Some women are not comfortable with the idea of carrying a pistol, concealed or otherwise. But everyone is entitled to self protection when they need it. A great alternative to a concealed carry pistol are some of the self-defense products that are available to nicely take the place of a pistol. These products are based on the use of cayenne pepper. If you don't know cayenne pepper can quickly disable someone if it is sprayed in their face. It will temporarily blind someone, causing burning skin and great discomfort. Usually blinding will only last for about 45 minutes, so there is no permanent damage from using this method. But it can give you time to leave an attacker as you run away. To make sure that you are legally able to use this in your location be sure that you check the law, in some places it is illegal to use this.
One of the most effective of these products has been created by Kimber. It is called PepperBlaster II. It is based on cayenne pepper, 10% capsaicin, but it is not your typical spray. This product shoots a gel toward the attacker. It does not use aerosol to release the gel. The gel is released by a power-driven piston. This eliminates the possibility of overspray that might hit bystanders. This gel has a maximum range of about 13 feet and it can cover about a 2 foot wide area at the impact point. It sticks to everything it lands on. Since the gel is not pressurized its lifetime is much longer than aerosol sprays. The gel is released at over 100 mph which allows it to penetrate any kind of mask or face covering that an attacker may be wearing. This unit only weighs 4 ounces, but it contains two units of gel.
PepperBlaster II can be carried in your purse in place of a concealed carry pistol. You might think that carrying this in your purse may cause it to accidentally discharge. Kimber has designed a feature that will eliminate accidental discharge. The trigger is covered by a small plastic tab which can be moved easily out of the way when you draw out the product. You can put it in the concealed compartment of your purse and use it just like you would a pistol. Most people think that if they are using this product they do not have to practice with the it. That's a mistake. Even though you are not using a pistol to protect yourself you still need to be able to use the spray effectively to protect yourself. You have to practice in order to be effective with this product. Kimber has created training units that are a duplicate of the actual cayenne pepper units except they spray washable blue liquid instead of pepper. This gives you the ability to practice with this product without using the real pepper gel.
You can further review and purchase this product at pepperblaster.com.
Another self-protection device that is capsaicin-based is made by Sabre and is called Sabre Red Pepper Gel. The small cannister comes with the key chain attached. It contains .54 ounces of spray gel. Each cannister holds up to 25 sprays. Different cannisters with different strengths of capsaicin can be purchased. This particular model is propelled by aerosol but the manufacturer claims that the shelf life is four years for the product. Each unit comes with a blue practice cannister, so that you can become familiar with the product before you actually have to use it. The top of the cannister has a protection cover that you move out of the way before you press the button to spray an attacker. When tested this product would deliver gel to a distance of 25 feet!
Sabre has been in business for quite a long time and produces very reliable products for self-protection. You can further review or purchase their products at sabrered.com.
One of the brands of capsaicin-based products that has been around the longest is the MK-6 from Defense Technology. There is a range of different strengths of pepper sprays offered in DT's products. The weight of this unit is 0.68 ounce, so it can very easily be carried concealed. It is a cannister shaped unit with a protection tab at the top to keep it from accidentally firing. When the top button is pressed the stream will go at least 18 feet, offering very good protection from a distance.
You can review and purchase these products at defense-technology.com.
