Self Defense

Should You Carry Pepper Spray?

Here's the scenario: you're in the parking lot, a stranger jumps out at you from between two cars with the intent to grab you and stuff you in his trunk. Fortunately, you have your pepper spray and can deliver a shock of the potent chemicals straight into his eyeballs. He falls to the ground, face in his hands, writhing in pain. You turn and run back into the safety of the building, call 911, and congratulate yourself for disabling a horrible criminal and saving yourself from certain rape, maybe murder.

Sounds good, right? That's the story that the pepper spray industry wants you to believe. Just buy their product and whammo, you have instant self-defense. You want to believe it. But does it really work that way?

I'm not a fan of carrying weapons such as pepper spray, mace, or stun guns. Let me tell you why:

• If you're going to use any type of weapon, you need to be familiar with it. Using pepper spray would be fine, if you practiced with it on a regular basis. I'll bet there are women out there (maybe you?) who are carrying pepper spray in their purse or on their keychain and have never sprayed it. The optimal situation is that you practice using this weapon on a regular basis, say, once a week. Then you know the answers to questions like: how far does the spray extend? How does the wind, rain, or any other type of weather affect it? Do you need to take off a cap or let a safety off before you use it? Does the spray lose its effectiveness over a certain time? If you need to use it quickly, can you find the right hold immediately with the spray pointing the right way? When you have practiced enough to make it an extension of your body, then you can consider using it.

• You have to keep it in your hand whenever you think you might be able to use it. That means digging it out from the bottom of your purse BEFORE you head out into the parking lot. You just don't have time to hunt around for it if you suddenly find yourself confronted by a bad guy. Even if it's on your keychain, you need to be gripping it in ready position as you walk.

• You have to make sure that the bad guy does not get hold of it and use it against you. Practicing with another person trying to get it away from you is necessary, but will you do it?

• It's not good in all situations. If used in a car or an enclosed space, the bad guy is not the only one who will be disabled, especially if the car is moving.

• There are some people who the pepper spray does not affect. Some other people may be only slightly affected. A spray in the face may slow them down, but not enough for you to get away. You can't predict who will be immune.

• Your awareness is distracted by thoughts of "is it time for me to use this?"

You may be thinking, but what if I am in this situation? How do I escape? First 99% of these scenarios can be avoided using preventive techniques and perception. When you are in a marginal area like a parking lot or on the street, make sure it is well-lit and there are other people around. At night, park your car under the streetlight. Lock your doors when you get in the car and drive out of the parking lot right away – save that cell phone call for later or make it before you head out to your car.

You can also tap in to your powers of perception as you enter that parking lot. Bring all of your attention into the here and now. Are there people hanging around and loitering, or are they going directly from their vehicle into or out of the building? Do you see someone heading directly toward you? If so, go directly back into the building and get security to walk out with you. As you approach your car, can you see between the vehicles parked on either side of your car? Again, if you are out there alone, go back into the building and get someone to walk out with you. That's an easy thing to do that only takes a couple of minutes, and people are happy to help you be safe.

But let's just say you somehow did get ambushed and there's your stranger. Fortunately, you have some wonderful weapons on your body that you can use much faster and that are probably more effective than pepper spray. You can yell, I mean really YELL "no", "back off", or your favorite word or couple of words that will make someone know you are serious about protecting yourself. You have strong hands and possibly fingernails that can go straight to the bad guy's face. You have strong legs that can support a kick to the knee that can disable him so you can get away. And you have the passion to protect yourself and your family that will translate into the pissed-off, raging woman exploding into him that he will not expect.

Yes, you need to practice some strikes and kicking to be most effective. But you will always have these weapons with you and with a little practice and a lot of passion, escape is more likely. Even just imagining kicking that bad guy's butt will help. But I definitely recommend taking a self-defense class, at least once a year, to build a little muscle memory and learn the disabling strikes you'll need in a scary situation. So instead of relying on a can of pepper spray, put the effort into building your self-defense arsenal of personal weapons and passion.

 filler