Personal Defense

We get lots of calls and questions every day about what is the best thing for personal defense.  There are lots of options out there and all of them are useless without a dash of diligence, a pinch of self-discipline and bowl full of comfort in what you will use.  There are a few things out there that top most peoples lists when they research what there is to use and pepper sprays, Tasers (TM) and stun guns, usually make those lists.

So a lot of the questions we get daily are – Which one is more effective, which one will take down an assailant, what would be best for me?  There really isn’t a magical formula on this but through some simple education on each, we are able to provide each of our customers with the knowledge they need to make an informed decision.  Remember, its “Personal” defense, what will You use?

Mace Brand sprays are quite simple and unique, they are the leading brand of pepper sprays in the country and there name has become synonymous with pepper spray personal defense.  They have a variety of  hand held sprays from liquids to foam and gels and many contain tear gas. There market research has enabled them to develop an entire brand around their product and to create sprays that encompass a multitude of situations.   One of their most recent developments has been a Mace Pepper spray gun capable of firing up to 25 feet with refillable cartridges.  So pepper spray can be the way to go if you want something on your keys or in the house or would like the feel of a gun that can burst targets up to 25 feet away.

Stun guns often get confused with Tasers and there are knock-off Tasers out there but there will only be one Taser.  Just like the Mace Brand sprays, Taser is Taser and its name is, its brand.  I’m sure most of us remember the You Tube video and the following marketing campaign of shirts and bumper stickers all saying “Dont Tase me Bro! Don’t Tase me!”.  Well at least he had it right, it was a Taser.  This unique hand-held device shoots out two fish-hooked barbs attached to wire leads that inject the body with up to 50,000 volts and cause muscular disruption of the signals in the brain to the rest of the body.  Now this is similar to what a stun gun does but a stun gun is only a localized pain affect unlike the Tasers overall body effect.  The C-2 is the newest consumer model on the market, its handle-like, lightweight design is done to not make it look like a gun like the previous models.  It comes in many bright and distinct colors such as Pink and Red Hot Red, and have become very fashionable and have prompted Taser parties all over the country.

Now, stun guns, they come in all shapes and sizes and voltages.  Other questions we get asked a lot are, so which one is the strongest? I want them to drop, which one should I use?  Well, there are dozens of voltage choices out there from 100,000 volts to 3,000,000 volts.  But in the end, they are still a localized effect so if you want someone to drop you have to hit them in the right place.  So what of the voltage?  The higher the voltage the more pain, stun guns combine high voltage with low amperage and in that area of the touched muscle the brain scrambles to send information and the disruption can cause many different reactions.  It can cause it to tighten or straighten or spasm and eventually will exhaust it altogether and render it useless for a short time.

So back to voltage, the higher volts the faster pain is inflicted in an area, but touch someone in the right place and it won’t matter if its 400,000 or 1,000,000 volts coursing through them, they’ll feel it.  Now there are lots of articles out there that talk about the condition of the person that a stun gun is being used on.  If someone is on some kind of substance that is already mis-firing their brain messages like drugs or alcohol, will it be useful against them?  It is hard to give a straight answer to that question.  There are so many different factors involved with anything we use for defense and there simply is no way to prepare for each and every scenario life has to throw at us, but having something to protect yourself sounds better than having nothing at all.