Placement and Practiced Use of Pepper Spray

Choosing which pepper spray product to purchase from the various types on the market and carrying it is the simplest thing to do compared to actually using it! Don’t make the mistake of doing diligent research and purchasing pepper spray, only to dump it into your purse or pocket. Knowledge is power and if you know how to successfully use your spray to disarm your assailant you will much more likely to escape unharmed.

Practice is absolutely necessary. Before even leaving your home, carefully think over how you would handle yourself if you were attacked. Visualize your counter-attack plan and make sure it’s something you can easily carry out under stress. Never wait until the heat of the moment to devise a plan to deal with a direct threat! Decide where you will carry your spray – pocket, purse, holster or other convenient place that you will remember. To increase the likelihood that you can easily gain access to the spray, always keep it in the same place each time you leave your safety zone. You certainly don’t want to be caught scrambling to find your pepper spray.

Once you’ve decided on a location to keep your pepper spray handy, it’s important to remember to never raise the canister or point it in the face of an assailant until you’re absolutely ready to spray. Raising it too early may give your attacker a chance to knock it from your grip and if you decide to spray before he is within range you risk not hitting him fully in the face. Successful use of pepper spray requires that you spray your attacker directly in the face since breathing in the pepper solution is what causes the reaction that will allow you to get away. Your ultimate goal is to blast him quickly, before he has a chance to react, and then run away immediately.