Coghlan's Magnetic Bear Bell with Silencer - Hiking Safety Gear for Wildlife Alert -Silver

This bell should work well while hiking. Seems well made & light weight. Magnetic & the little carrying bag is well made. Hopefully it keeps the bears away!

Worked perfectly as intended. This was recommended to me by a few Smoky Mountain National Park Rangers. My wife and I went on our honeymoon to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee during the height of Black Bear season. Were we crazy? Yes definitely, but that wasn't stopping us. We bought the Bear Bell with the intention of attracting bears (kidding), but sadly they appeared nowhere in sight.In all seriousness though we did get up at the crack of dawn to get out on the trails before any of the tourists did and we were well prepared for any danger. Bears are most active from dusk until dawn, and we were the only ones out on these trails at 6am. Bear mace, knives, whistles, compasses, first aid kits, water, food, and most importantly above all things - the Bear Bell were all packed into our gear.I hung the bell from my backpack, which was done very easily, and every step I took sent out a jingle that I am sure scared the pants off of any bear nearby. The sound was not annoying at all and I felt very at ease while we went to see Abrams Falls and the Alum Cave.When I did not need the bell anymore, I simply slipped the cover with the magnet in it and I was not disturbed by any jingling until I took the cover off again.In all, this is a great product and no bear should dare to disturb you with your mighty jingly bell in possession.If you think my review was helpful, toss me a like!

So what can one say about a big Jingle bell?Firstly, I bought the "original version" of this on sale - fair price, I think, and maybe a better product than the newer, painted ones? Mine is a large silver jingle bell riveted to a nylon strap with mating velcro straps, one formed in an open loop and the other a straight length that closes the loop so the bell can hang by the strap. Nice yellow bear stitched into the strap (rather than "Coghlan's". Sewn to the straight nylon strap length is the "final" circumference cord which attaches and closes a mesh sack with a strong magnet actually sewn at the base of the sack. When the jingle bell is in the sack, the bell doesn't ring, but if shaken hard, does come free and roll about making a dull noise.While it's held to something on by that velcro'd strap loop, those riding mountain bikes might be concerned that the rivet and even the sewn-on 1-1/4" by 3/4" hook and loop clothing grade velcro might not be durable enough to the challenge of constant strain. Taking the bell on and off by pulling the velcro apart should be done carefully, since sewn-on velcro tends to strain and burst the threads as much as pull free of the hook and loops. Further, for this "original version", the hook velcro is aggressive on the mesh sack cordage, too, fraying it.Not that this is a poor product, but "... got to know limitations...".USE: Now as far as I can tell, a "bear bell" may well attract a curious bear rather than scare it off. I use these on "bear bags", that is, food bags hung up on a clear branch of a tree, at least 10' up, and 10' clear of the tree. The bell will alert me that someone is playing with the bag, and it's not Santa. That let's you shine a light, shout, and scare off the raccoon or whatever by poking your head out of your cozy shelter a distance away. In such a use durability of rivets and velcro are much less a concern.IF you insist on wearing this on your belt or on a handlebar, you might want to always be careful separating the velcro and inspect the rivet each use.

I remember one day I went mountain biking in a national park and saw something called a "bell box." Apparently the local ranger set it up and purchased bells for cyclists to use (to help alert nearby hikers/wildlife of their presence). This was such a great idea I thought. What better way than to be heard from far away as you are screaming down a dirt trail as reward for your grueling uphill slog! Now, I'm exaggerating a bit; proper mountain cyclist etiquette does not condone such dangerous behavior. No one should be screaming down a multipurpose trail where people and their animals may be hiking around numerous blind corners! However, the warning alert that those little cowbells gave were so wonderful because of the fact that you could hear cyclists coming and gauge how fast they were coming down the hill. When I went to the bell box I saw there were none left and even some older men who were cycling admitted that they kept the bells after their ride (you are supposed to put them back in the box once you reach the bottom of the trail). So I was out of luck. This was the only product I could find anywhere that resembled the mini cowbell these guys had on their bikes. And it is even better I might add! Sure it sounds a bit like Santa Clause found a new hobby as you are riding downhill, but with the built-in magnet at the bottom of the carrying sac, you can "silence" it as you pedal uphill and take it out of the magnet case when you are going downhill.I use quotations around silent because it doesn't completely silence the sound emitted from the device. While there isn't a ringing/echoing sound, you can still hear a flat/clanking sound when it's in the pouch. Not a big deal though because it's certainly not as loud as when its out of the case. I just wanted to let people known that if you are looking for a black/white, on/off, complete silence or completely loud device, this isn't it. But like I said, the sound is FLAT. There is no reverberation. The sound does not travel or get "reflected." So it may be heard by someone say, 5/6 feet away as opposed to 20-30ft away when the bell is OUTSIDE of the pouch ringing. The bell also has a nice Velcro loop that you can fasten around the handle bar. One thing I especially love about this product is that you do not need to activate it manually by hand like traditional bike bells! Riding downhill on a mountain bike on hard terrain can be dangerous. And you need both hands on the bar at all times. If you've been biking for a while, you know how sneaky those big tree roots or large rocks on the path come up from out of nowhere when you least expect it. So rather than contort your hand/thumb to ring your bell for any pedestrians, you just let the terrain jingle and bounce the bell to make noise automatically.You can also get this product at REI. If you cannot wait to have it shipped to you. It's a couple bucks more expensive there, but you can at least hear it there and if it ever breaks or you don't like it you can return it YEARS later, unlike purchasing it online. I love REI and I am a member there and Prime Member here on Amazon. Either place you buy it, you won't be disappointed and will love the functionality of this product!