[sylvan]

pepper spray always says on the lable that it is less effective in the rain, cold and wind. does anyone know to what extent?

 

[wtr100]

Depends a lot on how ownry, drugged up and/or motivated the recipient is

Some folks will drop into a fetal ball
Some will keep doing whatever made you feel like spraying them only less well
Some will hardly notice

It's just another tool you have - look at the fat chick that punched the old guy Trump supporter in the face. She didn't go down like she was shot but she definitely decided she had someplace else to be :

 

[Pranqster1]

Rain, No problem :thumb:
(Wind can be a problem i.e. blowing it back at you)

 

[wtr100]

maybe cold would drop the pressure and reduce the range?

 

[blueoct90]

quick question OP: are you looking at specifically the spray? or gel that shoots out in a stream? i carry the gel at work (hospital) and i don't remember reading anything like that for the gel. My wife carried the spray while in college, she was to cover your face with your other arm to help lessen the blowback

 

[sylvan]

the spray specifically

 

[druid189]

The active ingredient is Oleoresin Capsicum and like anything else, can be diluted by water. The difference here is it's an oil procured from the plant so it will still have a majority of the desired affect but it can be weakened as it washes away.

Now....to effectively get it off your skin you need something that cuts oil....like dawn dish soap.

and if they are referring to weather conditions in terms of deployment - yes wind, rain and snow will have an affect on trajectory and shot placement. What you have to take into consideration is the type of dispersion it utilizes....fog, stream or foam. Each has it's pro's and cons. Fogger units cover a wide area...but are more susceptible to wind and rain. It's also not such a good idea to deploy it in enclosed areas or where they use recirculated air [hospitals, etc]. Streams withstand wind and rain fairly well [with the exception to raging downpours or monsoons] but limits your field of dispersion. Is better than fog for indoors but still gets everywhere. Foam comes out like shaving gel and is best of the three for confined areas...but again, dispersion is limited. Foam also sticks to everything it touches. When it hits, the body temperature "melts" the foam into a liquid. It's very oily and sticks very well. It does about the same in rain and wind as stream but is naturally heavier and will drop faster than streams will [think about bullet drop].

My personal defense spray is this:

....and is pretty much the same thing we are issued on the dept. [difference size and labels but essentially the same thing].

You can get it on amazon:
Amazon.com : SABRE Red Pepper Foam - Police Strength - Home Defense Pepper Spray : Self Defense Pepper Spray : Sports & Outdoors

I'm putting a warning here though....don't be messing around with this stuff....if you spray yourself it's going to feel like you just plunged your face into a deep fryer....and for hours if you don't get it off quick enough. Hell, even when you do wash it off it has a tendency to 'reactivate' the moment you start sweating. That will feel like a day-old sunburn....and that's washed off......

This stuff is no joke. Don't be playing with it.

 

[Mrs.sardog]

I will add to the warning. If you carry it in your purse, BE CAREFUL! Yesterday sardog and I were out running errands and I always carry a can of spray just like the one in the picture in my purse. I was rummaging around in my purse for something and accidentally bumped it. Thankfully I didn't spray out much, but it had us both coughing and our eyes were running. And it was while sardog was driving! But also thankfully on a very rural road with no other traffic at the time. So be careful!

 

[sylvan]

when I was thinking about rain I was concerned that it might reduce the distance it would spray or something like that. I had not considered the water on a soaking wet attacker might offer some protection or at least dilute the pepper spray. it's something to think about I suppose

 

[Justme11]

Since it is an oil, I would not expect it to stick well to a rain soaked face.
Oil and water don't mix, so water could be a barrier. No personal experience with it though.

But whatever gets inhaled will still likely be nasty, as well as any that hits the eye, since the eye has its own fluid, which is not affected much by rain.

 

[druid189]

Since it is an oil, I would not expect it to stick well to a rain soaked face.
Oil and water don't mix, so water could be a barrier. No personal experience with it though.

But whatever gets inhaled will still likely be nasty, as well as any that hits the eye, since the eye has its own fluid, which is not affected much by rain.

Not just that but it will still "melt" [the foam will] and run down the body and into places you really don't want that stuff to touch - ever - like as in NEVVVVVVVVVVVVERRRRRRRRRRRR.

 

[Pranqster1]

quick question OP: are you looking at specifically the spray? or gel that shoots out in a stream? i carry the gel at work (hospital) and i don't remember reading anything like that for the gel. My wife carried the spray while in college, she was to cover your face with your other arm to help lessen the blowback

I'm not sure that was good advice, covering your face while aiming usually doesn't work out great.

 

[WageSlaveEscapist]

look at the fat chick that punched the old guy Trump supporter in the face. She didn't go down like she was shot

I bet that wasn't FOX spray. I've seen videos of grown men screaming from it. In heavy rain, I could see raindrops affecting the stream, but you have a good 7 seconds or so from 4oz, with 21 feet of range with the stream type. To back up the spray, I have a "Policeforce" brand 80 lumen ink kubaton. Taser would probably be too much to carry.

Gel/foam is to be avoided - Ask any prison guard - your attacker will throw a handful right back at you.
Fog type? No thanks, wind puts it right in your face, lack of range, and makes indoors uninhabitable temporarily and would get you in more trouble for gassing out a building.

The target is the eyes, which I doubt rain would do much for. If you don't hit the eyes, you're not going to disable him most likely.

In the purse or in a pack is not good enough, and not safe. I keep mine in an ultrafire flashlight holster, on the bottom of my EDC pack, or sometimes in my jacket pocket, left side, right side reserved for lethal force. For motorcycle riding, these are the two spots that keep it protected, so you don't fall on it and break bones and explode a cannister of OC while crashing. So I reach around with my left hand behind my back, leaves it pretty concealed and gives me a quick and sneaky option. The holster also prevents accidental discharge. I think FOX has the best design with the flip top, and apparently is the strongest in the world @ 5.7 million scoville heat units.