Effective use of the pepper spray

While using a pepper spray is extremely easy, effective use of this self defense product is incumbent upon various factors. The fact of the matter is that even though you may know how to use a pepper spray, actually using it in an assault situation is very different from practicing to pull it out and spraying.

There are various factors that ensure that your self defense is ensured adequately with a pepper spray.

- Surprise the attacker: It is essential that you surprise the attacker b y pulling out the pepper spray at the right time. This should not be done too early or too late. If you pull out the pepper spray too early, you tend to warn the attacker about the fact that you are armed with a self defense product and therefore he has time to prepare his next move. At times many assailants carry a weapon without actually intending to use it. By bringing out your self defense product you may actually intimidate the attacker. This may incite him to actually use the weapon that he may be carrying only for ‘effect’. Taking out the pepper spray too late may not allow you to spray at the right time. This may result in a situation where you are physically confined or held and therefore may not be able to use the pepper spray properly.

- Be alert all the time: Another aspect of being able to time your attack with the pepper spray is to be alert at all times. The alertness allows you to judge the exact moment when you should reach out for the self defense product in your bag or pocket. Make sure that you have your eyes open and are not actually trying to wish the event away. Taking charge of the situation is extremely essential at this time.

- Distance: The distance between the attacker and you when you actually spray is also important. If you spray when he is too close to you can harm you and if you use the pepper spray when he is too far, it can result in the pepper spray not being effective. Read the instructions on the specific pepper spray that you are using and be aware of the range that it covers when it sprays. Try it at home a few times to get a feel of the range that it has.

- Aim: It is also important that you aim the pepper spray right at the face and particularly at the eyes of the attacker. Though the pepper spray will cause a fair amount of pain when it comes in contact with the skin, it may not have the best effect if the entire spray lands on thick jeans of the attacker. An attack directed at the eyes is most effective while one on the face shall also cause you to make your escape effectively.

- Practice: Even though practice alone will not help in making the right move at the right time, it is essential to ensure that you pull out the pepper spray easily and smoothly so as to take the assailant by surprise. It is essential that you do not get surprised yourself with the effect that the pepper spray has on the attacker and concentrate on making your escape as soon as you have sprayed the pepper spray. If the pepper spray has been used effectively, your attacker is likely to gag, start coughing violently and itch. He is also likely to be in a fair amount of pain due to the pepper spray. Make sure that you do not react to the situation and make a dash for it while you can. Even though the effects of the pepper spray last for a few minutes, it is important that you put as much distance between yourself and the attacker and try and reach an area that is populated with other people or reach out for some help.

Steve Thibeault is the owner of TBO-TECH, a company that understands your self protection needs and offers products that are practical and effective. Other than a wide range of pepper sprays, stun guns and batons, the company also provides martial arts weapons, personal alarms, hidden safes, spy gear and sporting products like slingshots and blowguns. For more information on self defense items, log on to TBO-TECH.

Ensure home safety even when you are on vacation

Home invasions can be an extremely unnerving experience. Coming back to a home that has been turned upside down can cause a fair amount of anxiety and even depression. Though burglaries can happen during the daytime while you are at work, home invasions are more likely when you are on a vacation. This is mainly because many people do not think ahead about home safety or plan with regards to the things that they need to ensure before they leave for the long vacation.

The first thing to do whether or not you are going on a vacation in the near future is to burglar-proof your house. This would mean a home security system, an alarm and a surveillance camera to see who is visiting your house in your absence. Installing new gizmos like a home security device and an alarm does not mean that you should not take certain preventive measure to ensure that your house is not the prime target of burglar while you are away. The idea is to create a perception that there are still people in the house and that it is not empty. You can do this by ensuring minor aspects of the home situation before you leave for the vacation.

- Ensure that you have informed the postal department and keep the mail on hold. A letter box on the street that has not been cleared for days is a sure shot sign of the fact that there is no one in the house. Even if you have a slot in your door where the mail is drooped, make sure that you cancel the mail and keep it on hold. This is mainly because people can look in though the window and see piled up mail.

- Cancel your newspaper and milkman for a few days. Newspapers and milk bottles are similar to mail and can pile up in front of your house. Non removal of these each day at the regular time is again a sign that no one is in the house.

- Home defense also includes aspects like attaching a timer to some of your lights and the television perhaps. If you have seen the movie ‘Home Alone’, you would know how an illusion can be created by using lights and proper sound by turning on the television based on a timer. Make sure that some lights in the house are always burning. The timer needs to be sophisticated so that it can be programmed properly to switch on and switch off the devices based on the programming.

