(Official discussion) Best pepper spray

Thomas GomezStaff - December 23, 2020

[See the full post at: Best pepper spray]

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The POM Pepper Spray has no expiration date on the unit — do y’all have any recommendations on maintenance for these?

 

Lowell – I have the same pepper spray and at first I thought that I didn’t have an expiration date on mine as well because I didn’t see it at the bottom of the can. But they are sneaky and actually have it printed underneath the bottom of the colored band in the middle. 

So pull down and off the base, then slide the middle colored band down and you should see it.

And for some reason if it isn’t even there, POM says to replace unit every 18-24 months for maximum performance. So if it’s been two years since you bought it, it’s time to replace.

 

I’ve been thinking of getting this very small pepper spray for when I go jogging outside. 

In this YouTube video https://youtu.be/vlZZpM95u_Y?t=5 it looks to be very easy to use and small to wear, but the amount of sprays and distance is pretty poor. It would only be effective if someone was right in your face grabbing you probably. It’s better than not carrying one though if other models are too bulky or harder to access in a bag or holster.

 

Great recommendation Rebecca, thank you!

You are right, the pepper spray you have on you and available is the best pepper spray. Many people carry it in their purse or backpack and it will take them 30 seconds just to get to it. Having it readily available on your wrist is a nice ability.

 

In my country (Japan), there are no tear gas sprays made by Defense Technology.
Mace is barely sold in my country, but Police Magnum OC-17 is more noticeable.
It is advertised as being used by the US military and law enforcement agencies, but I can’t find any documentation to support this, nor can I find any MSDS/SDS safety sheets.

I don’t trust it, but it is so prominent that I would like to request an expert review.

https://www.policemagnum.com

 

I actually have carried Police Magnum OC-17 for years and it doesn’t show any signs of wear. Very well built holster/pouch and the canister is well built as well. 

The below canister expired in 2017 and I’ve never discharged it but I kept it to do some testing on if an expired canister still has enough propellant to shoot.

My one criticism of this one is the flip-to-side safety. We talked about it in the article on how you need good dexterity and precision in order to disengage this safety in a stressful situation. In the following picture you can see that even if you move the lever over 95% of the way, it still will be caught and not be able to engage. You have to flip it 100% to be able to depress it.

I since have switched to POM and it’s flip cap safety. I feel like that will be a much more reliable and dummy proof safety when I need it. 

If you practice and get the muscle memory for the flip-to-side style safety or if the Police Magnum is the only option available in your country, then it will be a good option and better than nothing. But if given the opportunity and chance to get something like POM’s flip cap, I would recommend that one.

 

Thank you for detail report.
Unfortunately, POM spray is not sold either in here.
it is mostly Police Magnum, Golden Shield, Mace.
however, safety mechanism is different of your photo and it that is sold in here.
probably, it is same of recommended spray in the article(Lifting the lid with your thumb and pushing down spray button under the lid).

https://www.ksp-web.com/syouhin/f-605.html

my interest is whether the contents of the spray are effective.
In official website, it advertised “maximum strength allowed by law” . but I can not found MSDS/SDS in official site.(the shop in japan advertised 180,000 SHU).

 

You are correct, they only say “maximum strength allowed by law”. I couldn’t find any further info on their site or on their Amazon listings. 

I called Police Magnum’s main phone number that they have listed on their website three times and each time it hung up and said it was an invalid number and couldn’t go through. 

So I then emailed them asking for the SHU, MCC, and also for them to email me the MSDS/SDS safety data sheets. I will keep you updated when I hear back from them. 

180,000 SHU, as listed on that Japanese shop, seems very low. In The Prepared’s article it says: “Even the weakest pepper spray intended for use against humans is much spicier than that, anywhere between 2 and 5 million SHU, or possibly more.“

I wonder if they can’t list the SHU and MCC and only say “maximum strength allowed by law” because they make various products for different countries. Maybe 180,000 SHU is the maximum strength allowed by Japanese law, and in the USA it is something else, and in the UK it is something else too. 

 

平子温, I received a response.

“The Police Magnum pepper sprays are: SHU 200K/1.33% TC. In regards to the “allowed by law” sentence, we hired out an ads company where they have included this mistake which probably sounded confusing to you for a reason; it is NOT accurate! and is getting changed.”

Hope that is helpful. So yes, that Japanese website saying it has 180,000 SHU is probably pretty close as the company says their product has 200,000 SHU.