HardwareLust wrote:

J999w wrote:

Not so much for dogs ... I'll either spray some Gatorade on them or
wack them with my pump ... but more for when encountering rowdy kids
just starting their summer vacation, have had a few too many cans of
beer, and getting just a little too abusive while half hanging out of
the window of their friend's car.

Had such an encounter tonight while out riding about 10:30pm
(sometimes 'ya gotta ride whenever you can). Now, I'm a big guy (6'5"
and 200+ lbs) and normally don't get harrassed, but every once and a
while I come across some buzzed social bottom feeder feeling brave
and is ready to take on the 'faggy bicyclist'. My normal reaction is
to flip them the finger, or give them a stream of expletives and some
suggestions of physical impossible feats, but I fear that some hot
night, when I'm out riding, I'll come across someone looking for a
fight and I'm thinking that the full water bottle I bounce off their
car will just entice them more and I'm going to need an edge
(something legal).

Anyone carry pepper spray? Ever use it? What kind?

Thanks.

jw
Milwaukee


If I were to carry something non-lethal other than a gun, I think I would
probably prefer a air-powered cartridge loaded taser (the kind that looks
like a gun and shoots 15 feet,*NOT* the cheap contact kind) over a can of
pepper spray. I believe that they're legal to carry concealed in most
states without a license. They require some training and practice to use
effectively, but the training is easy to get.

People who are enraged (or just pumped on adrenaline) and/or on drugs can
still function and continue attacking you even after being sprayed
(especially with consumer-grade sprays), whereas 50,000 volts will stop
anything short of a bull elephant dead in his tracks.

I have been trained to use both, and when facing a single attacker, I would
feel much more confident of stopping an attacker with a taser in my hand
than a can of pepper spray, but that's just me. If you are facing multiple
attackers, then I might give the nod to the spray, assuming you are properly
trained and practice it's use.

Regards,
H.


I saw some statistics on tasers the other day, and they are
only effective about 20% of the time from 10-15 feet, 5% under
10 feet and 5% over 15 feet.

I don't think I would like to trust my life to one of these.