TYPES OF 'PEPPER SPRAY'

There are a few different Types of Pepper Spray. To begin with. pepper Spray and Mace are NOT the same thing (although there is a Brand of Pepper Spray called MACE). Mace, also known as tear gas, is often identified as CN alphachloroacetaphenone or CS orthochlorobenzalonitrile - (now you know). 

CN and CS are irritants and as a self defense products are inferior to true Pepper Spray because they're slower  and not always a reliable stopper.  It has been found that some people heavily under the influence of drugs or alchohol are not  stopped with tear gas. You won't find any  CN or CS based self defense products for sale here.  All this site carries is true Pepper Spray made with Oleoresin Capsicum, also known as OC.  It's extracted from the essential oils of hot chili peppers

OC pepper spray is a non-lethal self defense spray, but it's also very nasty stuff.  It's an inflamatory agent  that instantly attacks the mucuous membranes.  When hit in the face with pepper spray (and you ALWAYS aim for the face when you're using pepper spray the eyes of your assailant will automatically tear up and slam shut. It's an involuntary reflex and there is nothing they can do to stop it.  It causes temporary blindness and when it gets into the nose and the respiratory system pepper spray also causes uncontrollable coughing.  

Oh yes, and it hurts like hell!  

There are different formuations and strengths of Pepper Spray. You'll see references to 2%, 10% and 18%.  They'll all do the job. 

SPRAY TYPES

If you're buying pepper spray, you'll see references on this site to spray, stream and fogger.  

Forced Cone Spray/Mist: Most of the smaller 1/2 oz.  personal size pepper sprays are forced cone sprays.  It's easy to picture.  Forced cone sprays have a typical range of 6-12 feet (usually depending on the size) and cover a width of about 2 feet.  Expert opinions vary, but I suggest to you that if you're going to buy pepper spray the combination of a decent range and the width of coverage make the forced cone pepper spray a good all around choice.

Stream or Broken Stream: Think of a water pistol.  Stream sprayers deliver more liquid pepper spray to the target, so someone getting hit in the face with a stream of pepper spray is taking a big hit.  But they also get used up faster.  Streams often have a longer range than a forced cone pepper spray- which makes sense.  Another plus to streams the the low risk of blowback, which is what might happen if you shoot a mist of pepper spray into the breeze and it comes back and hits you too.

Stream sprayers are good for dealing with multiple assailants - on paper at least.  But please don't ever forget, this stuff isn't magic. If it's unlikely that you're going to be able to keep your wits about you well enough to fire multiple accurately aimed face shots at a group of hostile moving targets in a high stress situation, don't imagine that a stream sprayer is all you need.  Honestly, I don't think I could do it and I don't think I have the greatest aim either.

Foggers: Just like they sound, a fogger emits a broad, very fine mist of pepper spray.  Foggers are good for crowd control, and the fine mist is very quickly inhaled. An 18% Wildfire Pepper Spray fogger will take effect, blindingly fast . Blow back in a breeze or in an enclosed space, like a small room in your house can be a big problem.  Foggers don't have a long reach either,  think 4-6 feet.   In spite of these drawbacks, if you can step backwards to get away and if you have lousy aim or just bad vision, a fogger might be the best pepper spray for home.

Foams and Gels:  These are the newest variations.  They're pretty much stream sprayers, but they have good distance range (especially the gels) and there is no danger at all of blowback.  The other huge advantage is that when hit in the face with a pepper spray foam or gel it has lots of stick'em.  If your attacker tries to wipe it off, all that happens is they'll grind the pepper deeper into their face.