{"id":1296,"date":"2011-07-31T21:23:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T04:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/?p=1296"},"modified":"2024-07-22T07:12:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T13:12:09","slug":"nate-and-pepper-spray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2011\/07\/nate-and-pepper-spray","title":{"rendered":"Nate and Pepper Spray"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

. . . can you tell Nate has been coaching me? . . .<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

Couple random things . . .
\n– 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.
\n– 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.
\n– 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.
\n– 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.
\n– It took him a good 10-15 min cool shower before he stared feeling better.
\n– Nate says he doesn’t recommend this experience and probably won’t sign up for that again.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

From Nate: This wasn\u2019t a fun experience, but I\u2019m glad I did it because we learned a number of things from this:<\/p>\n