Who in their right mind carries a pepper spray gun for self-defense?  Probably someone who doesn’t know any better is the only person I can think of.

Carrying a facsimile firearm has all the risks of presenting a firearm without any means to put down a threat.  And if it looks like a gun, you can bet both cops and crooks are going to treat it as such.  As in “don’t bring a pepper spray gun to a gun/knife fight.”

Juan Robles from Puerto Rico sends his Roadtrip EDC, built around a Mace Pepper Spray Gun 2.0 carried in a nice Gunner’s Custom Holsters holster.  Right next to his SWAT-T tourniquet.

Other than that, it looks like any other gun culture member’s EDC.  He’s got a Kershaw blade, a small but functional little Streamlight Protac single AAA light and a Colonel Blades tactical pen.

Back to that non-gun gun.  I know of people who have taken a healthy, direct hosing of pepper foam into the eyes and then fought on for a minute plus before dialing 9-1-1 on their phone.  Even average people without a lot of motivation can function for fifteen to thirty seconds.  So really, how much “stopping power” will pepper spray have against a determined adversary?

Sure, some will say, “it beats nothing at all!”  I’m not in that camp.  Are you?  Discuss.

Lastly, Juan:  Thank you for putting your gear up for criticism, sir.  My advice as a long-time firearms and personal defense instructor:  seek out some hand-to-hand training to substitute for that pepper spray gun.  Perhaps some Krav Maga from a reputable and experienced trainer.  That will serve you far better than a non-gun pepper spray gun.

46 COMMENTS

  1. I agree. Stupid carry. If you are going to carry OC Spray, don’t have it in the form of a gun. Also, a Swat-T? Whole lotta nope in this EDC.

    The biggest one tho, is having to put your EDC in a tray on the ground while your mom stands in the doorway as you are taking the pic. Always be aware of your reflections 😉

  2. I had to look twice, but you are correct

    “The biggest one tho, is having to put your EDC in a tray on the ground while your mom stands in the doorway as you are taking the pic. Always be aware of your reflections 😉”

  3. Not sure of laws in PR, but it is a demoncrap island and a territory at that. Plus traveling by air to the mainland sucks.

    • May Issue.

      But nobody “normal” is getting a CCW. It’s like California, but worse – feels strange even saying that. Can you believe there is a “state” worse than CA? lol.

      At least that was years ago, and I am sure nothing has changed since. Correct me if I am wrong.

      • When it comes to carry permits, hawaii’s a State worst than Cali. Demoncrap central out here in the big BLUE pacific.

        • ahh yep, forgot about the island. I had friends stationed there and they hated it, aside from the typical hawaii beautifulness, they said everything was outrageous. Cost of living, goods, fuel, and apparently a real drug problem too. Didn’t DOG the bounty hunter start there? He was in CO when I was there, which also had a huge meth problem.

        • Dog was here, his son was still running a bail bonds last i heard. Inner hawaii (not tourist traps) are a ghetto, lots of meth, alcoholism, homelessness, welfare. The land is beautiful no question but not worth the cost of freedom, very restrictive here on everything not just firearms. Thing i’m most grateful for being born here is my birth certificate saying US citizen. So many people here take that for granted, or could care less. I bet PR pocket dump guy wishes he could say that.

        • What else would you expect from a place that has a population of non Americans. Sure, you can make a state out of an Asian Island, but that does not make the people living there Americans. The United States came from a very specific culture, The United Kingdom, home of the Magna Carta and the Rights of Englishmen. Most other peoples, even most Europeans, don’t understand or like them. Sadly, most in the UK and US today don’t like them. All immigration is bad and has been bad for the traditional American people.

        • Chris, my analysis is a bit different than yours. Regardless of the culture where they originated, the original settlers of America risked their very lives under horrendous conditions to escape the comforts of civilization and reach a place where they could live or die according to their own efforts and abilities. That fact in itself *produced* a culture which had never existed before, or since. From then to now, the current population/immigrants think this is the promised land of milk and honey, and nobody needs to support himself, just demand free shit and live large. Sad.

  4. Carrying pepper spray isn’t inherently bad, just make sure it’s sabre red, and not gun shaped. That’s just silly. Also use some on yourself so you know how you’ll react if it gets on you. Chances are if you have to spray someone you’ll likley get some on you as well.

    • That’s what I’m thinkin’. Just a guess, but I think this person will use the spray to buy himself a few precious seconds to escape, or left hand draw his knife? The spray is not an end all, but will get him to the next step to surviving.

