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$Coghlan\'s Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer$

Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer

$3.95

(13)

Item # 721998

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Now you don't have to listen to your bear bell all the way to the trailhead. This bell uses a magnet to eliminate noise when you're not on the trail.

Bell provides a steady warning of your presence to any animal in the area
Use the hook-and-loop strap to attach to clothing, pack or trekking pole so that motion will cause the bell to ring
When not required, keep the bell in its attached bag with magnet that keeps bell from ringing

Imported.

Item 721998

with coupon code ANNV13
May 17-27 Details

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Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer

3.6

(based on 13 reviews)

58%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Simple to use (9)
Packs small / compresses (7)
Effective (6)

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry camping (5)
Day trip (5)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Avid adventurer (7), Casual/ recreational (5)
- What Is Your Gear Style:
- Survivalist / minimalist (7)

Reviewed by 13 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-10

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Mar

2013

(0 of 7 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

Not a great value for money

By PositiveThinking

from Seattle, WA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

I find the Bear Bell to be over-engineered with it's magnet, mesh sack, and velcro tabs. This is more than any real hiker / runner / adventurer needs to carry. The bell produces the wrong note to warn all common bear species in the western United States. It's also slightly overpriced with it's smoothly shaped metal. After realizing it's failings I started with a used oil drum. I turned the top half into a Jamaican Steel Drum and have been cutting out flower-shaped metal pieces from the bottom half. It's trivial to turn the metal cut-outs into my own model of bear bell. Steel ball bearings from an old Rototiller fit perfectly into my slightly larger hand made bells. The bells I make also produce the proper note to warn all species of bear that inhabit the trails of the Western US. I don't know how REI can charge nearly $5 for something that contains $1.35 in raw materials which can be easily found in any junk yard. Please do yourself a favor and make your own bell instead of paying a king's ransom for REI's luxury version.

Comment on this review

Dec

2011

(1 of 7 customers found this review helpful)

2.0

Poor design makes this bell fall flat

By ritmatt

from Gwinnett County, GA

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy To Pack
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

I bought this bell so I could hear my dog while we hike in the woods. He runs off-leash and occasionally gets lost, so I thought a bear bell on his collar would help me find him faster. Unfortunately, the bell fell off within 30 minutes on our very first hike, never to be found again. The hook and loop fastener simply isn't big or strong enough to provide a secure connection to anything. Also, the magnet in the attached netted pouch kept sticking to the side of the bell, dampening (not muting) the ring while the dog ran. On the plus side, this bell had a less offensive tone than another brand that I received for Christmas. If I had it to do over again, I think I'd just pick up a bell at the local craft store and use a zip-tie to attach it to the dog's collar. That would be stronger and even cheaper than the store-bought model.

Comment on this review

Apr

2011

(1 of 14 customers found this review helpful)

1.0

A false sense of security...AVOID!!!

By Grizz

from Houston, TX

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

Bears have a difficult time being able to actually hear bear bells. Read Dr. Herrero's book on avoiding bear attacks about how worthless bear bells really are. Clapping, yelling, a whistle, and loud singing have worked well for years. If you really want to get everyone and everything's attention, an air horn works quite nicely.

Comment on this review

Mar

2011

(6 of 8 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Just One More Device To Help

By DrMartiniX

from Interior, Alaska

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Clear Instructions
Easy To Pack
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

Several people have mentioned that they felt these are not loud enough but you have to keep in mind how much better wildlife can hear than humans. Works great for Moose too as I was hiking one day and turned a blind corner and wound up almost nose to nose with a cow and two calves but she had already raised up from grasing so she was not spooked. I simply back stepped a bit and gave her some room. Any tool that has a chance at preventing a negative wildlife interaction is worth carrying, especially when it is so light!

Comment on this review

Nov

2010

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

A good idea

By KevinH

from Colorado

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy To Pack
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Hiking
Mountain biking
Snowshoeing

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

I use this on my backpack when I go out alone in the back country. It works well, and being able to turn it 'off' is nice. I like the fact I can put it wherever I want via the Velcro loop. I have even looped it onto my handlebars and it was worked great. The main reason I got it is to raises awareness of hikers/bikers when I'm biking in the mountains and there are a lot of blind corners. I do have a chime on my handlebars, but sometimes especially when your climbing you don't have time to hit it. This rings consistantly. I don't know about wildlife - especially bears but it has gotten the attention of some hikers/bikers.

Comment on this review

Aug

2010

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Bear bell works!

By turkeylips

from Spokane, WA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Clear Instructions
Easy To Pack
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

I was thoroughly pleased with this product, I had no issues getting it back in the bag. It was not as annoying as I thought it would be either. Hard to tell if it was loud enough, we didn't see any bears so as far as I can tell it works great!

Comment on this review

Jul

2010

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Very Happy

By blackfire

from Pullman WA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy To Pack
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

This bell works great. The bell is a little hard to get back in the bag, but the bag is pretty big and you can pull the magnet away from the bell without taking it out of the bag.

The magnet works great too. It doesn't always catch at first, but if you gently roll the bell around, the magnet will attach to the ball just fine.

If you really shake it, the ball will come loose, but just hiking doesn't jar it enough and I've never gotten the clattering sound previous reviews have described.

Comment on this review

Oct

2009

(8 of 8 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

A Better Bell

By Meateater

from CA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

Just got back from Wrangell St. Elias NP and was walking through a lot of heavy brush. Folks have complained the the sound was to faint but I wonder if they took it out of the pouch. It doesn't have to sound like a klaxon, it just needs to keep tinkling to let the bear know your coming. Sure, singing and clapping are probably better but I can't keep that up for 8 hours. We saw lots of bears but none too close. It thought it was effective and worth the [$] bucks.

Comment on this review

Sep

2008

(11 of 11 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Jingle Bells

By jSatch

from SandyEggo, CA

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

Best Uses

Mountain biking

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

Found this in the camping section, but use it on my mountain bike.

Works well on multi-use trails: hikers and horses hear you coming. No drama.

Works well on single-track: Often blind turns, etc- other bikers coming the other way can hear me. Again, no drama. Better if everyone had a bear bell.

It's not needed (unwanted) on long climbs or downhills: That's what the magnet bag is for.

Biggest con: not easy to slip the magnet bag on when riding. A thumb switch with a magnet on it would be much better.

BTW- This bell is recommended for trail use by the San Diego Mountain Bike Association (SDMBA).

Comment on this review

Jul

2008

(15 of 16 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Does what its supposed to do.

By Atrox

from Anacortes, WA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy To Pack
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping

Comments about Coghlan's Bear Bell with Magnetic Silencer:

It does exactly what its supposed to do. Bells aren't meant to scar away bears. They are meant to make your presence known so as not surprise a bear. A bear that is surprised is much more likely to attack than otherwise. Personally I feel that it's worth every penny to help avoid a confrontation.