We saw an article recently about military police officers going through OC spray training at Fort Hood in Texas. The training is required before they can carry OC spray themselves. It brought back memories and reminded me that every new member of the military must be subjected to the effects of pepper spray as part of their basic training.
It isn’t just military police officers who undergo this OC spray training but civilian law enforcement trainees as well.
Pepper spray is also known as oleoresin capsicum, OC spray or even defensive spray and is a chemical compound based on the resin of one of the hottest peppers in the world- the cayenne pepper. It is used for riot control, crowd control for military and civilian police officers and for civilians for personal self-defense. It irritates the eyes, causes tears, intense pain and even temporary blindness from eyes being forced shut. It is not pleasant stuff.
There are two main reasons why military and civilian police officers undergo this training for defensive sprays. The main one is to give them first-hand experience on how effective it is. The second is learn how to fight through a cross-contamination situation by keeping their composure while subduing their subject.
One recruit was quoted as saying “I’m telling you, you do not want to get sprayed with this. There’s no adjective, no words to describe the pain.”
We have always espoused the idea that the more you know about a subject the more effective a tool it will be for you. That is why pepper spray training is so important-your life may be in the balance!
This handbook on Tactical Defensive Sprays is a great way for civilians to learn the basics on how to use this most popular of all self-defense products. It details how to shoot pepper spray and how to use it against armed assailants.
Pepper spray is the most widely used nonlethal self-defense product in the world for personal safety. It is carried by every law enforcement officer in the country as well as military police officers. In most circumstances it is the first line of nonlethal self-defense. Civilians use it for their self-defense because it is close to 90% effective and can disable an assailant for as long as 45 minutes.
Pepper spray is legal everywhere with a few cities and states having restrictions on the potency or the amount in the canister. It should be noted that some of these restrictions are being lifted even as we speak. Massachusetts is a good example. They were one of the few and perhaps the most restrictive of all states in the country on purchasing pepper sprays. But those restrictions have been lifted
making it much easier to get pepper spray for personal safety and self-defense.
As of this writing we have 187 different choices of pepper sprays for you to choose from. Certainly one or more of them will be perfect for your needs.