Pepper Spray FAQs

Why do we sell DPS Pepper Spray?

The sprays we sell are the best OC products on the market. It is not a so-called "law enforcement grade spray" as many wana-be sprays claim to be, but the exact product carried by many law enforcement agencies throughout the USA. The mixture, potency, and effectiveness of DPS is second to none. It is the meanest, fastest working pepper spray you can buy. DPS has added many types of delivery systems (I.E. the spray nozzles) to the product lineup over the last few years. DPS Defense Spray is worth the extra pennies you spend for it. Don't let price come before your safety. Our DPS prices are some of the best on the web. We are the largest internet distributor for Fox, and we receive great distributor pricing because of it. We do our best to pass the savings on to you. The bottom line is, you get what you pay for with DPS Defense Sprays.

Are all OC sprays the same?

Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) sprays have been on the market for since the early 80's. When there were only one or two products to choose from, it was not too difficult to make a decision as to which brand to carry. Over the past few years, the number of OC sprays products has proliferated, making the decision as to which is better difficult. Most people opted for the one with the higher percentage of oleoresin capsicum in its formula, assuming that more is better and that the spray would be more effective if it contained a higher concentration of OC. Not Necessarily. Don't be fooled by percentage OC claims. The percentage of oleoresin capsicum in the product, which generally varies from 1% to 20%, really has very little to do with how effective the product will be when used in an actual life-threatening situation. Let's talk about each of these criteria.

Heat Unit Rating of OC

The word "capsicum" is horticultural term which refers to the genus that chili pepper are classified. There are all types of chili pepper ranging from jalapenos, chiltepins, cayenne to habaneros. They all have one thing in common. They all contain an unusually powerful compound found in no other plant, an alkaloid called capsaicin (cap-say-a-sin). Just a single drop of tasteless and odorless capsaicin in 100,000 drops of water and the heat can be very noticeable. In fact, capsicum can be detected by humans at one part per million. In 1912, pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville developed a standard for measuring the power of capsaicun .Called the Scovill Organaleptic Test, currently called Scoville Heat Unit (SHU), it was needed to calculate the temperature of peppers used in many pharmaceutical products of the time (such as "Heat" rub which was used for relief of sore muscles, arthritis pain and muscular sprains). Scoville measured ground peppers into a mixture and gave it a grade. The subjective measurements of taster has since been replaced with high technology, a computerized method called high-performance liquid chromatography. The pepper scale ranges from zero SHU's for standard - issue bell peppers to 5,000 or so for jalapenos to a whopping 200,000- 330,000 for habaneros. Pure capsaicin is around 15 million SHU. The oleoresin capsicum used in our formulas is derived from the very hottest peppers and further processed until the rating is where we need it.

Beware

Beware! Next time you see product claims of high percentages of capsicum, be sure to check if the pepper used in the product are the hottest they can be and if the SHU rating is high enough to be effective. A product advertising 10 or 15% OC is not necessarily an effective product. 10 % of what? That is the question. This will help you calculate the ONH or Out the Nozzle Heat which will give you a true rating of how hot the spray is. Find out the heat unit rating, what type of peppers are used the process used to produce a high heat rating. Without the proper answer to these questions you may be buying a product which is less effective that others and possibly ineffective when the most demanding situation may arise.

To help make an informed decision, we hope this information aids you in clearing up some of the mysteries about the basic differences in OC products available.