I have never been sprayed with mace but have been told it is not as bad as pepper spray.. Now pepper I have been hit in the face with 7 SEVEN times....I had to be sprayed in order to pass some training I did in the millitary... The stuff we used was like 15-25% effective and is against the law to sell to civillians... As for the bear... I like the idea of training him though I wouldn't be so brave...Heehee... I have seen alot of bear around my area and have never been approched by them.. We had one a few months back come into the store near my house just so he could use Isle 5 as a rest room....