      • I like the idea of spray for some of the current political situations occurring in certain places. Let’s say some Antifa retard gets up in your face while your trying to mind your own buisness without striking you, but clearly harassing you almost to the violent point, but not quite. They know how to do that. In such a situation you could spray the dude in the face to get him off of you without the legal complications of drawing/shooting. Even if for some reason you were arrested for spraying him, it would be much easier to win in court and the consequences would be far less.

  5. I get what you’re saying about the device looking like a firearm, but I wish I had a $100 bill for every time I’ve read on this site that simply displaying a firearm sent the bad guy fleeing. Next, I’ve deployed pepper spray often. I found it to be not only effective, but immediately effective. A minute, or more? Not in my experience. Either when I used it or when I was subjected to it during training. Used on me it was instantly incapacitating.

    • the reaction varies…pepper spray…tasers…are an intermediate step…they do work…most of the time…

    • Right, but if that person realizes it is not a gun, and the spray fails… good luck. Some people just handle that shit better, like being tased. Some people can just push through that pain long enough to choke the life out of the person who sprayed them. Granted, those are one in a dozen or more, but if I was in PR, I’d rather not carry OC in the form of a gun. Pro’s and con’s on all sides, as with any argument, but I have to side with the “If it looks like a gun, it better be a gun” side. Too many variables where displaying a gun can get you killed.

    • What I was thinking too on the gunm. If I saw this guy Id think he was armed. About two weeks ago I got rolled up on, the way they pulled in behind me, theeir looks and quick haste out of their vehicle spelled trouble in my books. I raised my shirt, they saw I was armed and left. Now the pepper spray thing, I’ve been maced when mace was mace and it didn’t do nothing but piss me off, burnt like hell waiting to be booked in, but it wasn’t no stopper. Pepper spray, a girl was bragging on her pepper spray defense, I grabbed the canister, gave myself a healthy dose in both eyes, then got out of the chair I was in and slightly choked her. It won’t work on a drunk, probably not on a dope head either. Puerto Rico , it’s probably the closest thing he can carry to a gunm there. The pepper spray might water up their eyes and make it easier to slice n dice with those knives.

      • Dude, I want to party with you! Maced, then booked? Drunk at a party self spraying with pepper spray?

        Hey, hold my beer and watch this!

  6. Dont know how many options he has in PR.

    I found out when I was leaving that I wasnt supposed to have my Benchmade with me.

  7. Spray is sometimes a good choice. If you can’t carry a gun or a taser I would go with OC (“pepper spray”) next, I guess. But not one like that- that is some mall ninja idiocy there. The only thing I can think of is that they want to feel like they’re carrying a gun. Which is fine and dandy until the wrong person spots it since I’m guessing the person lives someplace they aren’t allowed to have one.

      • Yes, but since you’re too stupid to bother writing an argument, I’ll ignore you.

        • There is no argument. What the fuck are you talking about? You said “I’m guessing this person lives…” … When the article covers where that person lives. The only argument is did you read the article? Idiot.

  8. On the one hand I don’t think a gun shaped object is a good idea.

    OTOH, he does live in a place that’s pretty restrictive. License to own + license to purchase, no OC and may issue only for CC where “permits are rarely granted to ordinary citizens” .

    IOW he can’t carry a gun legally unless he’s special and other laws may limit exactly what kind of pepper system he can carry.

    I would also note that while I’m not a big fan of the SWAT-T, whatever TQ you choose take it out of the fucking plastic because you’re not gonna get that shit off the TQ when your hands are slippery.

    • Those things are ridiculously hard to deploy. It took me two hands every time I tried to rip that bag open. Even the instructions on the bag say to twist until the seam pops if I remember correctly.

  9. Pepper spray in a gun shape is right foolish. Get a person shot by a real gun for the wrong reason.

  10. Stupid stupid stupid.
    Might get shot over some gas.
    To me if it looks like a gun and its pointed at me.
    It is a gun.
    I will act appropriately
    Not feel one seconds worth of remorse after the fact..
    If one must carry spray. There are a lot of appropriate canisters out there.

  11. Very likely to get arrested for the presentation of the “gun”. There are places pepper spray will get you arrested with of without a CCW/LTC. Spraying someone holding a gun could cause them to fire, maybe hit you, maybe someone else, guess what, negligent homicide…

  12. Why is it that the least educated, least experienced, and most ignorant people on a subject always feel the need to comment, or write “articles”.

