Mace vs Pepper Spray
Between mace and pepper spray, one can see the difference mainly in the effects they have on people. What do you do to protect yourself if you do not feel secured in the area where you live and work and are worried about assailants attacking you anytime? Besides keeping licensed firearms or knives, there is a very effective way to defend you. Pepper spray is one such way as it incapacitates the attacker momentarily causing a burning sensation in his eyes and skin. There is another similar personal protection tool called mace, and often people confuse between mace and pepper spray thinking of both to be the same. This is incorrect as there are differences that will be highlighted in this article.
Mace and pepper spray cause terrible pain to the assailant, making him immobile for some time. But besides this similarity, there are differences between the two that cannot be overlooked. Mace is a brand name that has been producing irritants in the form of sprays and gels for a long time now, and pepper spray is one of the ingredients in the sprays manufactured by Mace. A type of tear gas is also referred to as Mace. Tear gas, as we all know, employs totally different chemicals from pepper spray though there are formulae of Mace that have pepper spray as one of their ingredients. Thus, when you buy Mace, you could be making use of not just pepper spray, but a host of defensive sprays including tear gas.
Both mace and pepper spray temporarily make a person blind and incapacitate him thus giving the victim of an attack time to escape from the scene of the crime.
What is Mace?
The original Mace contained a form of tear gas. As a result, once you sprayed someone with a mace, that person went through some physical pain, but he was still able to move or run or grab you. The effects of mace were not felt by people under the influence of alcohol or drugs or those with high levels of pain tolerance.
Smith and Wesson is the name of the company that first made use of the brand name Mace in 1962. It was promoted as a self-defense spray that was aerosol based and used a small amount of tear gas (also called CN gas). However, at present, Mace is being manufactured with OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) as the main and active ingredient making it very similar to pepper spray. Today, Mace is a brand name produced by a company called Mace Security International.
What is Pepper Spray?
Pepper spray has always been much effective in providing a defensive tool for women to defend themselves from people who might harm them. The major ingredient in pepper spray is called OC (Oleoresin Capsicum). This is the same chemical that makes chili peppers hot. But the amount of OC delivered in pepper spray is 15 times more than when one normally eats pepper. One can understand the intensity felt by the attacker when you use the spray on his face and eyes.
What is the difference between Mace and Pepper Spray?
• Definitions of Mace and Pepper Spray:
• Mace is a type of defensive spray that has evolved from tear gas to an actual pepper spray.
• Pepper spray has always been a defensive spray with good results.
• Main Ingredients:
• Earlier, the main ingredient of Mace was CN gas or tear gas. Now, Mace also uses Oleoresin Capsicum.
• The main ingredient of pepper spray has always been Oleoresin Capsicum.
• Effects:
• Earlier, the mace did not cause inflammation of capillaries that lead to temporary blindness, breathing difficulty, intense burning sensation, and nausea. The new mace is more improved than this.
• Pepper spray causes inflammation of capillaries that lead to temporary blindness, breathing difficulty, intense burning sensation, and nausea.
So, what we have to understand is that there used to be differences in the formulation between pepper spray and Mace way back in 1962 when Mace contained at least 1% CN gas (commonly known as tear gas) in a solution of butanol, cyclohexene, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, and propylene. But today, Mace brand is being produced by another company than the one that made it in 1962, and it is no more than pepper spray. Both contain OC as the major ingredient and work on a similar principle; temporarily incapacitating the assailant.
Images Courtesy: Pepper spray demonstration via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
