Every since the early 1990’s defense sprays such as Tear gas and pepper spray have gained popularity among law abiding citizens and even criminals. Prior to this, these sprays have been used for decades by law enforcement agencies and military types for crowd control and criminal apprehension. These products are still in use by these agencies. In fact the next time you encounter a police officer, or a mail carrier – ask them why they carry pepper spray. You have probably seen in the news were law enforcement officers have used pepper spray for crowd control. These people depend on this proven product for their protection because they work.
I have already discussed OC Pepper spray. OC Pepper spray uses a derivative of one of the most powerful caustic peppers in the world-the cayenne pepper. The basic ingredient is oleoresin capsicum or OC as it is called. It is an inflammatory agent that does some nasty non-lethal things to the person on the receiving end of the pepper spray, pepper gel or foam.
Because of the known effectiveness of pepper spray, how can you know that the pepper spray your thinking to buy is any good?
Does the percentage matters?
I quick search of the internet and you can see that OC Pepper spray comes in different formulations. You can find concentration from 1% to currently 23%. There are a number of differences in the formulations and delivery systems that the percentage of active ingredient (OC)is not a good indication of how effective it is. For example a 1% solution can be just as effective as a 10% concentration or more so. However, for most spray formulations, the higher the percentage o OC, the better the spray should work on your attacker. But few sprays are alike, much less equal, like colas.
There are THREE formulation factors for OC Pepper Spray that when combined is used to determine how effective a spray is – they are as follows
- The Heat Rating of the OC
- Type of Carrier Agent
- The Spray density
Scoville Heat Units
The heat-generating capacity of OC is measure in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). This measurement scale was derived by chemists by the name of Wilbur Scoville. OC is derived from a variety of hot pepper such as cayenne. Peppers range from 0 SHO for standard bell peppers, to 5,000 for jalapeno pepper, and up to 1,463,700 SHU for Trinidad Scorpion pepper. The pungency (or heat factor) of chile peppers is measured in multiples of 100 units. One part of chile “heat” per 1,000,000 drops of water is rated at only 1.5 Scoville Units. Pure Capsaicin, he substance that makes the peppers hot, rates between 15,000,000 and 16,000,000 Scoville Units! Today more scientific and accurate methods like Electrochemistry and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) are used to determine capsaicin levels.
Depending on what kind of pepper Is used affects the effectiveness of the spray. A 10% concentration of jalapeno pepper is not going to be nearly as effective as a 1 percent concentration of Dorset Naga peppers. In actual spray formulations, OC from the peppers is processed as mentioned above until it reached a heat rating as high as 2 million SHU. When you purchase pepper spray, don’t look at the concentration, look for how many SHU it generated.
Most pepper spray in stored in a pressurized canister. Each manufacturer keeps their actual formulation for carrier/OC confidential. However some common carriers are alcohol, keton, a DuPon chemical called Dymel-22, other solvents, and oils and water.
Certified Heat Rating
If you go on the internet you can find all kinds of claims of companies having “THE BEST” Pepper spray. We recommend you consider the unbiased results of an independent laboratory* that tests the heat of the pepper once it is sprayed out of the can. The Carrier Agent and Spray Density can affect the actually result of the effectiveness of the Pepper Spray. This Certified Heat Rating (CHR) measures how hot the pepper spray will be once it hits your attacker. We carry a line (http://www.peppereyes.com/page/pepperspray) of Streetwise 18 Pepper Spray has a CHR of over 180,000 SHU, and a line of streetwise 23 pepper spray that has a CHR of 230,00 CHO making them one of the hottest, certified, most effective self-defense sprays on the market. For comparison, competing brands were tested by the independent laboratory. They found the average heat rating to be 123,000 SHU, making Streetwise 18 over 46% hotter than the competition, and the Streetwise 23 over 87% hotter .! Streetwise 18 is so potent that it can incapacitate an attacker for up to 45 minutes without causing any permanent harm. Warning: some brands make exaggerated marketing claims. The only true way to know the actual effectiveness of a pepper spray is to have it tested by an independent laboratory or by the testimonials of people who have used it.
On some of the brands of pepper spray we have we actually will replace your pepper spray if you have used it in a life threatening situation, and you give us your testimonial.
PepperEyes.com is dedicated to providing you with the best and most affordable personal protection products on the market to meet the security needs of you, your family members or your business, by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim of crime. If you want to take personal responsibility for yourself, your home or your business, purchase our high quality discount personal protection products and arm yourself with the knowledge of the best way to stay secure in an ever-increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.
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