Nate and Pepper Spray

So I have been carrying a pepper spray canister connected to my keychain for a couple of years. Its one of the easiest ‘weapons’ to carry (don’t need a license, small, can take it a lot of places you can’t take a gun . . . ) and according to some safety instructors, just having something is usually enough deterrent to anyone who might attack you (they will find easier prey). I’ve been ‘trained’ to carry my keys once I leave any building, headed for my car, and usually after leaving my car headed to a building. This is a good idea even if you don’t have pepper spray as you could use your keys as a weapon if necessary (more likely to do damage than a bare fist). Its also good to have your keys handy to be able to get into your car as soon as you get to it instead of standing outside the door fumbling in your purse or pocket.

. . . can you tell Nate has been coaching me? . . .

Anyway, the canisters are under pressure and have an expiration date and they recommend you fire them every year or two anyway to make sure the nozzle hasn’t been jammed with gunk or there is something else wrong with it. If you are going to be serious about this stuff, why take the chance that when you actually need it, it doesn’t work?

My expiration date was up and Nate decided he wanted to see what it felt like. Yes, this was his idea. I think he must be related to the Jackass guys. He also wanted to walk through some scenarios to make sure I knew what to do. Haha. At first he only wanted me to fire it at 6 ft, but pepper spray really only have effectiveness at less than three. We tried it at 6 and it just floated away on the breeze. Then I told him we might as well use it and get closer, so we got close and I shot him!

Couple random things . . .
– The one I had was dyed, which surprised me, but also helped me to aim. You are supposed to do short pumps, so as you pump you can change the angle. It also stained Nate’s clothes.
– Nate had on his glasses and a hat, but even so, his eyes did get puffy and his breathing was difficult when it got into his airways.
– We were surprised that it also hurt our skin (I got a couple drops on me). I guess we were thinking it would only affect moist areas like eyes and nose and mouth.
– I was surprised that it has a little bit of a delayed reaction (maybe because I didn’t get a good direct shot at his eyes. So, if I had to actually shoot someone, I’d warn first. If they still advanced, I’d wait until they were within three feet and make sure I get a good shot in their face. Otherwise, it might not stop them enough for me to get away without being knocked out or hurt.
– It took him a good 10-15 min cool shower before he stared feeling better.
– Nate says he doesn’t recommend this experience and probably won’t sign up for that again.

You can see where his shirt collar was and I’m surprised by how puffy his eyes got even though his glasses protected him from a direct shot.

From Nate: This wasn’t a fun experience, but I’m glad I did it because we learned a number of things from this:

• Becca now has experience using her weapon, and is more knowledgeable in how to use it most effectively.
• The inhalation effects were almost immediate, but because I was expecting it I was able to avoid inhaling very much of it. The effects of inhalation were short term, but they may give you the needed seconds to get away or make your counterattack, such as a good kick to the groin.
• The irritation of the eyes were almost immediate but I could still see for several minutes before it was really bad. It was not the instant involuntary eye closure like I expected. Thanks to the glasses and hat, which an attacker will also probably be wearing, I was able to greatly reduce the amount of contact with the eyes.
• I did not expect the irritation of the skin. My face and neck where on fire for about 15 minutes. I started to wonder if I was going to have markings on my face that would be visible for days. Thankfully I did not. This also highlighted the importance of trying to position yourself upwind before using the spray so you don’t end up spraying yourself.
• Attempting to shoot the pepper spray at a range greater than 3 ft was a waste of spray. Stepping into the attacker and attempting to spray directly in their face is your best bet. Of course, there are different kinds of sprayers out there, some that are more gel based instead of gas based that give you greater range. But with those sprayers you need better accuracy, because it isn’t creating a mist in the air like our type of spray. Becca’s pepper spray is also nice because it 4″ of metal and can be used as self defense weapon in multiple ways. Most other pepper sprayers that I’ve seen are cheap plastic.
• This experience hurt bad enough that I really really really hope my kids never get into it. Playing with mommy’s keys is a no no. Especially since kids like to put things in their mouth, discharging in the mouth could constrict air ways enough to cause suffocation. Keep away from children!

I’m glad we did it, I’m glad Becca carries pepper spray. I’m glad she trusts me enough to do crazy things like this to learn from it, and I’m glad we can laugh about it afterwards.