Quote:

Can't see how a guy would end up on that "ways to die show" but I could be mistaken. Exactly how would the flame climb back against the force of the propellant? I can't see it happening but that age old question keeps popping up.........."what's the worst that can happen"?

Remember our discussion on the best way to get roll all the air out of your sleeping pad ;)
dd, correctly observed that for a brief moment the air gets sucked back into the valve :-?
I've done the hair spray/paint can blowtorch thing. Inspired by the scene with Sean Connery in the 007 movie.

Unlike hair spray/paint, bear spray's the ingredient capsicum, is oil based. The oil droplets hanging in the air is what you want the object of your wrath to run into after the initial discharge.

Unless you had a strong tailwind, there's a pretty good chance you'll get blow back. That's bad enough on it's own, but couple that with fire, and as Marlin says, CHIPOLTE :'( ;D

But the only way to know for sure is a live video test :-/  Maybe you could combine it into a double feature, lighting bear spray AND in the spirit of the season, what could go wrong with deep frying the holiday turkey on the deck or in the garage ;D