Pepper Spay Any Good?

[David N]

I just bought a can of 2% O. C. "Pepper Spray".

Will this stuff work at all?

I started carrying a gun after I was attacked by two drunken thugs who were armed with baseball bats. I found out the hard way the spraying a drunk with Mace (tm) did no good at all.

Do you think pepper spray will work on a drunk?

Does anyone have any real world experiance with this stuff?

THANKS!!

 

[shooter1]

Oh yeah, I sprayed one last night! I have the "Body Guard LE-10" which is 10% of 2 million Scoville heat units. It works real well on 99% if the time. Takes a little time for the stuff to take effect though, so it's important to stay out of reach till it really kicks in. Don't expect an immediate stop. Before we can carry the stuff we have to be sprayed with it and still be able to attack a role player and give him a couple of baton strikes, draw and shoot another assailant about 20 feet away, then call on the radio for backup. I have seen a few individuals who were uneffected by the stuff, but not a lot. Good luck, and be careful!!
Will

 

[DigMe]

The cop that is stationed at my school has had to spray lots of folks and he said that about 5% of the population is unaffected by it. On the rest though he said it's effective. There's also a difference between mace and pepper spray. I've heard that if either one is going to be effective on someone that's intoxicated that it's more likely going to be the pepper spray. If someone has experience with those two feel free to share.

brad cook

 

[earthworm]

The pepper foam is better:it sticks & "keeps on giving".
Review shooter1's post:good advice amigo!

 

[shooter1]

Guys,
The spray we use is OC (Oleoresin Capsicum), commonly known as "Pepper Spray". Much more effective than the older "Mace" formula. I have found the "cone" to be the most effective in shutting someone down. The foam kinda floats thru the air and any wind makes it hard to hit the target in any breeze at all. The "cone" is usually shared by all and everyone on the scene gets their share. By choice I carry the "stream" because it is a little more controllable, and has a little more effective range. They all have one thing in common, they hurt like hell!
Will

 

[Bill Hook]

Don't spray in the wind, or you may just be "gift wrapping" yorself for the attacker by taking yourself out of the action.

 

[shooter1]

If you spray someone then have to wrestle with him, or have to spray someone inside a house or car, be prepared to share. And as was just mentioned, don't spray into the wind! Especially with the cone!!
Will

 

[Kestrel]

Can anyone elaborate on the various OCs on the market? I've seen 2%, 5%, 10% and from various manufacturers. I've read that Fox is one of the best. I've also read that the percentages don't mean as much as the type of mixture?

Can anyone enlighten us?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[shooter1]

Look for the Scoville heat units on the label. You will find that some of the brands on the market will say 10%. The question is, 10% of what? If it's 10% of one million Scoville heat units, it's about as hot as another brand that's 5% of two million Scoville heat units. The Fox brand is a good one, just read the label carefully and get the whole story. Our issue OC is 10% of two million heat units, and is the "Body Guard" brand by the "Guardian Personal and Security Products, Inc" Phoenix, AZ 85027. It's marked for LE use only. For what that's worth.
Will

 

[Tropical Z]

I know from experience it works very well.Years ago i was carrying one on a clip in my front pocket while getting in and out of the back of a van.To this day i dont exactly know how it happened,but it fell out of my pocket and when i shut the rear door it sprayed me in the face! Everything had to fall exactly into place for this to happen and im sure the odds were in my favor.Didnt make it any better though.

 

[David N]

Thanks!

Thanks to all for your input. I especially appreciate the lead on the "Body Guard" brand.

