WaveyGravey

I've been attacked twice by dogs recently while riding.

Can anyone recommend a good, effective pepper spray product for self defense while riding?

Thanks

Troul 

where are you located? Stores like w-mart, TSC, & gander sell it. The continuous spray button dispensers should be replaced once a year from my personal testing.

indyfabz

FBOATSB

Get the gel style. You have a slightly less chance of it blowing back in your face that way.

zandoval 

I think the much debated question is, do they work?

Pepper spray on some of the back roads I ride would just really piss the dog off. Maybe its different for city dogs.

So what would be the tenants of selection? I guess at the top of the list would be ease of use and size and weight. I would probably be best if it did not look like a gun. Should it be spray or stream? How much money is a good cost? What would be an acceptable shelf life?

Then comes addressing thier legality of use in your particular AO.

I'm sure we have had extensive threads on this subject.

Troul 

its easy to find non weapon looking dispensers.
https://www.amazon.com/SABRE-Pepper-.../dp/B08VY7JBW7 Has a reflective strap too!

Mace Triple Action Pepper Spray is good, but they don't seem to have a gel type.

Alternative option is to carry a managers special streak with you & toss it at the wild assailant. Hoping it buys you enough time to cycle off & no flats happen in the process!

wolfchild

This thread will get locked before you finish your bowl of popcorn. Self-defence threads never end well on bikeforums

DeadGrandpa

Don't screw around with the small, pen-sized pepper spray. Go to REI or Amazon and get a canister of Bear Spray. It fires a fog two feet in diameter up to twenty feet. I've used it while pedaling, catching the leader of a three dog group full in the face with a half second burst. Stopped them all in their tracks.

The next time I saw the group of dogs from that house, they took one look at me and dove for the ditches. They learned and they remembered. I've sprayed every dog that comes out onto the pavement after me, and I've never had any repeat offenders.

John Valuk

According to Security Equipment Corporation (SABRE products), pepper sprays intended for dogs are limited by EPA regulation to a particular maximum concentration (1%) of active ingredients.

They sell their "Protector" dog spray in 0.75 oz. and 1.8 oz. packages.

I haven't used it, so I can't personally vouch for the effectiveness of the product.

indyfabz

kahn

My bear spray still packed a punch after about 10 years. But that was in the back yard test!

mdarnton

I did quite a bit of research on this very subject the other day. The bottom line is that dogs don't respond to human pepper spray because they have a layer on their eyes that prevents it from working. So, there is a separate spray for dogs that is designed to work on dogs. The reason the dog spray is weaker than human is because once you cut through the protective layer their eyes are much more sensitive.

I couldn't quite figure out from my reading if bear spray actually would work on dogs but I think that it's a lot stronger than necessary to do the job.

Anyway, I bought myself a can of Halt, which is what postmen use. It also leaves an orange stain to identify the guilty dog. I suppose it would be less useful on people, being less powerful, but the question was about dogs.

None of this information was easy to find but it's there if you dig. Read some of the Amazon reviews and you'll find that people complain about various human-directed brands of pepper sprays are bad products and their proof is that they tried it on a dog and it didn't work, which just should hammer home the idea that the spray was fine but the user was pointing it at the wrong target. Notice how many of the one-star reviews mention dogs.

John Valuk

Would you please share the source(s) where you learned this? I'd love to learn more about it.

mdarnton

Ha, no. You can't imagine how long I wasted on this, and I wasn't taking notes for a thesis, but read my added last paragraph.

My original intent was to find a spray that would work on both dogs and humans. I finally settled on Halt, even though it's half the strength of human spray, because of the color residue to tag the perp, dog or human, and the suggested better effectiveness on dogs. I figure that if I use it on people, being half strength it will be half as bad as what I understand is infinitely horrible anyway. And I'm more worried about dogs, frankly.

Bear spray, being considerably stronger, seemed less fair . . . and in a human situation you have to consider that it might get used back on you at close distance, and people have been blinded by bear spray, so, nope, not going there!

Just to be perfectly clear here: my conclusion is that one should use the spray intended for humans on humans, that for dogs on dogs, and that for bears on bears. