When camping in Spitsbergen, it is common and makes sense to secure the camp against polar bears with an alarm fence (Norwegian: snublebluss), using tripwires and small explosive devices. The most reliable version NM4 comes from Norwegian military sources, but is not available anymore for legal reasons. The follower (M2) is considered not reliable and safe enough to be used in the field for polar bear protection. As a consequence, there are currently almost no alarm systems available in Longyearbyen to secure camps against polar bears.

Next to the obvious safety aspect, there is a debate to make technical systems for protection of camps against bears legally mandatory. It still needs to be defined what such “technical systems” might be, but alarm fences are at least an obvious part of any technical alarm system. The Sysselmannen is aware that it is difficult to make a system mandatory that is not available on the market and is trying to contribute in finding a solution, but so far without success.

Under the fatal polar bear attack on August 05 in Tempelfjord, a failing alarm fence contributed to the desaster.

In the UK, a system is available from Arctic Limited.

Source: Svalbardposten (3611), Sysselmannen