Any good recommendations on a good pepper spray that she can easily carry/hide but still would be strong enough in case she ever needed it.
As the others have said, pepper spray on campus is a huge no-no, and if convicted she'll be disqualified for life from obtaining a Mass. LTC. It's explained in the "DQ" thread in my sigline.
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I knew that , I was just saying im serious she should know what it feels like to be sprayed and that she can fight through it, its fun she will love it.
You need to introduce me to these women you know.
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
as far as i know, the only measurement of the strength of a spray is by percentage of the active ingredient (Oleoresin Capsicum), and by a scale known as the Scoville scale
Those are the ones that you hear the most about. Most people don't know about the
major capsaicinoids, which is the potent part of the pepper that induces pain. Not all brands are created equal in this regard. First Defense is .18% major capsaicinoids, Punch 2 is .675%, Sabre Red is 1.33%. The other brands fluctuate somewhere between those, except for the Pepper Gel's, which are usually 1.4% major capsaicinoids to make up for the carrier (the gel) slowing down absorbtion.
The Scoville scale is affected by how quickly the pepper is absorbed into the skin, so you'll see a lot of manufacturers up the SHU's by lowering the overall Oleoresin Capsicum percentage (Fox Labs, for one). The overall OC percentage (typically 5% or 10% in defense sprays) is the percentage of pepper sauce in the can; higher percentages hit harder and last longer but usually take longer to be absorbed. The rest of the contents are made up by the carrier (water or alcohol generally, sometimes foam or gel to reduce cross-contamination), and the propellant, which depends on the brand.
Then you have the type of spray, like stream, cone, fogger, gel, foam, grenade, etc. Some people prefer stream for it's accuracy, cone because it sprays like a sawed off shotgun, foam/gel because they rarely affect anyone else in the room...others hate stream because if someone turns their face at the last second and you don't hit their eyes/nose/mouth they'll hardly be affected (ask me how I know this), hate cone because it's less precise, hate gel/foam because it takes so long to take effect, etc.
Like firearms, all sprays are not equal. Some perform like a .50 BMG, but are put in a platform equivalent to a Jennings or a Lorcin (bad seals in the cans, lame propellant, poor carrier, etc.), which greatly reduces their reliability. Others are like the American Arms .25 I used to own, 100% reliable in delivery, but very little effect on the badguy. So ideally you want one like your gun, easy to conceal, powerful, reliable, and so on.
To give you an idea of what you're up against, I've done a bit of research into OC, and most of the stuff you see women carrying on their keychains is utter garbage. Because you're in MA, state law considers pepper spray to be ammunition, so you can only purchase it through FFL's in state according to the AG. Most people won't ship it here, and most of the manly men in gun shops want nothing to do with pepper spray and know nothing about it, so they sell some keychain brand that no one's ever heard of.
Personally, I like Sabre Red 10% OC/1.33% mc in cone spray, with the oil based carrier (I hate the water based one) and the dual propellant system; the problem is the only reliable delivery IMO on those is in the duty sized cans, which can only really be concealed in a purse. I don't carry OC as part of my concealed carry setup; I generally like it as a tool, but it requires maintenance (don't carry the can for more than a year, make sure the nozzle's clear, don't leave it in a very hot/very cold environment, etc.) and I have enough crap in my pockets as it is.
My advice: like with firearms, most major brands are essentially the same. Do some research and make some reality based choices. If she works in the ICU of a hospital, cross contamination will be an issue (spray a burst of OC indoors and you'll clear the room if not the building), so gel or foam would be best. If she's trying to do a cell extraction for a rowdy prisoner, buy her the grenade.
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Just make sure she can fight with her hands, since OC is a limited tool against any kind of serious threat.
There's a lot of BS surrounding OC similar to caliber wars. Some of it is based in science, some is based in stupidity. Explain to your wife that people can and will fight through it. If she carries it, it should be with the understanding that it's to irritate, distract and possibly temporarily blind her opponent in a fist fight. It will devolve into a fistfight if she lets it; roughly half the people I've sprayed stopped all aggression on the spot, the rest kept fighting, running, or whatever else they wanted to do. Some people aren't affected by it at all, others collapse and beg to die. Tell her to "spray and run away," and just like with a gun, don't wave it around and warn the opponent "I have pepper spray!" Let it come as a surprise, if they've never been hit with it before it will probably shock them quite a bit. If they're a hardcore felon who fights the cops every time they show up, they'll know what to expect and won't be bothered much.
some states legislate the maximum percentage, while others regulate the amount one may carry, as far as i know, Massachusetts has no restrictions (IANAL)
Correct. Even with a restricted FID one could theoretically carry a Dog the Bounty Hunter-esque fire extinguisher sized can of OC. I wouldn't recommend it though, drawing those puts pressure on the seal at the rim of the can and can cause a spontaneous evacuation. That's a lot of hurting, let me tell you, especially when you go home and shower and it reactivates in the hot water...
it's the gift that keeps on giving.
the "Law Enforcement Grade pepper spray" works out to be roughly 33.3% Pure... that officially gains the Haynesmic seal of approval!
Negative. "Law Enforcement Strength" is a marketing gimmick. NYPD uses First Defense, which is utter garbage (10% OC/.18% mc/stream), but they buy it because when outfitting 40,000 officers price matters, and First Defense is $1 less per can. Cap Stun sucks, they only got anywhere because of a well placed bribe (no really, look it up), the stupid trigger system on the can is easy to break or accidentally activate.
Police agencies buy pepper spray the same way they buy guns, based on a million factors, often factors other than what's the very best. For the most part they want something that will distract the thug during handcuffing and wear off before they get to the station for booking. This typically means weaker forumulas, like Fox Labs, lower OC percentage, fairly high MC's and very high SHU's. You may have similar or different needs, buy accordingly.
Stay away from mace because it is weaker than pepper spray.
Negative. Mace is a brand name, but much like the terms Xerox, Kleenex and so on it's become a catch phrase. Some brands use a CS/OC blend, but that's different (oh, but ever so potent! The downside is most also use a single propellant system, stream delivery and a water based carrier, although Sabre used to make a cone spray OC/CS blend...they stopped putting it out in 2004 IIRC). IMO other than the Mace brand Take Down Pepper Gel Mace brands are underpowered, but they are generally decent performers in my experience.
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. I would use anything with pepper spray in it. Stay away from mace because it is weaker than pepper spray.
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....hope I helped!
