Interesting, Jacobson warned against doing that very thing -- dusting stuff with pepper powder --  during his lecture at 'copia!  He said bears don't like pepper spray, for sure, but black bears get used to it, and actually like to lick pepper off things.  He said grizzlies and polar bears never get used to pepper spray.  He said he's seen black bear lick pepper spray that was sprayed on canoes...go figure.  So his advice, don't practice with it...use it only to ward them off.  

I think everyone has a system...whatever seems to work.

prouboy