CaribooAlaska

Thanks all for the great advice. I have always carried bear spray and now my .454. Hopefully if I'm not too stupid I'll never have to use either. I gotta try the external speaker route, altho where we hunt has a lot of water moving. Any recommendations out there for brand of external speakers? I saw some on Rob's Detectors site for about $80 - $90 that had clips on each speaker to clip on to your shoulder straps and a 1/4" connector to your machine.

Thanks Steve and Everyone -- I'm going to try out the external speaker idea in addition to a single in-ear phone and figure out which one works best. I normally wear a small backpack so I can clip the speaker on the shoulder straps. I've never, ever used just the internal speaker with my detector but having a speaker near your ears might work OK. I'm just wondering if I'd miss that slight waver in threshold...sometimes hard to hear even with phones on! I'll let you know what I find out. Cariboo

Cabin Fever - You're right.  I've carried Counter Assault for years for just that reason.  However, the .454 is there too just in case...  Thanks for your advice!

Thanks for the info -- Does a .454 Casull count for a .44 mag stainless?  I keep it close for those intimate moments... 

I think what I'm going to try is an in-ear phone like the Shure.  Love my old Grey Ghosts, but I just want to hear what's going on when I'm out in the bush.  I've had a few "close encounters" already -- I want to hear the 'huff huff and breaking branches before I look up and see a grizz or blackie looking at me for a snack! 

Need some advice for detecting out in the bush here in Alaska. Keep both earphones on? Keep one on and listen for bears with the other? Anyone have any ideas or experience with this? How about full earphones vs. in-ear phones? Thanks.