is my bear spray still good / full / effective

I have an 8.1 oz. can of Counter Assault that I purchased in June. It has a 2022 replacement date on it, indicating that it was manufactured in 2018. The weight on my scale is 11.1 oz.

This is what Counter Assault says on its website about shelf life:

Counter Assault products have a four-year recommended replacement date because ALL aerosols lose propellant over time. This four-year replacement date means that it should shoot to maximum distance the first four years, and should spray a considerable distance after that date. Though the potency of the pepper does not diminish, all aerosol canister seals will weaken over time, allowing the propellant to escape.

Counter Assault has increased the recommended shelf life from three years to four years since the early days of manufacturing.

Because it is something that I carry for my safety, my practice is to retire a can of bear spray when it reaches the recommended replacement date. With a four-year shelf life, that works out to only $10 per year.

You could (check the wind direction very carefully and then) fire off the oldest one. Or the lightest one.  If the liquid squirts 30 feet for the full 7.2 seconds (maybe have someone else time it), you’d feel more comfortable about the other two.  If the liquid doesn’t squirt, practice throwing it at the bear, so you’ll be ready to make the most possible use of other two.

Fake expiration dates piss me off.  I got eclipse viewing glasses for last year’s total solar eclipse.  They “expired” at the end of 2018.  How is a dark piece of plastic no longer dark?  Obviously, they’re hoping to sell them for one-time use and not have people like me, with a few dozen around, passing them on to other people for the next eclipse.  Which I will do.

Back on topic: from Counter Assault’s Safety Data Sheet, the propellent is “DuPont 134A HFC Propellant – CAS: 811-97-2” which is 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, an organic fluorocarbon used as a propellent and refrigerant (R134-a as a more environmentally benign replacement for the older R-12).  There’s a decent mass of propellent in there because it is a gas compressed into a liquid.  Versus compressed nitrogen, not nearly as much of which could be compressed into that canister.  So if the canister has lost propellent, you could easily detect it on your scale.

Their “inert trainer” canister also has a net weight (i.e. contents) of 8.1 ounces plus a dye so you can see where it is spraying.  So that’s 8.1 ounces of R-134a.   Versus the active canister which would have 7.938 ounces of R-134a and 0.162 ounces of Capsaicin (and other Capsaicinoids).

If the weight is close (within an ounce) of the original weight, I’d feel comfortable that it would give 6+ seconds of spray (versus the original 7.2 seconds) and (if I carried bear spray) when hiking in grizzly country like I did this morning, feel fine taking it along.

One of your canisters appears to have been painted with tan paint and not perfectly masked off for the painting.  I’d test fire that one, or that lightest, 10.1-ounce one.

I just replace them at the expiration date. I’ve seen old expired ones fired and some had poor propellant action. My wife and daughters carry spray, I’m armed with a pistol. Sometimes I carry both. I just replace them at their expiration date and call it a day. The small cost of hiking in bear country.

If you tested one like David said, that would give you practice how it works so it wouldn’t be wasted.  When a bear is charging you is not the best time to fiddle with it trying to figure out how to get it to work.

Prior to the EPA’s aerosol propellant changes Bear Spray functioned indefinitely. Since the EPA changes, the new propellant loses its punch. I continue to use Bear Spray 2-3 years after its expiration date, figuring the numbers given by manufacturers, leery of litigation and eager to sell more spray, are too conservative. A good way to find out is give it a quick test shot.

If you give it a quick test shot will stuff get into the valve and nozzle, dry, and then inhibit further effectiveness?

Maybe if you use it at all, it should be replaced even if some of the contents remain?

Yeah, I’d consider testing / practicing all-or-nothing.

Sure, pass it between friends for 1-2 second practice squirts each, but don’t try it, put it away, and rely on it in the future. At the best, you would have less than your original 7 seconds of use. But potentially, minor residue in the valve will cause it to slowly leak out, as Jerry (and the manufacturer) mentions.

Having spoken anecdotally with someone who recycles expired bear spray, I’m under the impression the risk is less whether or not it will discharge and more how the device will discharge.

You may get more of a cloud than a jet spray if that makes sense

Here is a link to a recent article by CBC News in Canada about a mountain biker who attempted to use an expired can of bear spray on a black bear. After relating the tale, the article states:

CBC Yukon conducted a test with four different canisters of bear spray. The canisters were between one and seven years past their expiry dates.

The newer cans held their pressure and seemed to spray in a similar way to non-expired cans. But the streams from the oldest canisters — both of which expired in 2011 — were denser, wetter and didn’t travel as far.

One of the canisters oozed thick orange foam out of the top when the lever was pressed.

An anecdotal report of failure in the field and a test on four random cans of unknown provenance isn’t proof that all bear spray stops working properly after a certain period of time. It may also be true that the replacement dates specified by bear spray manufacturers are influenced by a desire to make repeat sales or to limit liability. However, it is indisputable that aerosol cans lose propellant over time. It gives me peace of mind to replace my bear spray when it hits the manufacturer’s expiration date.

I think the 5 year practice firing is worth it just so that you understand what happens when you use it.  When mine expire I go out to a field and fire to give myself a reminder of the spray distance and what the blowback feels like.

I think some sort of test fire would or prudent regardless of if the considered expired or not.

that makes sense

the fact that it’s expired wouldn’t adversely effect it’s ability to do a training run, and if it did it wouldn’t matter

I live in Alaska, and I know that Denali National Park appreciates donations of outdated bear spray, to use for training. Maybe a park near you would also appreciate the outdated cans for this purpose. Practicing with one occasionally isn’t a bad idea too.

I sprayed the oldest/lightest one for practice (about 3/4 oz lighter than new).  It “worked” with nothing odd like drips or foam.

Not that this proves anything,  I have nothing to objectively compare it to.  It was informative / a good experience to now know what to expect.  It sprayed consistently over the handful of seconds of discharge, with perhaps 20′ (of the “main cone”).  My lips and gums hurt afterward from a trivial amount of wind-drift overspray :)