Wandering around STP's site I came across a "pepper spray reliever:"

"UDAP's pepper spray reliever"

Wow! I could have used this on a backpack last summer the night I thought I was sipping from my .75 liter aluminum water bottle and I was really putting my lips to a can of bear spray that I'd screwed the trigger off of.

FINALLY, we have the equivalent of a "morning-after" pill when our 'bear protection' doesn't work as we had planned.

I like the idea of it, but it's doesn't say what's in it.

Everything I could find says rinse affected area with water. I know that doesn't work very good for sauces containing habanero I've eaten, and I'd be pretty mad if I was paying 10-12 bucks for an ounce and half of water.

I'd have to look further into what the ingredients are and why they are effective before buying it.

My dad taught me to use sugar as a home remedy for putting out "pepper" fires. I don't know chemically what's going on, but sugar seems to stop the reaction almost immediately.

While making salsa, my wife set her hands on fire (so to speak), soaking them in sugar water stopped the reaction.

Let a teaspoon dissolve in your mouth to put out a salsa fire there.

I don't know anything about this product but a couple of packets of granulated sugar would be much lighter and cheaper. Besides, they're dual use!

Now that's a funny story. Funny in that it didn't happen to me.

The only relief against capsaicin (in food) I know of is rinsing the mouth with common alcohol, ala vodka, then (sadly) spitting it out. It's not water-soluble, so the usual heat "remedies" don't help, other than ice or cold water reducing the burn sensation.

Externally, it's the old soap and water routine.

Far too much here:

Capsaicin fact sheet

Cheers,

Interesting.

I judged a science project last year where the "testatrix" had a large group of adults eat a raw, fresh jalapeno. She then had selected groups drink ice water, soda, milk, tea, olive oil, and orange juice to determine what stopped the burn fastest. Milk was the clear winner. I tried it myself and it works!

I just want to read Kevon's story again. What a hoot!

And yeah--my wife is a chef, and swears by milk

Dairy has always done the trick for me. I usually use cheese.

milk or dairy.

water is ok.

Alcohol in my experience makes it worse, and fizzy makes it worse. nothing's usually worse for it than beer

of course that's in the mouth not the eyes.

I'd love to know what's in the stuff - but won't sucker without some kind of proof ahead of time more than a four star review from someone who just "wants to carry it in his pack just in case but has never used it"

That stuff doesn't work any better than water and time for me with the pepper spray that cops carry so I can't imagine it would would work for the stronger bear spray. The alleged "antidote" they sell for tear gas (CN/CS) doesn't work for me either. The best thing you can do is flush your face with water, blow all the snot out of your nose and stand in the wind. The water won't cool your face long term but it will wash a lot the OC resins away. Also - if you take a blast - when you go to shower, wash your hair bent forward, that stuff will come out of your hair and "head south" to sensitive regions.

I believe that milk works because of the fat content. The hot part of the pepper is oil soluble, not water soluble.

That is why milk works. The fats and some other compound in the milk surround the capsinoids.

I am fascinated to know where you have aquired what appears to be extensive first hand experience - You work in law enforcement? or butt heads with them semi professionally?

In my younger days I ran afoul of the man a few times but had the good sense not to do anything that required use of an intermediate weapon.

I work in Law Enforcement. I was first exposed to CN/CS/OC 16 years ago in the police academy. I was then exposed to OC a few times as "collateral damage" when I worked patrol. A couple years ago I went to school to become a "Personal Defense Spray Instructor". As part of the training we were sprayed full in the face with OC in the middle of the afternoon in July in Central Texas and then had to fight three people for three minutes. It took me two hours before I could drive back to the hotel and I couldn't look straight at a TV for three days. It's nasty nasty stuff.

I also love to eat spicy food and have a life long love affair with capsaicins.

Since we've got sjohnny and Paul -- two Texans (and I'm one) --involved in this thread, I've got to try to quickly relate a story from a female friend in Texas about a more potent self-defense weapon, a Taser, and how inflicting pain with it is much worse than pepper spray.

My friend runs a salon out of a Victorian house in Grapevine, TX, and after a string of robberies, had another friend give her a taser as protection for when she closed the place. My friend, who's the sweetest, most beautiful woman, was trained that if she pulled her Taser she better be ready to use it.

