I know very little about pepper spray and I'd like to get a few canisters. What do you guys recommend. Brands? Gel or spray?
Bear spray. I just mounted a can to my mountain bike after getting a pretty bad dog bite a few weeks ago.
What Mr Randall said. And here is my opinion as to why. I went through the gas chamber in the military. I have been sprayed with pepper spray a number of times, both "qualified" and on a damn bus. And this is the conclusion I have come to, they will not stop someone who is actually determined to get you. They certainly did not stop me. I once hit a guy who sprayed me as a joke with the squirt squirt stuff. Right after he sprayed me. Perhaps the random purse snatcher but...... Anywho the bear spray large canister extra strength and here is the important part, constant cloud you can put into the faceholes of the attacker will be more effective than the little squirt squirt or belt models.
In that case, I'd go with Jefe's suggestion, bear spray. About 16-24oz size. A foam is better, more "sticky" but that depends on whether you want to do permanent damage to a dogs sense of smell. I hate to say this but I would recommend replacing it at least every 2 years. I worked in corrections and had cans that didn't or wouldn't spray on two different occasions.
I always get weird looks from new people who bike with me because I either have bear spray on me when I mountain bike, or a can of the police spray mounted on the handle bars of my city bike. But I tell you what, it only takes being bit once by a 'nice' dog chasing you, to convert you into a vigilante with the ability to dispense justice and education in the form of capsaicin on all adversarial life forms.
+1 for anything stronger than typical spray. I also went through the gas chamber. While sitting in a constant cloud of it makes it hard to breathe, you can definitely power through it. It's not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. And once the consistency is gone (once your stop praying or they get their face to fresh air) the effect is gone within a minute or two. Seriously, I would never ever trust any type of spray to be a deterrent against humans. Dogs, sure. The front of their faces are a lot more sensitive to that kind of stuff. Someone that wants to **** you or steal your **** won't be stopped by a spray.
The dog that bit me was a big dog. He chomped down on my calf muscle and caused me to lock the bike down and go over the handlebars. I was pissed and gathered myself off the ground and started towards the dog to kick its ass. He kept running from me so the owner came out, caught him and beat the hell out of him. I told the owner one dose of spray would handle him next time. They got rid of the dog since they didn't want him around their grandkids after he bit me. I've been bit more times than I can count by dogs but this one pissed me off. I now carry bear spray mounted to the bike.
My main recommendation is not getting it in your eyes. Eyes are bad enough but that stuff dries before you can get it all off cause it's oil based. Later on, when your taking a shower, washing the rest of it off, gravity doesn't do you any favors, I can promise you. Boy, could I tell some stories...
I thought you were suppose to just spray it in your own eyes and mouth when being attacked and it scared the attacker enough to just leave you alone. Sort of like Bart holding a gun to his own head in Blazing Saddles.
Have to agree with you. I knew I shouldn't have laughed so hard watching Revenge of the Nerds as a kid.
I got my OC instructor certification a couple years ago. Get a can of sabre red or a can of vexor. Vexor is the hottest stuff on the market, sabre red isn't far behind it. Sabre red is what we carried in the jail and vexor is standard issue now that I'm on the road. Get the stream version, it does a good job of coating a bad guys face and running into the eyes and other soft membranes. Don't get foam, it can be wiped off and thrown back at you. Don't get the mist version, because like mentioned earlier, unless you're in a confined setting once you move out of the mist cloud you clear up pretty quick. Bear spray is actually not as hot as people think it is. The FDA actually has regulations on what can be used on animals but absolutely no regulations on stuff made to be used on humans. Ass backwards, huh? And don't forget, the stream spray leaves behind a UV dye that can be used to identify the bad guys later if the police get involved.
Freeze +P is what a couple of LEO's recommended to me. One of them swears it's the only thing that could tame the nastiness meth head in N. Alabama.
