Looking for a good pepper spray...

[L_Killkenny]

Not a subject that generally comes up on gun sites to often but I'd like to talk about pepper spray. No it's not a gun and it's not as good as a gun but it does have some advantages (not really wanting to get into that in this thread) and I am looking for a good spray for the wife, maybe myself. I see all sort of options from small to big and am a little lost on what to get, how to carry it and where to get it.

Ideas?


LK

[Dresden2001]

IMHO Fox Labs. Stream or Cone. http://www.foxlabs.com/products.shtml

[bubba15301]

buy bear spray stronger than regular pepper spray

[jmortimer]

Inferno by Cold Steel http://www.coldsteel.com/pepper-spray.html

[billinmiss]

+1 on the Fox Labs. It's the hottest I've been able to find.

[garryc]

Fox is what we use in the prison. Good stuff. Our training requires we get shot with it, which is crap really. They say it's so you know what it does, next they will shoot us with a 12ga. Just macho stuff.

[Steviewonder1]

+1 again on Fox Labs. I have several of the larger cannisters and they are stored around the house, in my cars and on my person. Get the one's that have UV Dye in them as that is good for 24 hour marking of the person in the event that they crawl away after a good dose all over the head!

[mikejonestkd]

www.udap.com

Bear spray, great stuff!! We have it in every counselor's gear bag at our summer camp, in the vehicles, and even at home.

[output]

Inferno by Cold Steel http://www.coldsteel.com/pepper-spray.html

That's what I carry as well.

[ChileVerde1]

Not sure if it's available commercially, but my agency just switched to Vexor from Cap-Stun. Cap-Stun was was no joke but I've been told Vexor makes you feel like your face is melting off.

[blakdawg]

I have been ordering Fox from galls.com. Haven't had to spray anyone yet. My wife sprayed some "to test it out" without paying attention to wind direction and was very, very sorry.

[JerryM]

On these threads I often see Bear Spray mentioned. As I have searched for sources all I find are large cannisters. Those are too large to carry routinely.

The 2 oz canisters are about as large as I want to carry unless I was in bear country. Does anyone make a 2-3 oz bear spray? Th 9 oz up are too large.

Regards,
Jerry

[gk1]

I can see it now: BUG spray or "mouse" spray; "the little spray you have with you is better than the big one that's at home"

[Kodyo]

I bought 2 for my girlfriend. 1 for practice the spray, the other to carry.
This is the one we bought:
http://www.pepperspray.com/Vexor-Pep...ck-p/86011.htm

Pretty good. After one short blast the short breeze had us gasping.

[Hiker 1]

Has anyone on this thread had to spray a person (non-training) or an animal? What was the reaction?

[mikejonestkd]

Personal sized UDAP products:

http://www.udap.com/defense.htm

I've seen it used once, on a dog that persisted in menacing a group of campers when we were on a hike a few years ago. One blast in the face from 20' ended the encounter quickly.

[microman]

I was going to recommend Fox labs but, others have already beat
me to it. Second place I would say goes to Sabre Red. I always
carry that on my person. Great to have some other tools besides
just a gun.

[Mike The Marine]

Military grade OC spray, it hurts. I'll look later to see who makes it but I think its called First Defence..

[bikerbill]

My wife carries one made by Kimber in the sorta shape of a gun in red ... has two charges of a gooey serious irritant spray ... I've seen it demonstrated in videos and it goes 15 feet or so and sticks like glue ... ugh ...

[BfloBill]

I would hate to use something formulated for bears on a person and then have them get a good lawer, even if it was less potent I could imagine how it would get twisted around in court.

Pepper sprays are measured in SHU's (Scoville Heat Units) here is a comparison for you:

Green Pepper = 0 SHU's
Jalapeno Pepper = 14,000 SHU's
Habenero Pepper = 40,000 SHU's
Fox Labs 5.3 Pepper Spray = 5.3 Million SHU's

We use the Fox Labs where I work, just be aware that most manufacturers will make multiple sprays with different potencies. Read the label and do your homework before you trust your life to it.

I also had to get sprayed in training and it was truly terrible, it will put most people out of commission. That being said, I have seen(first hand) where it did not work on someone having a violent psychotic episode.

