self defense on the cheap

[calmloki]

In an email forwarded a bunch, so you know it's got to be true. I'm not going to squirt myself in the eyes to see if this works, and don't have any handy evil-doers, so testing is up to you - but wasp spray is cheappppp. Any LEOs that can comment on this?:


If you don't have a gun, here's a more humane way to wreck someone's evil plans for you. Did you know this? I didn't. I never really thought of it before. I guess I can get rid of the baseball bat.

Wasp Spray - A friend who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead.

The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray, they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection. Thought this was interesting and might be of use.

 

[TromboneAl]

About.com verdict is: Dubious

Wasp Spray vs. Pepper Spray for Self-Defense - Urban Legends

Snopes is mixed:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp

 

[JustMeUC]

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Better to do it right. Just the sound of the pumping action of a shotgun will make most burglers turn tail and run, but if that very scary sound doesn't stop them then the next step certainly will.

 

[calmloki]

It's the hippy defense. Chrysanthemum power baby. Pyrethrin vs. Pump action.

 

[nphx]

glock 19's on sale at galleryofguns.com ....

 

[Nords]

Better to do it right. Just the sound of the pumping action of a shotgun will make most burglers turn tail and run, but if that very scary sound doesn't stop them then the next step certainly will.

"Whoops! Heh-heh. Sorry, honey, my bad!! Next time, would you mind knocking? OK, dear, thanks!"

 

[Walt34]

A Remington 870 makes a sound recognizable anywhere in the world. Upon hearing it anyone with more sense than a box of rocks will run.

 

[TromboneAl]

Click here.

 

[Tesaje]

Better think about the next step. All non lethal attacks are only to give you enuf disorientation to get away. Where's your escape route? It had better not be across the attacker.

 

[ksr]

"Whoops! Heh-heh. Sorry, honey, my bad!! Next time, would you mind knocking? OK, dear, thanks!"

I used to work in an office building with an enclosed parking garage a short distance away. I frequently worked late enough that I'd find myself walking alone into the dark garage, and started carrying Mace with me. My SO wisely suggested that, instead, I carry a high-decibel alarm with me. He thought that if I got spooked and flipped the alarm on, only to realize that it was the company CEO approaching me, I could easily smile and say "sorry, I hit that thing by accident." However, it would have been a lot more difficult to apologize away a shot of mace in the eye.

 

[calmloki]

Story from the past. My folks had split up and I was living that summer with my Dad and working for him as a machinist in Portland. He had a building in our small home town with a couple automatic screw machines in it - needed a run of parts on one of those machines, so after my shift I got tapped to do the run. Plan was that after doing so I would go out to the ranch and get some sleep before my shift up in Portland. Only problem was, I don't think anyone told Mom.
Finished the run, drove the 10 miles out to the ranch, and walked in the typically unlocked kitchen door. Quieted down my happy dog and banged around in the kitchen scaring up some groceries and running into furniture. It was probably 4 AM, and no one called out or got up to say hello, so I decided to head upstairs to my old bed. Now this was a little single story old farm house, and my bed was up in the attic at the head of the stairs on the right, my sister's room was to the left, and the only light switch for the stairs was at the top. The parents bedroom was downstairs.
Anyway, I go stumbling up the stairs in the dark after shutting off the lights downstairs, and am just reaching out to where the light switch should be, when I hear, low and serious, "you stop, right where you are". I froze, then said "can I turn on the lights first"? Heard a loud exhale and turned on the light to see my Mom with a little .32 pistol, no longer leveled at my head. Turned out she had been sleeping upstairs in my bed rather than down in their bedroom.
Since then I've looked into the business end of a pistol grip shotgun in a Subic Bay bar. I've had to evict a couple Nazi wanna-be idiots, a way too healthy cage fighter, and other special people. Nothing has ever made me feel as close to my maker as my Mother's voice that night. She meant serious business.