- As a home defense tactic, ensure that you do not leave an answering message on your phone that states that you are on vacation. Just program the machine to ring for some time before a safer message can be recorded. Alternately forward your calls to a mobile phone that you can use while on vacation.

- Home defense requires you to padlock your gates. Even though these may not keep the thieves and burglars away, they form good hindrances when someone is trying to remove heavier items like a stereo or a television.

- Last but not the least, hire temporary help to visit your house regularly or even sleep-in. Young teenagers form a natural choice since they are responsible enough to ensure that the leaves are raked, porch cleaned, lawn mowed and the like.

Steve Thibeault is the owner of TBO-TECH, a company that understands your self protection needs and offers products that are practical and effective. Other than a wide range of pepper sprays, stun guns and batons, the company also provides martial arts weapons, personal alarms, hidden safes, spy gear and sporting products like slingshots and blowguns. For more information on self defense items, log on to TBO-TECH.

Workplace violence – can you feel safe anywhere?

There are various kinds of workplace violence that takes place in the corporate world today. Basically they can be divided into two kinds – internal and external. Internal workplace violence results when a superior or a physically stronger person abuses you in some way. This could be more than just physical violence and may include aspects like threatening, verbal abuse, sexual innuendoes and the like. External violence refers to violence that people are exposed to when they work in high risk jobs.

Let’s take each kind of violence and look at what you can do as an individual to ensure self defense. While reporting violence at work by co-workers may seem fraught with issues, sitting and taking all that bullying that is meted out to you is also cowardice. You should try and find out more about the company’s policy against such acts and then move towards creating evidence that proves your point. Make a journal of the various acts that have threatened or actually physically harmed you. Make sure that you seek medical help when hurt so that you can create evidence. Report the incidents to your manager and follow through with the complaint. Scary as it might seem, taking things in your own hands and actually doing something about this is the only self defense act that you can do in such cases. Fear of being stamped as an outcast need to be shunned aside.

External violence and assaults are a different scenario altogether and need to be handled differently. People who come in contact with strangers, work in a mobile kind of setting, engage in activities that involve unstable people, work alone outside of the house or work in community based settings are at a higher risk of facing external violence. Professions like police officers, teachers, social workers, paramedics, security personnel, bartenders and waitresses, therefore need to ensure that they are trained on a certain number of self defense tactics to ensure safety.

In fact there are many organizations like hospitals and real estate companies that realize that their employees run the extra risk by working in such environments. These companies ensure that each individual that is inducted into the company goes through thorough self defense training. Such companies have gone a step further and realized that self defense training can actually add to various other aspects of the growth of their employees. Individuals who are trained in self defense are more confident, better leaders and can handle work stress in a far more mature manner than others. Employees who have practiced self defense are able to solve problems in a more creative manner because self defense teaches the art of thinking on the feet when attack situations arise. With the many benefits that self defense training has, many corporate companies are taking their recruits through self defense videos prior to making them practice some of the techniques.

In other companies where such self defense training is not a must, each employee is armed with a self defense non-lethal weapon. This is mainly done to ensure the safety of the employee when they go into high risk areas on account of work. Pepper sprays and stun guns and tasers work well for this purpose. With a swish of a hand, anyone can restrain the attacker for a few minutes with a pepper spray ensuring escape. Stun guns are also extremely effective in making sure that the high voltage shock keeps the assailant stunned for a while.

Most companies are waking up to the self defense training responsibility that they have towards their employees and this measure is surely preventing a fair number of assaults that would otherwise take place.

Steve Thibeault is the owner of TBO-TECH, a company that understands your self protection needs and offers products that are practical and effective. Other than a wide range of pepper sprays, stun guns and batons, the company also provides martial arts weapons, personal alarms, hidden safes, spy gear and sporting products like slingshots and blowguns. For more information on self defense items, log on to TBO-TECH.

Ensuring self defense on vacations

Crime levels are high across the country. However, the rates are higher in areas that are specific tourist locations. The reason for such statistics is simple – people on vacation are generally careless about self defense because they are too busy having a good time that they forget to be alert about attackers, thieves and burglars.

The last thing that you would want is to have your vacation spoiled by an assault or a break-in incident. Not only does it spoil the particular vacation, it gives you a bad feeling about vacations in general. Vacations are a time to enjoy and a little carefulness and some thought to self defense can ensure that they remain enjoyable times.