You may want to ask about results from people who have actually USED it, as opposed to just "what kind do you carry?" Results are more important than the fact that some guy was told that this brand is best so thats what he carries.

+5.3 million SHU's to Fox Labs.

[leadcounsel]

Be cautious with the Bear Spray advice if this is intended for use for self defense against humans. Read the label. There may be both criminal and potential civil penalties for wrongful use of Bear Spray (for instance, you could permanently blind someone if it's way too strong of a dosage for a person).

I concur that Fox labs is what you want for self defense.

I PERSONALLY received a 1/8th second blast of Fox Labs in the face. It was at an outstanding school and my military unit received a lot of types of training, including OC spray. We lined up and were allowed to hold our breath and close our eyes. The trainer just walked down the line and literally barely sprayed each of us.

Now we are all relatively tough, young, fit bucks. It affects everyone slightly differently, but I don't know of a single man that wasn't severly incapacitated. Everyone was in various degrees of pain to severe pain. I personally could not physically open my eyes for at least 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, we had to run through a paintball course. Talk about misery. Pure misery. The effects were so extreme and lasted for hours, gradually wearing off probably 8 hours later to mild irritation with dawn dishsoap in a cool shower.

Yes, I was sold on Fox labs and bought several canisters. Cheap and effective.

For what it's worth, however, for $1000 you could consider a stun gun. Oh My GOD, if you are looking for less-than-lethal, that's where it's at.

In the same school we also were shot at 15' with the 2-pronged stun guns. The most horrific instant pain compliance control I could ever imagine. 5 seconds of receiving 95 jolts of energy that was literally like visiting Hell and back. Takes non-lethal to a whole new level.

[Lambdebois]

The officers where I live carry. A brand called sabre or sabre defence or something.

[Capt. Charlie]

I think leadcounsel nailed it on several fronts.

Several years ago, I bought a cannister of bear spray for hiking in bear country near Cook Forest, PA. I don't remember the brand, but I do recall the warning on the can: "Not intended for use on humans". Besides, given the potency of some of the stuff available, you don't really need anything hotter .

The description "Fires of Hell" don't do it justice. Our training also requires getting sprayed. Wonderful, beautiful, cold, running water was only about 30 feet away. The only problem was, you had to use an ASP to fight your way through 3 padded guys to get there. The point was to show that, if you're really, REALLY determined, you can still fight after getting sprayed. (All I remember is swinging wildly while completely blind )

I've been accidentally sprayed or gotten backspray several times, and other than lots and LOTS of cold water, the only thing I've found that gives any real relief is Solarcaine sunburn gel with Aloe Vera and Lidocaine.

(Hint for rookies: Application just before training helps )

[thrgunsmith]

one thing I've found to be important is the cap. You want the safety type, some brands have a cap/trigger mechanism that you have to twist to spray, I've had those go off in my pocket.
The best kinds that worked for me during yrs of S/O experience in San Francisco ( also used it a lot off duty because CA law allows for self defense if someone threatens you, and homeless bums in SF routinely do that ) are the cap that has a snap hinge on it so you always know where you're aiming because you put your finger there and that is also the safest to keep in your pocket.

Inert cans for practice.
Get as many cans as you can, practice makes perfect!

Carry back up spray.

[JollyRoger]

Has anyone on this thread had to spray a person (non-training) or an animal? What was the reaction?

Yes, trying to do a plain clothes arrest on a dope dealer/gang member after witnessing a hand-to-hand deal. Bad guy was 22 and built like a linebacker. 2-on-1 with us rolling on the ground and my partner and I still couldn't get his hands behind his back to cuff. Things took an ugly turn and deadly force was probably justified, but I happened to have a lipstick size CAP-STUN in my jacket pocket. I deployed it reaching over the top of dude's head, firing down into his face at about 2 inches. He got the restricted airway pretty good: he kept gasping "I can't get no air." Great distraction which let us get the cuffs on, but he didn't collapse into a ball or anything. In fact, he was panicking pretty good and was bucking around as we cuffed him. Once cuffed, he stated his eyes were burning and begged me to wipe them out, which I did with his t-shirt - I doubt it helped much.

Incidentally, both I and my partner got some blow-back, which had us coughing and spitting. Made me a firm believer in pepper spray, though. If we had been trying to get away rather than cuff him-no problem.