THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY of pepper spray.

We've been having problems with bears in NM recently, & I had a buddy ask about pepper spray. Although it wasn't triathlon related I felt it was good info & thought I'd share with my blooger peeps.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY of pepper spray.

good news, the public can carry it legally.

Beware, cans have been known to heat up & explode if left in cars. Once that happens you will NEVER be able to to get into your car without being contaminated. No amount of vacuuming will ever make it go away. EVER!!! (I didn't do this particular one. All the other warnings contained in this report, both Cindy & I experienced first hand. I don't know why she's still with me!)

There are thousands of places you can buy mace over the net. Just google pepper spray. Most of the companies are owned by 2 or 3 larger companies & all the smaller companies owned by the big 3 share patents, so don't worry to much about which one to buy. Essentially you get what you pay for. The more expensive ones are worth it, the less expensive ones are dangerous &/or won't work as well as they claim. The smaller companies being owned by bigger companies is a lot like SRAM owning & sharing patents with Zipp. Same thing.

The types of pepper sprays are OC, CN, & CS. There are also combinations of them such as OC/CS, CN/CS, etc. Don't worry about that. What matters is the SHU, more on that later.

They have different delivery systems: sprays, foams, gels, & fog.

Fog is designed to distribute a large quantity of mace over a widespread area. Fog delivery products primarily affect the respiratory system. Fog can be deployed to a large area. You don't have to score a direct hit to target. The good thing is it can be used effectively when running, when scared & unable to think, much less aim! It can be used effectively against multiple targets, hit entire rooms or groups of people-er- I mean dogs. The bad about the fog is it hits EVERYTHING! If you use it inside a home or car everyone & everything will get hit, & it'll float around a long time. Anytime anything moves it'll lift off & float around some more contaminating everything & everyone!

sprays, gels, & stream are designed for target-specific long-range deployments, with a minimal likelihood of cross- contamination. Their primary physical effect is on vision. Unlike fog, if you miss the target, it won't work on them!

Foams are easier to decontaminate from.

Buy one that has a dye. That way it's easy to point out which person, dog, or bear tried to harass you. It's harder to hide in plain sight when your bright pink or purple.

They will try & make one product sound more potent than others by saying it has a higher % of OC. The % of it doesn't matter. You measure how potent it is by it's scovile rating. The scovil rating measures the heat units. You will see it advertised as SHU (scovile heat units). The higher the number, the more potent it is!! 5,000-50,000 is what was used for years & it is entirely effective! No one will continue to try & do anything but cry & cough if they are hit with 5,000-50,000. 500,000 burns really bad!! Really really bad! They are now making stuff available to the public measuring as high as 2 million SHU. The 2 million & I are good buddies.

If you can find a place that sells prison or law enforcement grade, you could find it as high as 5 million!

The 2 million stuff is so potent that if you get hit you should only wash your clothes at a public laundry facility, the clothes washed the next couple times in that washing machine will burn you. when you dry the clothes hit w/ the 2 million stuff in the drier, the pepper spray will become airborne & the entire room will be hit.

If you wash & dry the clothes you were wearing with other clothes, the other clothes will be contaminated & they will burn you when next worn. If you love your spouse, don't wash or dry the contaminated stuff with your spouses clothes, especially their under clothes (sorry Cindy).

If you get sprayed, even an indirect contamination, & then you kiss a loved one hours later, even after showering, the area you kissed on them will burn...badly.

If you get contaminated, wash your self from the top down. & wash hanging upside down, or the water contaminated by the spray will move downwards, & you WILL CRY & WHEEP HYSTERICALLY!

Try & buy the OC that DOES NOT use alcohol as a propellant. If something gets hit by alcohol propelled mace & then gets near a heat source they will turn into a human torch. Ya, not that funny.

You can build up somewhat of an immunity to OC if frequently exposed.

OC is made from an oriental pepper plant & is edible.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask. OC & I have had a very close love/hate relationship for many years.

You know how every person has a few bad habits that their spouse just can't break them of? Well, if you ever hear me call Cindy "hot lips", it's because anytime I get exposed to OC I go home & kiss Cindy 1st thing through the door. (cue evil laugh). No matter how many times I've done this, & no matter how much trouble I get into I can't stop!!! It's gotten to the point that Cindy won't kiss me until she asks how my day went first.

Enjoy, & remember it's better when shared;-)

Have u kissed your local correctional officer lately? haha!