Self-Defense - better than pepper spray

[GreatLakesGramma]

I received this in my e-mail, thought it sounded very good. Pepper spray is totally useless. I have some meant for animals and humans. It comes out in such a tiny spray, the dog would have to be up close and motionless for me to ever hit it in the eyes, and that is never going to happen.

Quote:

I have a friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area who was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection.

[phkrause]

Interesting!

pk

[Robert]

Just keep in mind if you miss you might die....

[Robert]

HEY ROBERT

BUT if you spray any were near the face you

should get the eyes

dgrimm60

Maybe...is it worth the risk?

[Robert]

HEY ROBERT

IF wasp spray shoots out 20 feet and pepper spray

you have to be very close it might be worth it

dgrimm60

Maybe....

[Amelia]

I'd have to get a bigger purse to carry around a can of wasp spray. :)

[carolaa]

I was thinking the same thing. I've never seen a small can of any kind of bug spray.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Robert, I think the idea is to use it when you are going to be dead if you do nothing, so it seems to me it's worth trying under those circumstances.

Currently, I carry a powered squirt gun full of straight ammonia on my walks. It's not a super-soaker, so the stream it shoots is still rather thin, which would make it hard for me to hit a dog in the face while it was moving around, especially if I ever do use it, and the next time I meet the dog he dodges it. So the wasp spray sounded pretty good to me. But I could never bring myself to shoot him in the face unless I was absolutely sure he actually was going to bite me. He's not a bad dog, he just takes his responsibility to guard his family and their home very seriously, and he doesn't know I am no threat. In fact, the things I've done in the past to try to keep him from bothering me have convinced him that I am.

But my first line of defense with this dog is my umbrella, which makes a pretty decent shield between me and him, and as I've been thinking about it, I realize that he is going to be close already by the time it's clear that he is actually going to try to attack me, and with the umbrella blocking him, I would probably get a pretty good shot, even with my squirt gun. So maybe I don't need wasp spray. On the other hand, maybe it would be a better deterrent than the ammonia. And if he ever does actually try to attack me, he's going down. I will call the authorities and make sure of it if I have to. So I wouldn't be concerned about any permanent damage he might suffer at that point.

Mostly, I just try to avoid letting him see me go by. That's not too hard this time of year, because all the trees and brush along the road is fully leafed out. The only critical point is at the driveway, and by the time he sees me there and gets to the end of the driveway, I'm usually far enough past it that he doesn't bother to come very far after me.

He's getting old, so I'm hoping I won't have to deal with him too much longer anyway. And during the winter, it doesn't matter anymore if he sees me or not. He doesn't feel like getting up and coming after me then.

[nuff sed]

Go to the Dollar Tree and buy an air horn... They are amazing little gizmos. They are about the size of a pill bottle and made of plastic.You blow in the side where the hole is and the sound will amaze you. They are every bit as loud as the larger ones that you use for boat and use a canister of air to power them. One blast should send dogs running in the other direction.

If you can't find one let me know and I can obtain one for cost plus postage.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Not with this dog, it wouldn't. I tried one of those things that makes a noise we can't hear. He figured out very quickly that the noise was only there when I was, and that's when he started to get really vicious toward me. I'm not going to try any more things like that.

[phkrause]

So where do us guys carry the can of wasp spray?

pk

[phkrause]

I think you didn't get my post dgrimm.

pk

[GreatLakesGramma]

Dgrimm, I've talked to the dog's owners. It didn't do a whole lot of good. The house is isolated, and they really need this dog to protect their property. Chaining him is not really an option. I wish they had taught him to not leave their own property though. That would have completely eliminated any problem.

[Woody]

My neighbor just got pepper sprayed and ended up in the hospital. No he isn't a bad person. He is training to be a policeman. And they mistakenly sprayed him with a too high of potency. It was not fun for him. But, just part of his training. Don't tell him that pepper spray is no big deal.

[Woody]

I was responding to the original post where she said:

Quote:

Pepper spray is totally useless.

My neighbor thinks differently.

[phkrause]

I would guess that if he didn't than he does now.

pk

[carolaa]

HEY AMELIA

WELL THEN BUY A BIGGER PURSE

SMILE SMILE SMILE SMILE SMILE

dgrimm60

It seems like big purses are the thing now, but I can hardly stand to carry a purse, much less a big purse. :(

[carolaa]

So where do us guys carry the can of wasp spray?

pk

Real men don't need to carry wasp spray.

[GreatLakesGramma]

I was responding to the original post where she said:

Quote:

Pepper spray is totally useless.

My neighbor thinks differently.

I was referring to the little spray cans of pepper spray they sell to use for people and animals. I have no doubt that it would be quite effective IF one could succeed in getting it into the eyes of the attacker, but that is a VERY BIG IF. It will never happen with the wimpy little stream that comes out of those cans and a dog who isn't going to stand still for it, especially when you add in a user who can't hit the side of a barn from more than 3 feet away.

[phkrause]

Good one carolaa, woman one, men zero.

pk

[carolaa]

Something more manly than wasp spray, for sure....

[carolaa]

See, you've got the idea. You know how to be a manly man without my help.

[carolaa]

How about disguising your wasp spray IN a club?

[Dottie]

My dad used to carry in the car a flashlight that held 5 D batteries, but that might be considered a weapon nowadays. Or maybe a "tire thumper" (I think that's what it's called). I saw one at a truck stop I was in a couple of weeks ago. I contemplated buying it, but thought there is a possibility that it could be used on me. Also, see above re: weapon.