GuyWithQuestions
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2006
- Messages
- 451
I thought that knowing the effectiveness of your pepper spray would be good as far as strategies and tactics in self-defense. How many have come across the same findings as me? I'm doing research on what makes an effective pepper spray since they're obviously not all the same.
From almost everything I've found, the percentage of pepper extract, oleoresin capsicum, concentration of pepper spray, whatever you want to call it, is pretty much useless. If you have a pepper spray that's 10% oleoresin capsicum, the strength of the pepper oil that's actually in the spray can vary greatly and so the 10% doesn't tell you much. I've also seen quite a few sites and some studies published in scholarly journals saying that Scoville Heat Units are not reliable either. If you have a spray that's 2 million Scoville Heat Units, that's what the base resin is before it's mixed in with the propellant and carrier. The Scoville Scale is a taste test for how much it takes to dillute a pepper to the point you won't notice it anymore. If you have a pepper spray that's 2 million SHUs 1% Oleoresin Capsicum and another that is also 2 million SHUs but 20% Oleoresin Capsicum, the one that's 1% OC is going to be much more dilluted when it is actually sprayed out of the nozzle of the bottle. I saw a study by the University of Utah that found that since the Scoville Scale is a subjective taste test, and not a very scientific measure although it sounds that way, it can vary greatly from panel to panel. Many 2 million SHUs 10% OC pepper sprays would differ greatly in how hot they were from company to company. The same study found that even within the same brand from the same manufacterer, the hotness of pepper sprays would vary from batch to batch.
The University of Utah study found that the number one factor in determining effectiveness of pepper spray was the hotness of the spray, most reliably found by the capsaicinoid content. The same chemicals that make hot sauce taste hot is what makes pepper spray hot and painful. These are capsaicinoids, which include capsaicin (pure capsaicin is usually considered 16 million Scoville Heat Units) and other capsaicinoids (some of them less hot than capsaicin). According to this study, the true way to measure hotness is through a chemical test that calculates the % of the substance that is major capsaicinoids, or also known as % major capsaicinoids. The EPA for example, ignores SHUs and oleoresin capsicum % in regulating animal pepper sprays, but instead uses "Capsaicin and related capsaicinoids". After hotness of the spray, the University of Utah paper mentions the spray pattern and propellent that the pepper oil is in are both important in the effectiveness in pepper sprays. Here is a link to obtain a copy of one of the papers from the University of Utah professor: http://www.aclu.org/prison/gen/14735lgl20040520.html#attach
Some say that you shouldn't look at percentage a major capsaicinoids because percentages don't count and only strength matters. They mix up oleoresin capsicum percentage with capsaicin and related capsaicinoids percentage. To see that there's actually a difference between the two, look at the picture below of the measurements on one of my favorite pepper sprays (you'll need to click it):
In other words, it's 15% 3 Million S.H.U. 3% Major Capsaicinoid Content. The 15% and 3% are completely different measurements. Most pepper sprays don't list the percentage of major capsaicinoids on their bottles, which has been criticized.
From almost everything I've found, the percentage of pepper extract, oleoresin capsicum, concentration of pepper spray, whatever you want to call it, is pretty much useless. If you have a pepper spray that's 10% oleoresin capsicum, the strength of the pepper oil that's actually in the spray can vary greatly and so the 10% doesn't tell you much. I've also seen quite a few sites and some studies published in scholarly journals saying that Scoville Heat Units are not reliable either. If you have a spray that's 2 million Scoville Heat Units, that's what the base resin is before it's mixed in with the propellant and carrier. The Scoville Scale is a taste test for how much it takes to dillute a pepper to the point you won't notice it anymore. If you have a pepper spray that's 2 million SHUs 1% Oleoresin Capsicum and another that is also 2 million SHUs but 20% Oleoresin Capsicum, the one that's 1% OC is going to be much more dilluted when it is actually sprayed out of the nozzle of the bottle. I saw a study by the University of Utah that found that since the Scoville Scale is a subjective taste test, and not a very scientific measure although it sounds that way, it can vary greatly from panel to panel. Many 2 million SHUs 10% OC pepper sprays would differ greatly in how hot they were from company to company. The same study found that even within the same brand from the same manufacterer, the hotness of pepper sprays would vary from batch to batch.
The University of Utah study found that the number one factor in determining effectiveness of pepper spray was the hotness of the spray, most reliably found by the capsaicinoid content. The same chemicals that make hot sauce taste hot is what makes pepper spray hot and painful. These are capsaicinoids, which include capsaicin (pure capsaicin is usually considered 16 million Scoville Heat Units) and other capsaicinoids (some of them less hot than capsaicin). According to this study, the true way to measure hotness is through a chemical test that calculates the % of the substance that is major capsaicinoids, or also known as % major capsaicinoids. The EPA for example, ignores SHUs and oleoresin capsicum % in regulating animal pepper sprays, but instead uses "Capsaicin and related capsaicinoids". After hotness of the spray, the University of Utah paper mentions the spray pattern and propellent that the pepper oil is in are both important in the effectiveness in pepper sprays. Here is a link to obtain a copy of one of the papers from the University of Utah professor: http://www.aclu.org/prison/gen/14735lgl20040520.html#attach
Some say that you shouldn't look at percentage a major capsaicinoids because percentages don't count and only strength matters. They mix up oleoresin capsicum percentage with capsaicin and related capsaicinoids percentage. To see that there's actually a difference between the two, look at the picture below of the measurements on one of my favorite pepper sprays (you'll need to click it):
In other words, it's 15% 3 Million S.H.U. 3% Major Capsaicinoid Content. The 15% and 3% are completely different measurements. Most pepper sprays don't list the percentage of major capsaicinoids on their bottles, which has been criticized.