- Make sure that you always park your car in areas where there is pedestrian traffic. Even if you are going to watch a waterfall that is further off, park your car in a busy place and then hike up the remaining distance.

- Make sure that you always lock your car doors. Don’t leave small change lying visible in your car. Many ruffians will break your car window just to get the small change; something that can ensure them their next meal.

- While in the marketplace, making sure that you keep your valuables close to you is a good self defense practice. Cell phones, purses and the merchandise that you have bought should be kept in bags that are easy to carry.

- If you are carrying your laptop with you on your vacation, make sure that you leave it in a safe place. Do not carry it around with you in your car. Someone is sure to notice it in the parking lot and make away with it. If you must bring it, make sure that you put it in the trunk before you arrive at the destination (and not after reaching your destination, where a thief may be watching).

- While at the condo or hotel, keep your valuables locked in a safe.

- Explain what your children should do in case they get lost. It is essential that they do not go off by themselves searching for you in parking lots. Asking a figure of authority is recommended.

- Just because you are on a holiday, do not carry too much cash. Make most of the payments by credit card or check.

- Though you should carry some kind of non-lethal self defense weapon all the time, carrying these self defense products during vacations becomes more important. Make sure that you carry either a pepper spray or a stun gun all the time. These come in small sizes and can be carried on a belt or even in the palm of your hand. These need not get in your way while you are shopping or having a great time. Teaching your children how to use a personal alarm is another preventive measure that you should take. Attackers are less likely to pick on children who clearly have a personal alarm in their hands even if they are lost.

Small measures like these can ensure that your vacation is a great one!

Steve Thibeault is the owner of TBO-TECH, a company that understands your self protection needs and offers products that are practical and effective. Other than a wide range of pepper sprays, stun guns and batons, the company also provides martial arts weapons, personal alarms, hidden safes, spy gear and sporting products like slingshots and blowguns. For more information on self defense items, log on to TBO-TECH.

Home defense – protect your turf

The crime scene has increased to such an extent that criminals are not shy of invading the safety and privacy of homes to perpetrate crimes. A few years ago it was published that a home theft happens every 15 seconds. With this kind of a crime rate for home invasions, there is no doubt about the fact that each individual should ensure a certain amount of home defense on his own. The crime fighting departments obviously have their hands full!

It has also been discussed, with regards to home self defense that one needs to be careful about stepping over the line. The debate about where self defense stops and active assault takes over is dubious. In such matters therefore, it is only wise to take preventive actions rather than face a burglary and then later handle the consequences.

There are various aspects that you can take care of to ensure that your home is not among the higher probability list of burglars and thieves.

- Do a survey of your property and make an inventory of loose doors, cracked windows, panels that do not close and make a plan to mend them

- Keep your valuables in a safe and make sure that you do not keep any valuable pieces in areas that are visible from outside.

- Fencing your property also gives an impression that you are particular about the safety of your home and therefore resist burglars.

- If you are buying a new home, make sure that you change all the locks so that they are all new and that no one else has the key to those doors.

- You might also want to plan and plant some ‘safe’ weapons in your house. Ensure that each room has a pen. Keep air fresheners, insect sprays, hair sprays handy in rooms like the laundry, bathroom and washroom. Ensuring that you always have chili powder or pepper in the kitchen or the dining table in accessible areas also helps.

- Rather than depending on natural weapons that may or may not be effective, make sure that you invest in a home pepper spray or a stun gun. These self defense weapons are safe and detain the quarry only temporarily; enough time for you to dial a 911 or make a dash for it to protect your family and yourself.

- Prepare for any likely assault with your family. Make sure that you have a plan and that you have discussed this with your family a few times. Doing a mock practice is also not a bad idea. It will make a good game for you and your kids on a Sunday evening.

- Always make sure that you have a fool proof plan to alert the authorities, lest such an incident actually happen. Speak to your children about it and make sure that they are aware of the likelihood of such a situation.

You can probably never plan self defense completely because when the incident actually happens the shock and unexpectedness of the situation can take you by surprise. Thinking of the situation and being alert all the time can help you overcome the element of surprise. Investing time in understanding how self defense products like a pepper spray, a stun gun or a taser work can help you in ensuring the safety of your home, belongings and family.

Steve Thibeault is the owner of TBO-TECH, a company that understands your self protection needs and offers products that are practical and effective. Other than a wide range of pepper sprays, stun guns and batons, the company also provides martial arts weapons, personal alarms, hidden safes, spy gear and sporting products like slingshots and blowguns. For more information on self defense items, log on to TBO-TECH.