I carry bear spray in Grizzly country, but not black bear country. I've only used bear cannisters in the Absarokas and Sierras. The rest of the time, I simply hang my food.

Grizzlies are a scary sort of noble experience. Granted, I can count on my fingers the number of times I've encountered them.

But black bears are mostly a pain in the butt. They are the junkie janitors of the backcountry, looking for the easiest meal and cleaning up and food waste or carcasses they find. Of course, here in the southeast, they tend to run at the first sight of hikers. It's in the middle of the night that you have to worry about them.