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The Scoop on Pepper Spray as a Defense Tool

Years ago, if women wanted an effective self defense tool to help them escape the clutches of an attacker, they used a version of a defensive spray similar to tear gas. This tear gas used older chemicals with names as long as your arm but the drawback was that it was also rather debilitating as well. Today, there is a new defensive spray used as a tool for self defense and it is derived from hot peppers. Known as pepper spray, this modern version of a defensive spray against attackers contain oleorein capsicum, the chemical from hot peppers that give them the burn.

Unlike stun guns and tasers which may not always work on attackers, particularly those hopped up on drugs, pepper spray is an effective defensive tool for women because it works quickly and does affect even those attackers who may be under the influence of drugs. Of course, your self defense strategy should not focus solely on the pepper spray but it can be quite an effective tool to buy you time to escape.

The burning essence of hot peppers is extracted and then mixed with a carrier fluid and other ingredients and housed in an efficient spray can that can easily be stored on your keychain, in your purse or in a pocket. When you spray an attacker with the pepper spray in the face and eye area, they will feel a bad burning sensation but the burning pain will not always deter an attacker. Instead, this pepper spray relies on other effects for hindering an attacker.

The physical effects on an attacker, regardless of whether they are on drugs or high on adrenaline, include swelling of the eyes which can impede vision or even cause short-term blindness. Of course, if the attacker breathes in the burning vapors of the pepper spray, their bronchial tubes will swell, causing the attacker to cough and even possible choke but it does not totally restrict breathing. Because of these physical results achieved by the pepper spray, it works well on drug addicts, aggressive animals and even people who have mental illness and are hopped up on their own madness.

You will discover that pepper spray comes in different concentrations as well as degrees of peppery heat. The recommendation is to get a pepper spray with up to a 5% concentration of oleorein capsicum. Anything over 5% is viewed as a waste because it does not always store well in the canister's propellant. Plus, the recovery time for a potent pepper spray is almost an hour which does not provide any additional advantage against an attack than if a 5% solution buys you 20 or 30 minutes.

While learning self defense moves is the ultimate in personal protection for women, the pepper spray is a great tool to have. Keep in mind that it is not effective against attackers 100% of the time, particularly if the attacker is totally fixated on you or has another weapon to use against you. However, it is good to know that many law enforcement agencies rely on pepper spray to subdue particularly violent attackers with success and have for years.

Before rushing out to purchase pepper spray for yourself, be sure to check the law in your state to ensure that you can legally buy it and carry it. There are some states where you have to obtain a license to buy and carry it while others have no regulations. For sure, you cannot carry pepper spray onto an airplane in a purse or carry-on but it can be checked into luggage going into the storage hold of an airplane. To ensure your own safety when carrying and using pepper spray, look for a self defense class which covers this topic. You want to make sure that you don't accidentally get sprayed yourself!