Fog or stream - pepper spray

[ArmedCMT]

Apologies if wrong sub-forum
I have been reading various forums in which people have weapons confiscated and or face jail time due to use of firearms in home defense.

I want o switch my primary (handgun) to a backup and use pepper spray as primary.

question? would I be better off using fog or stream type device for inside home? I know stream has a better {reach} but the radius is not as good as the fog and obviously fog does not have the reach. I am leaning towards fog, but wonder if anyone has a suggestion which may help?

Gel! When it hits their face it sticks and first instinct is to touch your face and that is gunna make it worse.

[deckhandmike]

Pepper spray will not stop a determined felon one bit. I know this from experience with it. Never use it in your home as self defense. It's really only suitable for the times carrying a firearm is impossible. You might as well just use a baseball bat if your unwilling to use a gun. At least you won't blind yourself.

[voiceofreason]

+1 that it will likely affect you as well; not good if multiple attackers and you missed one, but you're not fighting effects of OC

+1 on some type of color to identify him after

escalation is great, but you're not LE. if they're in your home, they need to leave,

if they move toward you, show a weapon, pick up a weapon, then you need to defend yourself, not move up the ladder of force

you don't have a radio, vest, partner, backup to help you; you only get one shot to get it right

[Tac driver]

Pistol with a flashlight in one hand and stream pepper spray in the other. No issues of not being able to see and if intruder is armed no need to draw your pistol. I myself go for the .45 only. My girlfriend has the gel for her evening walks and so far it has worked.......I don't have to walk with her anymore!

[deckhandmike]

Gel is the best type if you have to use it.

[BigPimping]

Does it come in different grades? My wife got some for $5 at the grocery store and I'm wondering if that's effective?

[negolien]

Dohhhh

Pepper spray will not stop a determined felon one bit. I know this from experience with it. Never use it in your home as self defense. It's really only suitable for the times carrying a firearm is impossible. You might as well just use a baseball bat if your unwilling to use a gun. At least you won't blind yourself.

less than lethal works that's why law enforcement carry it. Having options besides just shooting someone is just common sense. More tools in your toolkit means more options.

[MudCamper]

Go with stream and get some inert trainers. Foggers tend to get on you as much as on your attacker.

I think this is an oversimplification.

And other posters are stating that you are more likely to get blow-back from a fog. That is just wrong.

With a stream, you are much more likely to get splash-back when used in close quarters.

With a fog, more of the stuff is aerosolized and is just everywhere in the air.

Both of these come with some risk of exposure to the "shooter".

Just 2 days ago, I tested 2 2-ounce canisters of Fox Labs, one cone (fog), the other stream. They both went the same distance. The fog was a nice wide cone covering a foot wide area at the end.

I decided to switch to fog. Sure, I may breath a bit of the stuff in, but the guy I'm pointing it at is going to have his entire face covered, even with only a very short burst of exposure.

[epilepticninja]

Pepper spray will not stop a determined felon one bit. I know this from experience with it. Never use it in your home as self defense. It's really only suitable for the times carrying a firearm is impossible. You might as well just use a baseball bat if your unwilling to use a gun. At least you won't blind yourself.

Agreed. I've used pepper spray quite a bit in the past (no tasers back then), and it seemed most effective on animals. Humans for the most part are smart enough to put up their hands to block the spray, or use a hat if available. Also, if you are in close proximity, you are gonna get doused to as it hangs in the air. Gel is by far the best. And aim for the eyes/mouth if possible. Hitting them center mass is pretty useless.

[MudCamper]

The Kimber Pepper blaster!
We have bought three of them

What I love about the Pepper Blaster is how it rides in a back pocket. It is very comfortable, and it remains in position for easy access. I carried one for a couple years. The problem with these is you only have 2 quick shots, with no stream to aim with. If you miss, you're done. I practiced with a couple of them, and eventually decided to switch back to normal aerosols.

BTW this MACE gun which is $47.99 plus shipping at the above Midway link is $33 plus shipping (total: $39.25) at Amazon:

I've been carrying the Mace Pepper Gun for the last few months. I wear pants with large cargo pockets, so despite the gun's HUGE size, it rides fairly comfortably. I tried out a couple of canisters, and it works pretty well.

My complaints about it are how giganticly thick it is, and that the LED is a pathetic anemic little thing. This item is a great concept, but is executed only marginally. If they made it a half inch thinner, and put a real LED on it, it would be perfect.

[Arkangel]

less than lethal works that's why law enforcement carry it. Having options besides just shooting someone is just common sense. More tools in your toolkit means more options.

LE has to take people into custody while using the least amount of force possible (hence the different force options). As a homeowner you have no such obligations; you just want the intruder out of your house. Coming from personal experience; chemical agents are too unreliable. Take if from me, you don't want to wrestle an angry guy covered in mace. Not everyone is affected by chemical agents the way manufacturers would like you to believe.

[Q619]

Stream or foam. Fog has a short effective range and you will be included in it. People will tell you foam can be wiped off and thrown back at you. This just doesn't work. I and others have tried to reproduce this scenario and it doesn't have any credence.

No matter what, you will be subject to the effects if you deploy oc so you had better take a shot to the face and decide whether or not you can fight through it before you actually end up in a real life situation with it.

There are many people that aren't very strongly effected by it, so bear that in mind. I'm pretty strongly effected by it and it still isn't hard to fight through out. It's all mental.

Not a big fan of oc.

[negolien]

LE has to take people into custody while using the least amount of force possible (hence the different force options). As a homeowner you have no such obligations; you just want the intruder out of your house. Coming from personal experience; chemical agents are too unreliable. Take if from me, you don't want to wrestle an angry guy covered in mace. Not everyone is affected by chemical agents the way manufacturers would like you to believe.

The fact still stands saying less lethal is ineffective is wrong. Take it from people that are certified in it it works. I also highly recommend a Taser as a less lethal option it's a super tool. The more tools you have to use the better why limit yourself. If you can stop a threat without shooting someone trust me that's the better option. You also don't have the right to use deadly force just because some is at your front door.

[lolkopter]

my escalation starts with tazer. even thought there is only one shot, I would rather try that first shot of tazer and have that work than have the first shot be deadly and go to court. look at the C2 tazer, can even conceal carry it with no license

[Jeepergeo]

Because some pinhead politician somewhere decided that we can only be trusted with 2.5 oz at a time. Does it really matter why? It's illegal.

Then again, maybe it's not such a bad law if you were considering setting off a 1lb fogger INSIDE your house.

"To be legally purchased, possessed or used in California, any canister must have a label that says "WARNING: The use of this substance or device for any purpose other than self-defense is a crime under the law. The contents are dangerous--use with care." The maximum legal net weight for a canister is 2.5 ounces, or 70 grams of OC."

This labeling requirement makes it hard to buy spray on line as some manufacturers don't include a California label and vendors don't want the headache (Amazon, and others).