    Lots wrong with the “EDC dump”, but also lots wrong with this article. The comments are a non stop derp fest.

  13. Pepper spray IS better than nothing and IS debilitating in most cases. Unless you are in law enforcement or in a state that makes it impossible or nearly impossible for one to get a CCW, pepper spray may be one of the only options you can carry.

    It is clearly stupid to carry a device that looks like a gun but isn’t. It is nonsensical to place yourself in danger from the police or CCW holders possibly misidentifying you as the threat.

    Self defense training is a good option. However, situational awareness is your number one defense. So often people put themselves in harms way by not recognizing a threat or potential threat before it’s too late. Threat avoidance requires paying attention to detail. Paying for well lighted and more secure parking instead of trying to save a few bucks, not texting or looking at your smartphone while walking about town and planning your home security needs in advance are all things that people need to pay attention to at all times. Be smart about your safety and teach this to your kids and those you care about.

    • “Pepper spray IS better than nothing and IS debilitating in most cases. Unless you are in law enforcement or in a state that makes it impossible or nearly impossible for one to get a CCW, pepper spray may be one of the only options you can carry.”

      Ha Ha. No. It’s not debilitating for at least a minute or two, if ever.

      Then there’s the whole issue of air movement blowing the stuff back in your face, reducing you (the good guy’s) ability to fight or flee.

      Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

      Pepper spray has its place… a very limited place and even then, 99.999% of the population doesn’t carry it in their hand, making it’s deployment virtually impossible in the time it takes an aggressor to go hands-on.

      Even then, the aggressor isn’t going to stand there. They are going to deflect the hand down.

      Get an inert trainer or two and try your luck and employing the stuff. You’ll be lucky to get any in the bad guy’s face, much less a good, solid application.

      John

  14. Before everyone boards the “Juan is an idiot” bus, consider this, the pepper spray device looks amazingly like a G19 and fits the holster. While Juan might just be getting by with what’s available in PR, he might also have access to a G19 that he doesn’t dare show us. The rest of his gear looks good, just wondering….

  15. Well, I believe a gun shaped pepper spray device might get you into some issues with local/city /state police, depending on where you are…You know, “Authoritarianism” yo…Land of the free, home of the brave–Molon Labe…LOL, fat chance of that, people are already starting to surrender to the NWO..
    It’s all fun and games until someone gets “RED FLAGGED!” We wouldn’t want to stand on that mountain if it came down to that…Just surrender, having unpopular rights and Liberties in the light of ever increasing government “Totalitarian activity” can be detrimental to one’s own life…Anyway, I suppose pepper spray, and cs/oc, or cn/oc fortified self defense sprays may or may not work…I believe it maybe because a lot of manufacturers “water them down” for the general public in order to give law enforcement an “upland, or LEO only equipment” advantage…In some states, a lot of the LEO brands (NOT CIVILIAN over the counter stuff) are restricted and unavailable to purchase for the general public…Basically another police carve out…If you can, I’d look for one’s that have a good track record of stops. Or older deregulated police brands like AERCO Punch 2 or Punch 3 (stream, stream micro bubble, fog, or mist.)…Or Aerco Freeze p+ cs/oc blend….They offer a good track record…

  16. According to the 2A Foundation, as a result of a Court Case. In PR no permit is required to buy or carry (CC/OC) a firearm. With eliminated restrictions: its only a case of personal preference, training and economics. People can use a wet noodle if they choose to but results will reflect their choice. I do see a lot of women carrying those absurdly small key chain pepper spray units. I’ll ask does it stream or fog? What is the standoff distance? Is your PS expired? They have no clue.

    One woman I know paid a homless guy $20 to be a test dummy! She said it worked great but felt bad afterwords, bought another can. I trained her and sold her a gun a few months later with the condition of not use a test dummy! Lol

    • @Will Drider, What kind of sick, twisted individual with no moral compass hires a homeless person to be her personal test subject? I hope she is not married, and never breeds. I can’t believe you would sell her a gun at any price.

    • Will, if your info on PR is correct (Constitutional carry), that sure makes this whole comment stream a lot like masturbation, doesn’t it?

  17. Apparently John (and most of the commenters agreeing with him) didn’t notice that Juan lives in Puerto Rico.

    Hey guys, guess what? Kalifornia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are all a gunslinger paradise compared to Puerto Rico.

    What next, John? Will you be lambasting people in New Jersey for carrying FMJ instead of JHP rounds?

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