Can pepper spray freeze?

B

bill_G

Joined
Jun 7, 2004
Messages
694
i'm going to buy some pepper spray and leave it my glove compartment in the car. in the winter, it can get pretty cold overnight. will the pepper spray still work at say 15 degrees F? or would i have to warm it up in my pocket before its usable??

thanks...........Bill
 
I'm not sure but I think that as long as it is unused and full it'll be ok. At lower temperatures the gas will just be more compressed but I think it would have enought pressure to ward off an attacker or two (or spice up your hot dog :cool: ).
 
some brands use an alcohol based carrier for the O.C. particles. I guess they should perform better in sub zero conditions then water based O.C. sprays.
 
Generally they don't work too well in the cold. The colder it is the less pressure in the can, and the less ranger you will get from it. 15° is cold enough that I expect there would be significant drop in performance.

Will
 
IIRC Fox brand uses a water based carrier, i would like to suggest that you buy an extra can of Fox and train with it. This way you will be able to see how the spray pattern is, you will be contaminated by the spray (prolongued exposure to O.C. makes you less sensitive for the effects because you know what to expect) you will learn it's reach and you could simulate different conditions (cross wind, temperature, etc)
Remeber that O.C. sprays have been getting hotter and hotter in the last years causing higher "knock down" power but also prolounged contamination effects and duration to the user of the spray.

So instead of one can buy 3 and practice with it under different conditions.

The cost would be low and it will give you an idea what to expect before you use it in a SD situation.
 
My impression was that the active ingredient of pepper spray was the oil from hot peppers. This is probably too thick to work by itself so it needs to be diluted with some thinner liquid so that you can spray it. Alcohol sounds like a reasonable agent. If there is a high concentration of pepper oil it will tend to thicken up when it gets cold. This would make it harder to spray. Likewise the propellent gas pressure will go down at low temperature. I would buy some and play around with a refrigerator and a thermometer to see what actually happens when you get the stuff cold.
 
Not sure what the carrier of choice is in Fox. Most manufacturers have gone away from flammable carriers. One too many bad guys hit with OC to little effect and then hit with a Taser. Can you say "Roman candle"? Several incidents of this type have changed the formulations used by many manufacturers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top