One of the most common weapons that people, particularly women tend to carry for their protection is pepper spray. Here you can learn more about the best pepper sprays. While being nonlethal, pepper spray is undoubtedly a valuable ally as it will stop the criminal in his tracks and enable you to get to safety.

However, while the spray indeed is quite useful in dealing with various situations, there are some instances wherein you will not find to be of much use.

1. When you are suddenly taken by surprise

Consider a situation wherein you are walking down an alley, engulfed in your thoughts when out of nowhere, someone jumps right in front of you and grabs you. It takes a few seconds.

More often than not, your handbag goes flying out of your hands, not giving you enough time to fish the spray out. Such attacks can be overwhelming, and you might not get the time or clarity of mind to decide what needs to be done.

One can still use a pepper spray in this situation but only if your arms are free to move, which is often not the case.

2. When you are attacked from behind

If someone grabs you from behind, the pepper spray is not something that can come to your rescue. Even if we consider the possibility that you had the spray in your hands when you were grabbed from behind, there is very little chance that you will be able to spray it on the attacker. You will be spraying it over your shoulder, and there is a chance that you end up spraying some of it in your own eyes.

3. When the attacker has you in his grips

You might be lucky that you have the pepper spray in hands and have a direct shot at the attacker’s eyes. However, even this does not guarantee that the pepper spray will provide you with the results that you require at the moment.

When the attacker is intent on doing what he set out to do, he might turn even more dangerous after the spray. If he has you in his grip, even after being sprayed and with his eyes closed, he can tackle and assault you, bearing the pain for some time. This usually happens when the attacker is expecting such defenses from your side.

Final words

There is no denying that OC pepper sprays can be quite useful at times and if you fire them accurately, can give you enough time to get to safety. However, there are times when you will not be able to use pepper spray for your benefit. Thus, it is always a good idea to have something else up your sleeve as well for your protection.