PPS-Safety

Paul Watson, the president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, captain of the Sea Shepherd and star of the Animal Planet’s Whale Wars TV series is not afraid to mix it up. He’s famous for trying to stop the Japanese killing of whales. He’s constantly putting himself in danger.

Back in 1995 when Watson was protesting the Canadian seal hunt he was attacked by 30 drunken sealers who kicked in his hotel room door.

“They were all standing there ready to attack me and all I could think of was: ‘I’m not going to give in to these guys.’ One of them came at me and punched me in the side of the head, so I took him down with a stun gun. Another came in from the other side and I took him out. That confused them so much that the police were able to get in and get them off me.”

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Pepper Spray is a self defense tool made up of oleoresin capsicum, which is derived from the Chile pepper. It comes in many forms such as aerosol spray, fog, foam or gel. It is also available in very discrete carrying forms such as the Stunning Ring, Pepper Pen, or Pepper Pager. Unlike most forms of self defense, pepper spray does not actually injure the person or creature that you are defending yourself from, but rather renders them immobile with pain. You can use pepper spray on another human or an animal as it is effective with both. This is what makes it so reliable; have you ever tried to use martial arts on a bear? It tends to end badly.

Pepper Spray works by inflaming the mucus membranes of the attacker and causing the eyes to tear up and it also makes it hard for the attacker to breathe. This reaction lasts about 30 minutes; long enough for the person who is being attacked to escape and/or get help. Unlike other forms of self defense, pepper spray has no permanent lasting effects on the person who has been sprayed.

Aerosol spray cans are the most popular form of Pepper Spray. This is because it is convenient to clip on to a purse or wallet or set of keys. The down sides of Aerosol sprays are that aerosol tends not to travel as far as streams, foam or gel. Also if it is a windy day, there’s a good chance the wind could carry your spray in the wrong direction.

If you don’t’ want the chance of the wind blowing it off your target, your best bet would be to purchase Pepper Foam or Gel. It’s not as convenient as Aerosol in the fact that it takes a few seconds longer to affect your attacker’s mucus membrane, but it is more accurate and it also shoots further because it is heavier. With Aerosol it is more of a mist. The Foam and Gel are more solid and stick together, making it harder to get off the face of the attacker. Pepper Foams and Gels sometimes come with UV dye in them as well, which makes it easier for Law Enforcement to capture the attacker.

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January 27th, 2009

I read this story on Sunday about a woman who saw a policeman struggling with an attacker and grabbed her stun gun and went to his aid.

Tanisha Cross never thought the stun gun she received for Christmas would come in handy so soon.

Cross said she was headed to Wal-Mart in Lithonia with her mother when she noticed a DeKalb County police officer being attacked by a suspect.

“I just told my mom pull over, … let’s try to help,” said Cross.

The 20-year-old mother, who received the stun gun as a gift from her husband, said she kept it in a diaper bag.

Cross said while others gathered to watch, she sprung into action.

“I went straight for my kid’s diaper bag and I got it and asked it if he [officer] wanted me to do it and he said, ‘Yea,’” said Cross.

Cross said the officer had a hard time defending himself because the attacker had taken the officer’s radio and managed to rub pepper spray in the officer’s face and eyes.

Jolting the attacker, Cross’ timing couldn’t have been better. Cross said she stunned the suspect in his arms and legs.

Cross said she stunned the attacker to where the officer regained his composure and fought back until a security guard came to their aid.

“He’s brave,” she said. “He did his best to keep him from his gun. He handled the situation very well. I was just glad I could help him,” said Cross.

Cross doesn’t consider herself a hero.

“I’m just a bystander trying to help do the right thing,” said Cross.

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I get a lot of questions about TASERs versus Stun Guns. I’ll try to quickly fill you in on the differences.

The TASER works on your bodies electrical system, it overrides the normal electrical activity that the brain uses to tell your muscles how to move, by basically shorting it out. This is why when a person is hit with it, they can’t move and just freeze. You loose control of your muscle movement.

This is unlike a stun gun, which works on your large muscle groups. A stun gun basically caused your muscles to “twitch” at an extremely high rate of speed, therefor causing an enormous lactic acid build up in a short period of time. This is why after a stun gun hit you feel as if you just worked out for a day straight, without any rest.

