Pepper Spray/MACE - Pros/Cons

[SARG]

Keeping in mind that many states have restrictions on obtaining the pepper spray and thinking about how unpleasant it would be to get sprayed in the puss with wasp spray ..... I sorta think it's a viable deterrent to someone trying to enter your house that requires no special permit or license to obtain.

If you can't breathe you can't fight and if you can't see it's hard to be a threat. Common sense tells me the wasp spray would be effective to provide time for other actions.

There are sheep and sheep dogs and predators. Some of the herd will always be just a sheep.

 

[k0ua]

If it came to spraying some thug in the face with wasp spray, two things come to mind: one, I am not going to be too concerned about a warning label on the can about misuse of the product, and two, the long lasting effects of the spray are not going to be foremost on my mind either. The long lasting effects of a piece of lead/copper at high velocities can be rather severe also. If it comes down to actual spraying someone the immediate effects of stopping the threat would be foremost on my mind. Does it work? I don't know. I have never sprayed anything but a wasp/hornet with it, and I can tell you it works as designed on them. They drop dead, right now.

 

[TripleR]

I received training on it every year as does my son and it is always put forth as a means to enforce compliance and not for defense. It must be sprayed into the eyes and nose for best effect which takes practice. Many canisters used can also cause permanent eye damage if used close up.

As with a gun, I advise anyone choosing to use it to get the proper training.

 

[MMagis]

Someone explain to me why one would rather keep a can of bug spray for home protection and not a shotgun? Mind boggling.

 

[EddieWalker]

Not sure I'd join the wasp spray club after reading a couple articles....
6 Reasons Why Wasp Spray is Not a Substitute for Pepper Spray - eXtension
Wasp Spray for Self-Defense? : snopes.com

This is almost the same argument that if we outlaw guns, then there would be no gun crimes. Only use pepper spray because it's safe and wont hurt the bad guys very much instead of using something that might hurt them a lot, but you can't use it because the label says you cant. I've never seen a can of pepper spray anywhere near as big as a can of wasp spray. I know that if the wasp spray hasn't been used, it will spray out accurately 20 feet and last for a full minute. Pepper spray isn't even in the same league!!!

Best of all, you can buy wasp spray anywhere and it's not illegal or offensive to have it sitting on your desk, on a counter or in your car.

 

[MMagis]

This is almost the same argument that if we outlaw guns, then there would be no gun crimes. Only use pepper spray because it's safe and wont hurt the bad guys very much instead of using something that might hurt them a lot, but you can't use it because the label says you cant. I've never seen a can of pepper spray anywhere near as big as a can of wasp spray. I know that if the wasp spray hasn't been used, it will spray out accurately 20 feet and last for a full minute. Pepper spray isn't even in the same league!!!

Best of all, you can buy wasp spray anywhere and it's not illegal or offensive to have it sitting on your desk, on a counter or in your car.

Not that I’m advocating using pepper spray for home defense, I think it’s foolish. But a can of bear spray will do everything a can of bug spray will, and then some.

 

[SARG]

Yes .... You can get pepper spray in canisters as big as a fire extinguisher ........ just a little bulky to handle.

The OP stated he was thinking about something "less than lethal".

And Eddie ...... I suspect 15 seconds of full spray from a can is more realistic.

 

[EddieWalker]

Not that I’m advocating using pepper spray for home defense, I think it’s foolish. But a can of bear spray will do everything a can of bug spray will, and then some.

Where are you going to buy the bear spray? Is it legal for anybody to have it? Can they leave it out on their desk or on a counter legally? The advantage of wasp spray is that if you need it, it's easily available. If you don't have any, it's easy to get. It's VERY EFFECTIVE!!!! If somebody else uses it and hurts somebody, all you have to say is that it's wasp spray, and that's what I was using it for. It's also very good at killing wasps!!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

And to add to this, I have two cans of it behind the seat of my truck all the time. I work construction and there are wasps in the eves of the houses I work on. I need it for killing wasps. I don't have pepper spray. If somebody was threatening me, or making me feel nervous, I could use the wasp spray to defend myself. If a police officer pulls me over and sees that I have two cans of wasp spray, we can talk about wasps, but there is nothing else that he can do about it. If I every have to use it, then that's all I had to defend myself shot of pulling out a hammer, which would be deadly force.

 

[MMagis]

And to add to this, I have two cans of it behind the seat of my truck all the time. I work construction and there are wasps in the eves of the houses I work on. I need it for killing wasps. I don't have pepper spray. If somebody was threatening me, or making me feel nervous, I could use the wasp spray to defend myself. If a police officer pulls me over and sees that I have two cans of wasp spray, we can talk about wasps, but there is nothing else that he can do about it. If I every have to use it, then that's all I had to defend myself shot of pulling out a hammer, which would be deadly force.

And I can get pulled over with my 9mm and there’s nothing they can do about it. Good luck with your bug spray.