SNIP: I'm thinking that if ordinary pepper spray kind of works on humans (especially when they are trying to fumble around and climb on your rocking boat), then this super-duper highly-pressurized and presumably really concentrated stuff, that can nail a bear at 30 feet, will probably disable a human. Between big spotlights (which can temporarily blind at night), hand-held air horns (that can be disorienting when discharged in your face), and a whole arsenal of Grizzy-grade bear spray, I figure I might have a chance to keep most boarders off my boat and stay legal while doing it. REPLY: I don't have any experience with bear spray. But I would think that if a bad guy with ill intent was trying to board my boat and I shot him with bear spray or blasted him in the face with an air horn that I would only temporarily incapacitate him. Then what? If he is armed, he will be would retaliate. Then what . . . .? Or if he falls in the water and drowns, how will the convoluted legal system react to that? David Sorenson Duluth ____________________________________________________________ Save on Domain Registration. Click Now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw2XOgD2oRzzzDZyVrPU0yhVTSNuO0X1lVykL7MYNdIo1EXd6/

Being a retired peace officer in Canada I have experience in the pepper spray that we were issued to carry. It is stronger than the stuff sold as bear/animal repellant. As a previous poster mentioned if you use it in an enclosed area you will also feel the effects. The same if you fire it upwind, some will blow back in your face. If you are into really spicy foods you can even add it as a condiment! But I digress. I don't recall the maker of what we had but it had a 3 year shelf life I am not sure if the bear stuff has an expiry date or not. We were instructed to periodically shake the can and to give a tiny "test" fire just to ensure it was working ok. The active ingredient was carried by an oil so it would not freeze in cold weather. Finally, our issue stuff was good for a fairly accurate stream over about 12 feet. If you are "goal orientated" or mentally disturbed(handicapped) you can "fight" through it and reach your goal but I have never experienced that happening. Might be because I only had to resort to using it once in my career. The RCMP has done extensive testing of it since it was issued in about 1995 and have learned that people who have been sprayed once know what to expect in the way of pain and are more able to complete an assigned task, or "reach their goal" so if your attacker had been sprayed before he might be able to still get you. There is also a time delay before it takes effect, usually about 4-8 seconds. While I have never been sprayed myself, I did experience some back spray on an occasion or two that other members resorted to it and I can confirm it does hurt. My personal belief would be that the stuff sold as bear repellant would be effective on a person, especially if you really hosed him down with it. I know the animal repellant cans carry a substantial amount more than what we had, so it would be possible to really soak a person. Finally, in speaking to people who have been sprayed all have stated that they would not want to go thru it again and toward the end of my career all I had to do was threaten to use it to gain compliance from the most combative of people. The word spread rather rapidly among the criminal element that it was not an experience anyone would want to have, hence most people would obey rather than test it themselves. And falling in the water after being sprayed should not be lethal, unless the person can not swim. We used fresh running water to wash the stuff off the sprayees. Rob At 02:15 PM 1/10/2009 -0600, David H Sorenson wrote: >REPLY: >I don't have any experience with bear spray. But I would think that if a >bad guy with ill intent was trying to board my boat and I shot him with >bear spray or blasted him in the face with an air horn that I would only >temporarily incapacitate him. Then what? If he is armed, he will be would >retaliate. Then what . . . .? Or if he falls in the water and drowns, how >will the convoluted legal system react to that? Do you realize that in about 40 years we will have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos and pierced navels?

Depends on the boarder... if you're unlucky enough to encounter a homicidal maniac intent on killing you, then I agree, the stuff I carry is of little help. But if he's a thief, then reasonable deterrents are going to send him somewhere else to steal his stuff. I figure that the vast majority of attempted boarders are thieves, not homicidal maniacs on a rampage. John Marshall On Jan 10, 2009, at 12:15 PM, David H Sorenson wrote: > SNIP: > I'm thinking that if ordinary pepper spray kind of works on humans > (especially when they are trying to fumble around and climb on your > rocking boat), then this super-duper highly-pressurized and presumably > really concentrated stuff, that can nail a bear at 30 feet, will > probably > disable a human. Between big spotlights (which can temporarily blind > at > night), hand-held air horns (that can be disorienting when > discharged in > your face), and a whole arsenal of Grizzy-grade bear spray, I > figure I > might have a chance to keep most boarders off my boat and stay legal > while doing it. > > REPLY: > I don't have any experience with bear spray. But I would think that > if a > bad guy with ill intent was trying to board my boat and I shot him > with > bear spray or blasted him in the face with an air horn that I would > only > temporarily incapacitate him. Then what? If he is armed, he will be > would > retaliate. Then what . . . .? Or if he falls in the water and > drowns, how > will the convoluted legal system react to that? > > David Sorenson > Duluth > ____________________________________________________________ > Domain Registration - Click Here > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw2XOgD2thuFiRUe5sTgl0UtX6VIR7qeYHSgeqbl2nCuYwT4W/