You might notice that on videos, when someone has a stun gun used on them, they recover slowly. They are exhausted and their muscles are tired. When you see them recover from being hit with a TASER, they are able to recover much faster, due to the fact that they regain control of their electrical system. Most of what they feel is the shock of not being able to control themselves.

A Civilian TASER fires two probes attached to wires that travel out to 15 feet (a police model is good for 25 feet), and can be purchased with a laser for accurate targeting. They are quickly reload-able for follow on shots or you can make physical contact this the target and get the same effects. A Stun Gun must make contact with the target and is more effective the longer you are able to hole it against you target, allowing more current to travel through the target.

When the probes make contact, the taser discharges electricity for a number of seconds, in short bursts, allowing you to set it down and make your escape. TASER is kind enough to replace your lost TASER for free, after an attack, by simply supplying them with a police report. They don’t want anyone afraid of loosing their investment, and therefor not using their TASER.

You have to register your TASER online with TASER International to receive an activation code when you purchase it. Your newly purchased TASER will be inoperable until it is registered. There is a $9.95 fee to register, which covers an instant criminal history check. When a TASER is discharge it drops small paper tags so that the police can identify who registered the TASER. This is designed to facilitate tracking down anyone who might misuse the TASER.

The TASER probes do not have to make contact with a targets skin, they can be within a couple of inches and the electrical charge will arc to the target. This is why you can still effectively use it through heavy cloths. If one of the probes was to miss your target the hand held portion of the TASER may then be used as a conventional stun gun, at which time you would have to make physical contact with your target.

Feel free to email or post any other questions you may have on TASERs or any other self defense products. I’d be happy to clarify anything possible.

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Watch this video to see Just how effective a Taser can be against a 300lb angry man…

50000-volts.wmv

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RCMP use stun gun on man wielding knife in police HQ

Court orders psychiatric assessment

A Moncton, N.B., man who the RCMP say confronted officers with a knife at police headquarters has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment.Jean-Guy Cormier appeared in a Moncton court Friday following the incident that saw him stunned with a Taser, police said, after a man lunged at a retired officer with a knifeCormier is facing charges of assault, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.A man entered the downtown Moncton headquarters on Thursday afternoon and was speaking with the retired officer, who is now a civilian employee, at the front desk when he pulled out the knife and lunged at the individual, Const. Chantal Farrah said.The employee dodged the jab and called for help, whereupon about six police officers entered the lobby where the incident was occurring, Farrah said.”The man was in the lobby and he was waving a knife. He was yelling to police officers. He wanted them to shoot him,” she said.The man refused to drop the weapon, Farrah said. After two people walked into the lobby unaware of what was occurring there, a Taser stun gun was used to subdue the man so he could be taken into custody, she said.”This is a good example where appropriate utilization of the conducted energy weapon resulted in bringing a dangerous situation under control,” Farrah said.Paramedics onsite checked Cormier after the electrical shock as a precautionary measure, she said. He was later transported to hospital for treatment unrelated to the stun gun shock.The court heard Cormier remained agitated after his arrest and also allegedly assaulted a female employee at the hospital before being restrained.The judge ordered Cormier to undergo a five-day psychiatric assessment before appearing again in court next Friday.

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In police studies, the new C2 Taser has a higher instant incapacitation rate than a 9mm hand gun. The Taser C2 shoots out 2 darts attached to 15 feet of wire. 50,000 volts travels over the wires and over-rides the central nervous system providing incredible takedown power.

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I got a couple of your pepper spray products for my friends this past Christmas and they were very thankful. We all work together and didn’t anticipate how early it was going to get dark this winter. As a result we’ve often all left work together escorting one another to our cars so that we don’t get jumped or attacked.

Since buying this product we still walk out together, but not for the same reason. It’s nice to not be afraid. Constant vigilance is not a healthy state of mind and your products have helped all of us be free of it. It’s certainly no fun to be afraid to leave work because you fear being attacked. Since I work in a major urban center it’s a true reality and it happens. But not to me!

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