One night she's closing and sees a pick-up blocking her drive, so she gets out her weapon and heads for her car. Juggling the taser, some books and her purse, she opens the door and gets inside. As she gets behind the wheel, things are falling and the taser goes off. It hits the interior side of the windshield, shatters it into a thousand pieces (not busting it out), and ricochets back hitting her in the chest.

She said the next thing she remembers is she is in the car and can hear this ear-shattering sound and finally realizes it's her screaming. She said it was an extremely unpleasant experience.

But the good news: All that commotion freaked out her potential assailant who sped away. Now that's a new way to protect yourself.

I've never been tazed but I've been zapped with a stun gun. Having not experienced the full on feeling of being tazed I asked the instructor at pepper spray instructor school about the difference. He'd been tazed about 6 or 7 times. He said he'd rather be tazed than sprayed any day. The "unpleasantness" from the taser only lasts a few seconds while OC hurts for a couple of hours or more.

Funny story about the woman tazing herself though.

"I was first exposed to CN/CS/OC 16 years ago in the police academy. "

Johnny, I do volunteer work for our local cops and went through the "citizens police academy"....which is mostly informational. After watching videos and hearing war stories about pepper spray and tasers, the instructor says "Ok, who wants to take a spray and taser ride?" The entire class says..."uh...no." The videos did convince us how effective spray is though. Hard to believe it won't kill you!

Was it one of those 'designer fashion color' tasers? I didn't think they had the power to blast out a windshield but I suppose the pointy hook barb things would do it.

"And If you don't leave RIGHT NOW I'll shoot myself and my car again."

Yup, works for me.

Cheers,

I didn't think so either. Sometimes they don't even penetrate clothes. I guess if they hit at just the right angle or something it could happen. Or if it was an old car with a badly oxidized windshield.

It sure feels like it ought to kill you. It's like liquid hot magma and hundreds of bbs being shot into your eyes. Much worse than CN or CS. It's a very effective sinus clearer though. There are some that it doesn't bother much at all though. I'm definitely not one of them.

That's a crack up Kevon

I bet she's glad her buddy didn't give her a loaded pistol!

So if milk works, why didn't you get to use that in the test you did?

From the sounds of it, I'd jump head first in a hog wallow if someone told me that worked

If I had thought about it I would have brought a gallon of milk to the class to pour over my face after the "experience" was over. I'm really hoping to never go through that crap again. I can see the value in it but I don't need to feel it again. My boss decided that at our agency we won't spray people before they can carry pepper spray. I had to be sprayed in order to be certified as the instructor but no one else got to share the lovely feeling (gyp). A few of them had been sprayed at prior agencies.

Bill
well a hog wallow probably would work. Mud has amazing abilities of neutralisation and "cleaning". It has both water - the universal solvent - abrasives, and loose ions and radicals and stuff (like ammonia) to react with the hot sauce.

Has anybody tried ammonia? We use "after bite" on bug and spider bites. It has ammonia which you feel enter the wound and it burns out the toxins by reacting with them, and it never seems to do any damage besides the original burn. It can break down very large complex molecules. You would want a dilute solution. After bite is 3.5% ammonia.

What a bunch of sissies. I spray my dehydrated food with bear spray to give it some flavor.

Milk is pretty basic but if it is the fats that work, then I would assume butter would also work. BUT theres no way I'm gonna carry the stuff, and I think people who do carry bear spray should reconsider. It seems that most people never actually use it to defend themselves, but everyone that carries it does risk the failure of a leak. I'd rather carry something that I might actually use.

What was the part about contraception? Or is that a joke about the effects of getting bear spray in the wrong place?
Jim

Jim:

Well, the "contraception" part was about doing the dirty deed (spraying pepper spray), then realizing that it is on you and not the bear, and having something to keep you from the side effects of the overspray. I'm just a lot more careful now.

Jim, this is really off-topic, but glad to hear things are looking good at your new digs near Bend.

I have always used vinegar to wash pepper juice off my hands when I cut up fresh habaneros or jalapenos. Maybe I should try drinking it to see if it kills the heat after eating peppers.