This.
A black bear was stealing trash and even stole a trash bin. I got some bear spray on Amazon.
Since I’ve never used this stuff before, I tried a squirt to see how far the stream would go. Air currents brought a whiff of the stuff back to me and had me coughing and crying for quite some time after.
I was able to hit that bear in the face with a shot of spray a few days later. Haven’t seen him in months now.
Or bleach AND ammonia. Yay! We’ve made mustard gas! (Kinda).
Mace was a trademark and brand name. For a time had some bearing on which chemical agent was being used. The original agent was different than is common today even under the same brand name. The OP example of usage 20 years ago may introduce some confusion by comparing different agents.
There’s three major agents that have been used CN, CS, and OC (aka pepper spray). From Riot control agents: the tear gases CN, CS and OC-a medical review.
Very simply they irritate skin and especially soft tissue like the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. They stimulate tears making it harder to see. They cause a lot of pain. I can attest from experience CS hurts. It hurts a lot. My OC experience is just downwind scatter of applications. I’ve seen a couple hundred people sprayed applications though. (I swear one day no matter where I moved while watching the wind switched to keep me downwind. :smack:) CN fell out of favor due to it’s greater toxicity. DOD dropped its use as a riot control agent and it’s less commonly available on the market. When CN is available it tends to be part of a mixed agent like an OC and CN canister still available today under the brand Mace. Most over the counter agents are OC/pepper spray today. Law enforcement typically uses OC for individuals and CS for rioting crowds. They may also use foggers that disperse OC broadly for crowds.
People are funny. We all respond differently to the agents. I personally don’t get the long snot ropes hanging from the nose that can be common from high concentrations of CS. We also respond differently to pain. With strong enough motivation, or drugs in our system, people can push through a lot of pain. Which leads back to why I saw several hundred people get pepper sprayed. I was part of a unit certifying other Army units for deployments where they might be carrying pepper spray. To be certified to carry it they had to prove they could fight through the effects if they were exposed in the process of using it. We gave them a full dose. To be certified they then had to run an entire course performing tasks like taking down and securing prisoners both unarmed and with a riot baton. They also had to prove they could properly strike and block strikes with a riot baton. They had to perform all the tasks properly not just tackle people and flail away with the baton. Overwhelmingly, people passed the certification on the first attempt. Motivated people can get sprayed with OC and still fight.
Riot control agents aren’t some magic wand that stops everyone. They give a big advantage. The exposed person is less likely to fight. If they do fight it’s generally not as effective. In most states there’s not even a difference between what is legally for sale to non-law enforcement and what law enforcement carries. The big difference is that law enforcement are trained to use the advantage. If you carry OC for self defense, you can squander much of the opportunity you get from it if you aren’t mentally prepared for what it does. Be ready to try and escape when they are distracted by the initial effects and pain. Be ready to close to bad breath range and use force if they don’t quit and escape isn’t possible.
Actually, you’ve made chlorine.
Simply release the tiger.
I’ve found that spraying people with my “pretty much inert” substances is what precipitated the attack.
My army acquantance, after going through training like that described above, reported that it made /him/ angry. His opinion was, “I’d riot too if you sprayed me with that stuff.”
So… you want to learn about pointed sticks, do ya?
When I went through basic training, there was a half-day session where they fed us through a CS chamber to demonstrate it’s not all that bad (Ha!)
Something made the chamber go down for about two hours so they were rushing us through to get done before dinner chow. I masked up and was sitting in the chamber a minute when my eyes started to sting a bit. I figured it was leaking a bit either from a defect or an improper seal but decided later it was because it hadn’t been aired out properly what with the rush and all.
Then came the time to unmask. Nope! That mask was working just fine, I thought to myself. Sure wish I had it back on now!
As has been mentioned, the point of chemical agents isn’t to disable him, it’s to distract him so you can get away. That’s true of every other non-lethal method, at least for civilians.
It is likewise true for hand-to-hand combat techniques. It is highly unlikely that you are going to knock him out with your best strike, and even if you get in a good eye jab, he may or may not lose interest in hurting you. It depends on how drugged up/psychotic/enraged he is, and there is often a large overlap between these options. But a clean jab to the eye (or a good nut shot) will cause him to think about something else, at least for a second, and that is when you make your exit.
Almost any weapon is better than no weapon, but not always a lot better. Keys are an example. Walking sticks might be better, but you have to practice.
The best self-defense weapon is still a gun. Yes yes I know - it is subject to all the limitations of any weapon (you have to have it available, not at the bottom of your purse, you have to know how to shoot the thing, you are going to have to deal with all the legal and moral implications of carrying a gun), but “God made men and Sam Colt made them equal.” When it comes to mean and stupid, a lead vaccination is a drastic cure, but it is a cure.
Self defense exists at three levels -[ul]
[li]Situational awareness at the first level - recognizing dangers so you can avoid them in the first place.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]Situational awareness at the second level - recognizing when a danger has started to appear, so you can get away from it.[/li][/ul][ul]
[li]Self defense. That’s where you hurt the other person as much and as fast as you can so you can get the hell out of there.[/li][/ul]Guns hurt people, a lot and fast. Do the math.
Regards,
Shodan
When I went through, the purpose was the opposite: to prove that your gas mask worked.
You put on the mask and went into the chamber full of CS. Once inside, you were made to remove your mask and see how bad life sucked without the mask. Hint, it did suck but the effects wore off after 5-10 minutes.
I wonder if it has anything to do with capsaicin tolerance? Some people can gobble down the hottest peppers like they’re candy and others can barely handle a bit of jalapeno. I wonder if their tolerance for pepper spray is relative to their tolerance to hot peppers.