Hot Pink Mace Pepper Spray With Keychain
$18.95 $14.95

Mace Pepper Spray Weights - For Walkers & Joggers
$24.95 $17.95

Mace Pepper Gun With LED Light
$89.95 $55.95

Fox Pepper Sprays 2oz-3oz-4oz
$18.95 $12.95

Police Pepper Spray
$18.95 $14.95

SEARCH SITE:

Refuse To Be A Victim!  

The Firepower of Pepper Spray

The heat or hotness of chili peppers and consequently pepper sprays is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) or the Scoville scale, named after the American chemist Wilbur Scoville. The presence of the chemical capsaicin is responsible for this pleasant or unpleasant degree of heat, depending on if you are talking to a hot wings connoisseur or an assailant with pepper spray dripping from his face.

For all you culinary folks or chili eaters, a sweet bell pepper is rated 0, containing no capsaicin. A pimento or pepperoncini is only mildly spicier with a 100-500 SHU rating. Green pepper Tabasco sauce may yield 600-800, regular pepper Tabasco at 2500- 5000, and super spicy habanero Tabasco sauce topping out at 7000- 8000 SHU. Widely popular jalapeno peppers rate around 2500-8000. BAM! Pure cayenne pepper typically packs enough capsaicin to reach 30,000-50,000, compared to more exotic 50,000-80,000 Thai peppers. Speaking of more exotic peppers, a Naga Jolokia pepper from India ranges from 85,000 to 110,000 and a Dorset Naga may reach 1,600,000 SHU, or 1.6 million units of fiery mouth burning hotness!

Capsaicin in its purest form has a Scoville rating that ranges from 15,000,000 to 16,000,000. Yes, that reads 16 million! The standard grade pepper sprays in the US usually achieve 2 to 5 million SHUs.

Pepper sprays are inflammatory, unlike Mace which is an irritant. Inflammatory agents will cause immediate closure of the eyes and will induce coughing, choking and nausea. Temporary blindness due to dilation of the eyes and the mucous membranes will swell up, effectively preventing all but life support breathing. The effects may last from 20-45 minutes depending on the pepper sprays strength. .

Conveniently, many pepper sprays come on key chains. This is a good idea since most people will usually have their keys with them. But don't forget about the times you don't have your keys. The small investment in additional pepper spray may save your life or the life of a loved one! Then you will also always have your pepper spray within easy reach.

However, the best, strongest, and farthest ranged pepper spray in the world will amount to the SHU rating of that bell pepper if you fail to do three simple things: purchase some pepper spray, carry your pepper spray wherever you go and practice using it. This means buying extra pepper spray and actually "waste" it by discharging practice sprays to gauge the range of your product and improve your spraying accuracy. If you are going to under shoot or hit the wall next to an attacker, you mind as well pack your pockets with pimentos. Of course, with the affordability of peppered self defense products and the peace of mind you gain by being prepared, if you do ever find yourself in a pepper, err pickle... you can hardly consider it a waste.

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Back to Articles