A while back I wanted to write an article on pepper spray so I grabbed a couple of canisters from Sabre, which is a reputable company that makes high quality pepper spray.
If you decide to carry pepper spray as a self-protection tool, don’t just buy the first cheap spray you see.
You’ll want to do a little research. Does it have a potent charge? Do you want gel, UV light tracing capabilities? Also, how many ounces per second does it spit out? What is its pattern? Its range? There are a lot of questions that you need to answer before buying your spray.
So to start out, I’d recommend buying pepper spray produced by a reputable company. After you decide which company you like than you need to determine what you are wanting. By that I mean do you want a small .4 ounce can to carry in your pocket or a 9.2 oz. bear sized can. After you’ve determined that, then decide on a model that fits that need.
So, you’ve finally decided on which pepper spray you want and have bought one. Now, lest you fall into a false sense of security don’t rest on your laurels and think you’re set. You now need to test your spray. How large of a pattern does it have? How far can it shoot? How does it react in a mild wind? A strong wind?
You need to know the answer to these questions. You didn’t just buy a pistol for self-protection and call it good did you? No! A smart gun owner practices regularly. They investigate so as to choose the best/most effective ammo.
You need to do the same with your pepper spray. You need to know how to activate it. What the pattern is.
On some of the smaller canisters they have a tiny small stream, almost like when shooting a water pistol. They don’t reach out too far so in a sketchy situation you want to have it in hand ready.
On the other hand, the big 9.2 oz. Frontiersman bear spray boast of reaching out to 35 feet and dumping 1.84 oz. of pepper spray per second where some of the others only spew out 1.0 ounces per second.
So, with all of the above said, in my pepper spray article that I wrote a month ago I stated that I was going to recommend to Sabre that they manufacturers some practice spray.
As soon as she read the article Claire informed me that they did indeed already make that product and sent me a small canister and a large one filled with an inert material.
We just tested them (my wife, daughter and I). I’m glad that we did. It allowed them to get a general idea of what to expect performance wise in case they ever have to use theirs. So, as we close, if you and your family carry pepper spray I’d recommend purchasing a couple of test canisters to practice with.
Tom Claycomb is an outdoor enthusiast and writes a monthly column for the Humboldt Sun.
