I have on my desk in front of me one 8.1 ounce canister of Counter Assault bear deterrent, “grizzly tough pepper spray”. Since numerous videos over the past few days have revealed police using devices eerily similar to this can, I retrieved it from its caribiner on my backpack so I could inspect the label, and make some comparisons.
As you will see, most of the stuff used by police on peaceful humans is good enough to stop an attacking grizzly bear.
As a public service, before I go any further with this, this research turned up something that may be useful to some of you. Just click on the link or Google the trade name Sudecon for antidote wipes for pepper spray.
The label on my can of bear spray isn’t tremendously informative for the current purpose. If all you’re concerned with is hoping it will stop an attacking bear, it will probably suffice. However, it sucks for the purpose of comparing it to police issue chemical warfare.
What it does tell me is the following:
It will deliver a fog of product as much as 30 feet for a period of seven to eight seconds. Shorter bursts of use are recommended, mostly to save product in case it’s needed at closer range, for a subsequent charge, or for a different bear.
It consists of 2% capsaicin or related compounds, 98% inert ingredients.
A visit to the Counter Assault website provides better information. There are even some user testimonials, even one of them by Jack Hannah. Here’s a short excerpt of one:
As the cloud of red spray enveloped her, my last thought was "this is going to hurt like hell". All I could see as I watched her were her eyes and her teeth as she fought with the spray. It seemed like she was still going to be able to reach me, but suddenly she reared up on her hind legs and rolled over on her side then bolted off through the trees with her cub in tow.
I stood there frozen for a minute as I watched her run off, before taking a deep breath. I looked over at Julie who had witnessed the whole episode. She was still screaming.
Pretty dramatic, right? An attacking grizzly with cubs gets chased off by this stuff from close range. This bear meant to kill or maul, and changed it's mind. Changing a grizzly bear's mind is not an easy thing to do - there are numerous instances of attacking grizzlies fatally hit with a bullet or arrow continuing the attack until it drops dead from blood loss. Let that sink in. This is an animal that will continue with an attack even when fatally wounded. It is on a mission to kill or cripple and a fatal wound won't stop it - but pepper spray will.
Well, we've seen what it does to humans - is it the same stuff?
Counter Assault is rated at 3,200,000 Scoville Heat Units, or SHU. So, now to compare that to what police are using, very conveniently, the Counter Assault people also offer police and self defense versions of this product, on the same web site. They even offer a “Taser Friendly” product that will not be ignited when a taser is fired at a person who has been doused with pepper spray. God forbid that after you fry somebody’s eyes, mouth and skin with pepper spray and you decide to electrocute them while they are writhing on the ground in pain, you wouldn’t want to set them on fire. That might be a little excessive.
Counter Assault offers 1.4 to 8.1 ounce law enforcement products with a given range of 8 to 30 feet. The smaller containers are the lower range products. Compare that to the 3 to 4 feet range Lt. Pike fired from the other day. From the video and still pictures released, it's pretty certain Lt. Pike was using an 8.1 ounce size with a 25 to 35 foot range depending on the brand - so his victims probably suffered some degree of injury just from the velocity of the jet impacting their eyes. Yes, at least one supplier suggests a minimum range for these products, and Lt. Pike was inside of it.
Depending upon the product selected, the spray pattern is described as fog, cone mist, or stream. These law enforcement and self defense products are described as 2,000,000 scoville units. It appears that at least according to the folks at Counter Assault, a person is worth 62.5% of a grizzly bear.
There are of course other suppliers. Google Fox Labs for some really scary stuff. Obviously the Seattle police aren’t content with 8.1 ounce containers, their containers looked like small fire extinguishers. There are law enforcement products going as high as 5 million scoville units, or to them, a person is worth 156% of a Counter Assault grizzly bear. Now I understand pregnant women can be pretty tough to deal with but, 5 million shu? Some include a UV dye so suspects can be identified after exposure. One product even claims their inert ingredients will dissolve fatty acids in the skin in order to allow deeper penetration for the capsaicin and related active ingredients. Let that sink in for a second. Dr. Strangelove lives. Here, read it again... One product even claims their inert ingredients will dissolve fatty acids in the skin in order to allow deeper penetration for the capsaicin and related active ingredients. How sick is that?
So, in essence, peaceful protesters are being hit with products that can stop an attacking grizzly bear, some of them enhanced with dyes, some even enhanced with solvents, some even promise not to be ignited by a Taser.
Megan, this is not a food product, it's chemical warfare.
7:34 AM PT: Out of my usual lurk mode and on the rec list! Thanks to all for reading and reccing. I'm at work now but will try to keep up with commments.
10:44 AM PT: Updated to correct the spelling of Megyn's name. Obviously I don't watch Fox.