magnet is the mechanism: slide it on and the bell goes quiet, slide it off and it rings again. Faster than a cover, and there is nothing to lose.

Noise is what prevents surprise encounters in bear country, and a surprised bear is the dangerous kind. Clip this to a pack, a belt or a dog harness on the trail, and silence it in camp.

A bell carries best in still air. Where there is wind or running water, keep talking and call out at blind corners too — the bell is one layer of it, not the whole plan.

Colour is for telling whose pack is whose, which with a group is worth something.