PWaT #3

Pepperspray (pepper) and Mace.

Pepper and mace are the two strongest forms of non-lethal weapons private citizens can carry. Anything more potent, and the risk of injury to others, possibly fatal injury or harm, is severely elevated.
To make it clear, we will not be covering the use of knives or guns in this series, nor defense spikes or other lethal versions of such.

Pepper comes in a variety of makes and models. In a normal grade spray, there is a small to medium percentage of “pepper” in a liquid or gel, with or without coloring agents. A legal pepperspray, with a legal amount of active pepper will not permanently damage a person’s eyes or skin, but a faulty or overly strong solution will. In short, the damage to the eyes will come from a burning, or scarring of the retinas, which will lead to temporary or permanent blindness. These things are not toys.

Pepper spray comes in to forms of distribution systems – cloud or spray and stream. With a cloud distribution, you will get a sort of “hairspray” effect, where tiny droplets rush out of the nozzle, whereas with a stream, the name describes it perfectly: a long (6 – 12 feet) continuus stream of liquid that is precise but hard to aim. The potential for selfinfliction is lowest with a stream distribution pepper device.

When faced with an assailant, be it man or animal, direct the spray or stream towards the face. All skin that is in contact with active pepper will sting and burn, but it’s the eyes we’re after. Skin reaction can take up to 20 seconds to reach full effect, whereas the eyes will close in 1-2 seconds after first contact, and continue to be useless for between 45 and 90 minutes if water for rinsing is unavailable.

Press trigger, aim, and keep spraying the hostile person or animal until you are sure that their eyes and face is covered. Then run.

Running is your friend. Your window may be small, but use it well, and you will escape the dangerous situation.