 

[shooter1]

If you can't get the Body Guard brand, the Fox is good too. We also use it in the 2% of five million scoville heat units. It works well too. Read the label and get the hottest stuff you can find.
Stay Safe,
Will

 

[shooter1]

Forgot to add: caculating the "Heat" of the OC, the Body guard is roughly twice as hot as the Fox-----------Hottest stuff I've found!
Will

 

[Teufelhunden]

FWIW, I can tell you from experience that the Bodyguard brand works. I got hit with a double blast of it when I was in jail school--it immediately shut down my vision and impaired my breathing until I calmed myself and forced myself to breath through the pain. It was a good 15 or 20 minutes before I would have been able to get about normally, though with squinted eyes. It took a couple of hours for my eyes and skin to get back to normal, and that's including two showers...

-Teuf

 

[fjolnirsson]

When I was in the academy, we had to be sprayed with OC as part of training. After being sprayed, the exercise was to order someone to the prone position and handcuff them before being decontaminated.

I learned a lot that day. The OC worked on about 20 out of 25 of us, and it worked fast.
3 people were able to complete the exercise fairly quickly. 1 guy fought through the pain without much trouble.
And then there was me.
No reaction to OC whatsoever.
They tried two cans, to make sure mine wasn't a dud.
I handcuffed my suspect, then they went for the foam.
The foam hurt like Hel.
I was mostly incapacitated, enough that someone would be able to get away if they ran.
If your OC doesn't work, have a GOOD backup plan.
I carry the foam now, and practice my aim.

 

[shooter1]

My OC certification was done with the "Body Guard" brand. After being sprayed, we had to engage one agressor to our left with commom peronial strikes with our baton, then engage a second agressor to our right with our sidearm and simunitions at about 20 feet. We then had to radio for assistance while maintaining control of all our equipment. By that time I had to force one eye open with my fingers to be able to see-----well, I could kinda see. Would have had a hard time fighting at that time I assure you!
str1

 

[13.45]

Fox Labs & Punch II are both very good brands. i have first hand experience with Punch II and it worked as advertised

 

[Smokey Joe]

Real-world effectiveness...

I am happy to be able to tell you that HALT will stop a Doberman Pinscher in full-attack mode. No experience here w/humans, as giver or receiver, and plan to keep it that way if at all possible. Carried the stuff for years as a road runner; now carry it on my bicycle. Got my first can by taking it away from a student where I taught. (He'd stolen it out of a USPS truck.) It wasn't a squirt gun, strictly speaking, and that was all we had to officially report back in those innocent days, so I kept it.

A dobie is a really scary sight coming at you full-tilt—nothing but teeth out front and legs churning underneath. Was running on my usual course; never seen the dog in question before nor since, but that day, oh, boy!

Had to wait for him to get in range, then hosed down his face good. He suddenly remembered he had an appointment with his stockbroker or something. Left almost as fast has he had come. I put the can back on my waistband, resumed breathing, and continued my run.

 

[cryptoguru]

Guys do a search for my feedback regarding OC or spray.

Foam sticks and keeps on giving. I usually apply the stream, then instantly apply foam. If possible, make sure it's applied from head to face, not vice versa.

 

[deputy tom]

I have my flame suit on.I'm taking the same stance I took when my bosses forced OC upon us.It takes a strong wind to blow a black-jack into a little old lady's face standing down wind at the bus stop.Bad guys ,dopers and drunks still know what blunt force trauma is.tom.

 

[shooter1]

Deputy,
Yep, impact weapons still work, and they are much easier to apply in individual servings. Guess that's why the bean bag is one of my favorate "less lethal" tools. Sometimes a combination of the two work even better. Applied in the order of your choice. Still, hard to beat the "Ranger SXT" for the long lasting effect!

 

[armoredman]

We gas someone at least once, if not twice a day where I work, and some people lick it off and smile. I would hate to have that guy be the mugger I tried to fend off. TASERS work MUCH better, but are a one shot device, with a long reload time.
We use Bodyguard LE, and the stuff works VERY well on me, as I have found out the hard way, but I heard of one old man asking if we could spray some on his food, as he was licking it off his face.
BTW, watched an inmate take several cans of gas, pepperball launcher (paintball gun with hard papperballs), and four TASER shots. He gave up because he got bored.....