Does Bear Spray or Wasp Spray work for Self-Defense?

Stephanie Dayle

americanpreppersnetwork.com

There are positives and negatives to all tools of self-defense, if there was the perfect self-defense tool available where all you had to do was push a button and the attacker would vanish into thin air and materialize inside a jail cell,  it STILL would not do you any good if an attacker has snuck up on you and the button is tangled up in a mass of objects in the bottom of your purse or lost in a coat pocket.

Therefore, I submit to you that the absolute best form of self-defense is a constant awareness of one’s surroundings combined with intelligent thought and decisive action. No matter what weapon you have if it’s not readily available, and you’re not aware of your surroundings, you will have neither the time nor the ability to defend yourself effectively.

Make no mistake – pepper spray is a weapon. If you don’t believe that, you most likely have never been sprayed with it. While pepper spray is not an absolute alternative to a gun, it is another available option to carry in addition to a firearm, in cases where firearms may not be permitted, and it may be an option for those who opt not to carry firearms. It certainly is better than nothing at all. Once the subject of defense spray is brought up, there are two common questions. “Can I use wasp spray?” And “Is bear spray better?” I am going to break these two subjects down below and answer each.

Using Wasp Spray for Self Defense

I constantly receive email forwards from friends and family about using wasp spray for self-defense and have to admit for a period of time I just accepted the information at face value. I mean it made sense, it kills wasps at the drop of a hat and has a long range – who would want a face full of it? Then they’d have to see a doctor right? However as time went on and I sought out professional self-defense instruction, everyone I asked said the same thing – don’t use it. There are two very good reasons for not counting on wasp spray for self-defense.

Wasp Spray doesn’t work like pepper spray does. Police departments worldwide use pepper spray (not wasp spray) because the inflammatory effects of ‘capsaicin’ (exact chemical that provides heat) affects those who cannot feel pain or are in state of mind that prevents them from reacting to pain (copious amounts of adrenaline and illegal drugs can prevent people from feeling pain).  The involuntarily inflammatory effects of pepper spray on the human body causes eyes to close, water profusely and produces a ‘loss of breath sensation’ which results in coughing and gaging. Pepper spray has statically been proven effective on deterring and incapacitating aggressive, combative, intoxicated individuals for over 20 years. (Source)

Alternatively someone in a condition where they aren’t feeling pain may be able to fight through the effects of wasp spray which is a neurotoxin and ranges from a minor to mild annoyance. Wasp spray is indeed toxic but vision loss does not occur instantly and usually results from a long exposure without treatment. While some people have had immediate adverse reactions to accidentally being exposed to wasp spray, most ERs report that patients are willing and able to transport themselves to receive medical care and only experience mild irritation. (Source)

Using Wasp Spray for anything other than its intended purpose is illegal. Wasp spray is also not recommended for self-defense because it is illegal to use it in such a manner, leaving a person open to lawsuits not only from the attacker, but also from the  law enforcement involved if they too were exposed to the spray and required medical care as a result. While I do not think that such a lawsuit would be ‘right,’ it is none the less a possibility. That being said, in cases of self-defense I tend to side with this famous quote, “It’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by six.”

Conclusion Now that we know there is no advantage in keeping wasp spray over pepper spray – if you are going to drop $5 on a can of wasp spray why not just drop $5 on a can of personal defense pepper spray? It’s far easier to conceal and if you spend just a little bit more money you can even get spray with a 25 ft range. The inexpensive canisters of pepper spray can be found at Walmart and other big box stores in most states. In some states it may have to be purchased from a gun a dealer (as they are usually licensed to sell it in those over regulated areas) – but the price is still negligible. The lesser expensive cans may not have the range or the potency of one of the nicer cans (like the the ones linked below) – but they will still work far better than wasp spray. 

To my knowledge pepper spray is legal in all 50 states (see source link below), however a number of cities and states do have restrictions on sizes, strengths, where one can purchase it and where one can carry personal defense spray. If you have a question, it is wise to contact your local police department for more information. Defense sprays should only be purchased by those 18 years of age or older. (Source)