# Educate me on pepper spray. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648 "2005-11-18T15:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/21 "2005-11-19T12:30:35Z")
> [@](#): > > . Others, not so much. In fact, some people are hardly affected at all and can continue to function somewhat normally after getting sprayed. As stated above, it’s best to have other options, such as SD training because the pepper spray may not do jack to an attacker. Perhaps the pain might not stop some people, my understanding that if you get it in your eyes the capilaries swell and temp. blind the person, which makes it hard to keep the attack up, also restricting airways. In general how effective is bear deterrent pepper spray compaired to the human stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/22 "2005-11-19T12:44:36Z")
> [@Mr. Slant](#): > > I just don’t understand how anyone could ever effectively use pepper spray against a sane assailant. You are assuming that assailants are sane, instead of drugged up, drunk, or plain old stupid. I’m sure some muggers are going to have a crisp plan of action, but there are a more than a fair share of just general malcontents who are too stupid or jacked up on something to have a plan at all. Remember, if they were clever, they’d probably not be mugging people in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/23 "2005-11-19T15:35:36Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > I know what CS is. And I know what capsaicin is. But I thought mace was the outside covering of nutmeg. > > Why do they call the product mace? Anything to do with nutmeg? Or is the name derived from the spikey weapon? Mace is the name of the company that produced the self-defense product. > **[Mace (spray)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(spray))** > > Mace is the brand name of an early type of aerosol self-defense spray invented by Alan Lee Litman in the 1960s. The first commercial product of its type, Litman's design packaged phenacyl chloride (CN) tear gas dissolved in hydrocarbon solvents into a small aerosol spray can, usable in many environments and strong enough to act as a deterrent and incapacitant when sprayed in the face.\[citation needed\] > A generic trademark, its popularity led to the name "mace" being commonly used for other defen... As to why it’s called mace? I’ll relay the story told to me when I underwent OC pepper spray training for the first time. The instructor said something to effect that when you look at the product on a microscopic level, the chemical looks like little spikey balls. Like a mace. That was a long time ago, and I make no claim that that’s accurate, so take that FWIW. > [@kanicbird](#): > > Perhaps the pain might not stop some people, my understanding that if you get it in your eyes the capilaries swell and temp. blind the person, which makes it hard to keep the attack up, also restricting airways. Again, it depends on the person. It really just doesn’t affect some people as much as others, even when getting it in the eyes. I used to give pepper spray training at one of my former units and have sprayed a few dozen people in the face and eyes as part of that training. I’ve also been witness to the same training for quite a few more people, and with some folks, they just aren’t that affected. They can continue to see and function with little difficulty, compared to most others. In my initial training, we were told that OC may be less effective on people with darker skin. This coincides with my observations in training. In fact, the one guy I sprayed who was the least affected was black. He was barely affected and had no trouble seeing during the exposure. As with anything, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/24 "2005-11-19T15:42:39Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Getting a pocket full of OC soray is _tad_ different than getting a full spray in the eyes. It burns like hell for about 40 minutes, then when you try to shower it off your face and out of your hair it reactivates. > > Your comment about “who get’s sprayed” is valid. Very easy for a mugger to quickly assualt you before you can spray, which is why knowing some empty hand self defense is a good idea. Oh, sure, I wasn’t trying to downplay that it actually works… I know it does. I got hit with it one time during my juvenile delinquent phase by on of four arresting officers who were apparently mad that I refused to comply with their verbal orders to climb out of a window so that they could arrest me. The OC worked, but not until after I was already cuffed and in the back of a police cruiser. In retrospect, yes, I suppose I was the kind of idiot who gets hit with OC. Then again, a group of officers spraying a non-compliant juvenile in the process of performing an arrest has little to do with a college coed considering the use of OC in self-defense. My anecdote on what it does when it has accidental discharges was just me offering an anecdote in response to **Joey P** ’s speculation on what it might feel like if it detonated in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/25 "2005-11-19T16:00:43Z")
I had one go off in my pocket! All I felt was a moderately painful burning sensation. When I got the chance to look at it (a couple of hours later) my skin was a livid red, it took a couple of months before the scaring faded. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648/26 "2005-11-21T06:53:35Z")
If she can legally do it in ND she may want to also carry a small expandable [baton](http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/Keychains/autolock.php). I carry one of these off duty. Smaller than a regular expandable it slips nicely in a pants pocket. Both the ASP (or Mace) pepper sprays & the baton are about the size of a cigar and slip nicely next to each other in a pocket. It’s small but effective for strikes to the knee, elbow, or ribs. But she should really get training from a qualified instructor before carrying it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-pepper-spray/331648.md?page=1)