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Just thought I'd refer you guys to the whole article: http://byunews.byu.edu/archive08-Mar-bearspray.aspx The study actually focuses on brown and black bears, rather than polar bears (although the data does include them in the study): "Nearly 70 percent of the incidents involved brown (grizzly) bears and 28 percent involved black bears. The study also reports the first two documented uses of bear spray on polar bears in Alaska." And they actually did test the effect of wind speed and distance to the target on efficacy: "The research debunks these common misconceptions about bear spray: 'Bear spray doesn't work when it's windy.' Wind was reported to have interfered with spray accuracy in five of the 71 incidents studied, although the spray reached the bear in all cases. Smith used a wind meter to test the speed of the spray as it streams out of the canister. Repeated tests showed an average of 70 miles per hour. Smith also noted that bears and humans can easily see each other in open, windy spaces. The surprise encounters tend to occur in wooded areas in which vegetation blocks wind." ... "On average, the spray was used when the bear was about 12 feet away." All in all, I think this was a very well-designed study. The brief abstract here didn't quite do enough justice to alleviate your well-founded concerns, but the scientists were aware of them and did address them in their research. Of course, I just quoted from a more detailed summary--we should all probably read the actual published article straight from the source.