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<DIV>Dr Bob writes:</DIV>
<DIV>Let's see. 1) sun shade, 2) rain, 3) propped as additional windbreak for<BR>stove, now possibly 4) gnats. What else? Ah, yes. 5) Bear deterrent! I<BR>read a story in a (questionable) survival book years ago about a man in the<BR>Michigan woods who had a black bear charge him. He had nothing but a closed<BR>umbrella with him, but at the last second he snapped his umbrella open in<BR>the bear's face and it took off, startled. I don't want to try it, but you<BR>can. Please let me know how it works.<BR><BR> <BR><BR>Dr Bob<BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV>Well, I had a similiar experiance on the River to River trail in Souther Illinois with</DIV>
<DIV>a dog. The owners of the dog were on houseback, and they were letting the dog</DIV>
<DIV>lead. When the dog saw me approaching it charged me with a kill look in its eyes, </DIV>
<DIV>and barking madly. I was scared it was gonna bite me, but at the last second I opened</DIV>
<DIV>up my Golite Crome Dome umbrella, and the dog stopped dead in it's tracks. By than</DIV>
<DIV>the horse riders yelled at the dog and he turned back towards the riders. I know if I hadn't</DIV>
<DIV>opened up that umbrella, the dog would have attacked me... He just had that look in his eyes.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As far as Gnats go, I found that the shade seems to actually attract them rather than repel them, </DIV>
<DIV>but I can just wave the umbrella back and forth a little bit and create a fan effect which blows them</DIV>
<DIV>away. Also an umbrella makes a great tool for clearing away spider webs that cross the trail. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Doc Holiday</DIV></body></html>