SABRE Frontiersman Bear Horn, 130dB Audible Up to 0.5 Miles, Nonflammable & Eco-Friendly, On/Off Lock Prevents False Alarms, 60 ¼-Second Blasts, Bear Spray Companion, Designed & Assembled in USA

Very loud my dog got scared but that’s good bc that’s what I got it for for are walks to make sure we are safe if another dog comes up to us bc hes not friendly with other big dogs small but that’s good for walks easy to use

Loud and easy to use. We gave bears around our campsite and they do not like the noise these produce. They are small and easy to carry around and easy to lock out to avoid accidentally Engaging it.

Used this while hiking some less-used trails in Glacier National Park. It fits easily in a pocket and is very easy to use. It is also VERY loud indeed. I docked one star because the safety feature doesn't really work that great. It's a little loose and I could see the horn possibly going off accidentally depending on how you shove it into a bag or something. It should be fine in a loose jacket pocket or something. But that aspect of the design could use a little improvement.

Wanted to test this out when I first got it. Stepped outside onto the back porch, extended my arm up to shoulder height and out, and reluctantly pressed it once. It was much louder than I expected and startled me. Ears were ringing, and I felt some shame and embarrassment. This is likely what would happen to a nearby bear. It would be initially frightened and scatter away, which is effective! But it would then be left like me for a bit in that period of shame and self-doubt.

loud

This was significantly quieter than anticipated. Since there is no available information on where this 130db measurement came from, I will not confidently say it is fake news, but the can I purchased was much much quieter than that. I am very familiar with measuring sound when it comes to loud things. Some of my smaller rifles are around 110db when silenced and also using the weakest subsonic ammo (basically a setup intentionally engineered to be as quiet as possible, regardless of its utility), whereas my rifles run near 140db normally when not silenced. 130db is pretty loud; a lot of the db scale infographics online say that a jet engine is normally around 140db and that a police siren is normally around 115db. I do not own a jet or a police car so I cannot confirm these numbers myself, but I have a feel for them based on hearing passing police cars and hearing jets zipping by overhead. Based on the numbers this means that the measurements of this horn should be nearly as loud as a jet engine and much louder than police sirens. I tested this horn in an open field next to a highway on a clear day with light wind and was using the sound meter on my phone, trying to measure the highest db reading of this horn in 3 attempts. The sound meter on my phone is not precise enough for scientific/official measurements, but I have found it to always be roughly close to true measurements on real sound meters. These three tests measured peak sounds of 104db, 106db, and 111db... for an average peak sound of 107db when recorded at almost arm's length distance. The attached video is the second test. For reference, the background sound of the highway was pretty consistently between 80-85db. Based on my experience with the horn I purchased I personally feel that the only way anyone would confidently hear this from half a mile away is on an amplified field recording microphone in the dead of night in the middle of a valley that lacks foliage, though maybe this is what the phase "Audible Up to" half a mile implies? I am not sure. Anecdotally speaking on this little set of tests, having shot rifles around 130db without ear protection, I immediately regretted not having hearing protection on and did not continue till I did; for these tests I started with hearing protection but chose to remove all of it to hear if the sound carried at all and did not want/need to use the hearing protection at all for any of it. Spending time in bear country I like to test out all kinds of loud things so that I never have to meet a bear, there are some affordable (under $10) and serious whistles that are way more convenient to carry+store, and one does not have to worry about them accidentally going off, or losing pressure/becoming quieter with each use, or how they perform different in large temperature/elevation differences. Moreover, these serious whistles are massively significantly more unpleasant to experience. Not sure if other people made the same wrong assumption as me, but when I read that this horn was "Eco-Friendly" I thought that this meant they made the canisters in a way that you can refill/repressurize it yourself so that you do not have to keep buying new ones and throwing old ones away. This was of huge appeal to me. Though I found my assumption to not be true at all, its basically as hard/dangerous as refilling a spray paint can. So I am very lost on what "Eco-Friendly" means here if the manufacturer intends for the buyers to keep throwing these away and buying new ones. On a positive note, this horn has a squeaky and somewhat humorous high pitch sound. If you meet a bear in the woods who does NOT find the sound of the horn somewhat humorous (unlike myself), I think it would be likely to startle a lost or curious bear that has an interested effort in avoiding you. Insofar as noised-based bear deterrence go, this horn sits a little above strapping a bunch of bells to your bag to announce your presence to wildlife in the surrounding areas and rather far away from the more serious horns + whistles that are truly unpleasant to animals that are intentionally getting too close. That is to say that it is not quiet, but for a product whose only purpose in life is to be loud, I would not describe it as loud. Additionally, I think that this horn would also be of use in immediate urban environments and indoor settings since it is not something you would usually hear and is much better at bouncing off sound-reflective surfaces (like metal, glass, or concrete) since it does not carry well by itself. For indoor and dense urban settings I think that this would be startling and maybe mildy unpleasant to hear. Was sad to write this review, as I have been very very happy with other sprays and gels that SABRE produces. I have been in unfortunate situations that required the use these other products and they worked exactly as advertised. Moving forward I will stick to SABRE products designed to spray spicy aerosols and gels, and stay far away from SABRE products designed to spray air. Based on my experience, I would tell my friends to not buy this 12 buck can of air, but instead look at some of the fancier 8 buck whistles that truly pierce your ears and 4 bucks on jingle bells to tie to your pack. If my friends were needing a pressurized air solution and not a whistle (like camping in late fall/early winter when you want your face covered and them bears are pretty hungry), I would advise them to just get the normal sized horns that are maybe twice the length of this one but really pack a punch.

The bear in my yard couldn’t care less that I blasted this at him . Oh well . I’d still carry it on a hike though

Just as described. Other than testing it in my garage, I haven't needed it but it's there if needed. Good and loud and easy to use. Great price too!