There's a post on the homepage now titled, '
Why you want to avoid self-defense sprays'.
I think the author is incorrect. Here's why:
1. If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
2. Sometimes, a less-than-lethal option is a good idea.
3. If things are going to come to a physical engagement, why not start things off with the other guy getting maced first?
4. You can carry it in your hand openly - an ASP Defender is on your keyring.
5. Macing somebody has fewer legal repercussions than shooting him.
I could think of more, but that's enough. Here in north Florida, it's fairly common to have some drunken beach person get up in your face and start with the "Gimme $5, man!" line of chatter. Sometimes, you don't want to hit such a person, and you sure as heck don't want to shoot them. A typical self-defense shooting results in around $20K in legal fees, for starters, if you're real lucky.
If you're able to mace somebody down good and vay-cay the premises, that's great. He gets an eye-wash, you go home safe. Everybody happy. You pull a gun, you're going to have to call 911, fill out a report, it gets complicated and the outcome won't be a slam dunk, usually. If you actually shoot somebody, you'll be talking to the DA, lawyers, maybe the perp's friends and family are coming after you, that's not a great outcome. Maybe necessary, but a last resort.
Now, we have a school of thought that says pepper spray, CS spray, doesn't do anything. "I got hit full in the face and it didn't do anything to me!" Some variant on that. To such persons, I say, "Let me hose you down good, all over your eyes, nose, mouth, soak you like a puppy, then we'll play patty cake, see how you do."
I tested my ASP Defender, shot a bit out to see the range, walked into a bit of the after-cloud. Ouch. Just a tinge of the periphery was real bad. Then I discarded that canister, cleaned the unit, loaded a fresh cylinder. After a year or so, I threw out that one, installed a fresh cylinder.
So that takes care of the reliability issue, and I recommend you to follow that methodology. If you're going to carry this, treat it like a firearm, and ensure it is in optimal condition at all times.
Next: Should you even bother with this?
If you think it's a magic bullet, then no. If you are not trained in FoF, H2H, martial arts, then no. If you're likely to deploy it in an open area with the wind blowing into your face, then no. Like a firearm, self-defense spray is a tool that operates within a certain envelope of situations. Not a good idea here, great idea there. Easy to carry on your person. Not seeing many downsides if you understand what it's for and are able to use it effectively at the right time. Potentially, you might even be in a scenario where you mace somebody just to buy enough time to draw your CCW.