Whilst pepper spray is an excellent and effective self-defense tool if you are unable to access it when needed because it is buried at the bottom of a bag, or is in a pocket that isn't easy to open you may not be able to get to it in time.
As soon as you feel fearful you should get yourself ready to deploy the spray. You can do this covertly, and don't need to display to anybody in the environment that you feel scared and/or that you are carrying pepper spray. One of the benefits of having the spray in your hand is that it will move you on from the denial and discounting phase that is a common experience when we initially feel we're in danger (this is a common human coping mechanism that allows us to ignore threats). Whilst the spray is in your hand you are forced to acknowledge to yourself that you may be in danger.
It has been found that using the thumb rather than the Index finger to deploy the spray is more accurate and effective when dealing with an aggressor in a high stress, fast moving incident.
When you have identified the individual who is a threat to you, you will want to show them that you have a defensive spray ready to deploy. You can issue a verbal warning, such as, "Stay Back! I have pepper spray!" etc. This doesn't mean that you have to/are going to deploy it. It may be that you have misidentified the threat, and the person backs away leaving you alone, or it may be that the person did have harmful intent towards but your actions have now deterred them, and they leave you alone.
< PREVIOUS SEGMENT NEXT SEGMENT >