Is OC and CS an important addition to your defensive arsenal? My answer to that question would be yes and no depending on the situation. If an angry combatant five feet away is rushing you with a ten inch knife with the intent of killing you, then the clear answer would be no. This is because defensive sprays are not the panacea that some manufacturers have led the general public to believe. Let's take a brief moment to examine the most commonly used compounds found in defensive sprays. The main component found in Pepper Spray is OC, (Oleoresin Capsicum) a substance that irritates the nerve endings near the skin's surface and causes a painful burning sensation in the eyes, nose, mouth, and throat. CS (ortho-chlorobenzylmalononitrile) which is sometimes referred to as tear gas got its denotation from the initials of the chemist who first formulated it. CS is an incapacitating agent often used by military and law enforcement to subdue a person who is combative, and also for crowd control. The most common effects of CS are severe burning sensation in the eyes with the production of streaming tears, excessive production of mucus, and severe coughing which can create the onset of panic in some individuals. It is also a skin irritant that causes a burning sensation to any skin exposed to it.
With some controlled exposure and conditioning, a trained person can learn to work through the effects of OC as well as CS. It should also be noted that not all defensive sprays are created equal, and the effectiveness of OC is dependent on its heat rating, which is measured in Scoville Heat Units. A weaker spray with a lower SHU rating will be less effective. One of the hottest sprays manufactured in my opinion is Sabre Red which is an OC/CS combination. I reviewed an independent assay of all the major brands, and Sabre was consistently the highest in the active ingredient. Sabre is used by large metro departments such as NYPD, and is also used in many maximum security prisons as a means of crowd control. When my friends ask me what their wives and daughters should carry, this is the manufacturer that I have recommended for many years. You should also keep in mind that when someone is sprayed with OC or CS, there is an initial delay time until the compound begins to irritate the skin and inflame the mucus membranes fully. With that being said, here is a video of a trained private security professional working his way through a face full of Sabre Red:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUOaUoUrnNE
In all fairness to the Sabre product, they should have let the film keep rolling so that you could see the effects once the spray had become fully activated, but as demonstrated, pepper spray against an attacker armed with a handgun is probably not the best defensive option.
Here are police training exercises where Sabre Red is used:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X41ZfxVfYJg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgK1FXp_5J4&feature=related
Here is some other footage of our military that you may find of interest:
Army training with defensive sprays:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9YaDCsZuEM&feature=related
Marines becoming acclimated to defensive sprays:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy-OhfooAM4&feature=related
As you can see from the above video clips, when an assailant has a high quality defensive spray administered on them correctly, there are effects created that could afford the defender a window to escape the attack. Many have asked me how effective defensive sprays are against an assailant that is under the influence of a major stimulant. It has been my observation that an apparent by product of methamphetamine use is that it seems to elevate the pain threshold in some individuals which raises the question, can defensive sprays stop a person who is high on methamphetamine, crack cocaine, or PCP? Let me just say that I would not want that to be the only line of defense between them and myself. As I stated in an earlier posting, there is a hierarchy of defensive options, and defensive sprays are somewhere near, if not at the bottom of the list. However, another aspect to be considered is that in the event a defensive spray doesn't succeed in completely deterring the assailant, it may at least slow them down or partially incapacitate them affording you enough time to escape the attack, or to implement your next level of defensive options. If you are an outdoor person who runs, skates, or bikes a lot, an ancillary benefit of carrying a defensive spray which contains OC, is that it will make an angry dog become passive almost immediately.
Some suggestions for selecting and using a defensive spray:
If the application is outdoors, choose a defensive spray that is delivered in a ballistic stream. This is a narrow high pressure stream that can be easily focused on a small area such as the face from a distance of ten or so feet. Because the stream is narrow, you need to distribute the spray in a side to side motion so that you target both eyes, the nose, and the mouth, almost like you are painting the face using horizontal brush strokes. The advantage of the ballistic stream for outdoor use, is that it is less affected by wind, therefore lessening the chance of you receiving any blow back. Be careful not to direct your defensive spray directly into the wind, or you will get to feel the effects of it first hand. A cone type dispersal pattern is best for indoor use, as the spray pattern covers a wider area and distributes a larger pattern more rapidly, and is better for crowd control. Some instructors who teach people how to use defensive sprays instruct them to hold the canister up so the attacker can see it while commanding them to stop. I personally feel that this alerts the attacker to shield their face or hold their breath and close their eyes, which could reduce the effectiveness of the spray, because it is more effective if they get it directly their eyes and airway. After you spray an attacker, be sure to move to the left or right and back by sidestepping on a 45 degree angle, because this puts the greatest distance between you and the assailant in the least amount of time, in order to evade the attack in the event that he keeps moving forward in his original direction (where you were) due to his vision being impaired by the spray.(charging blindly)
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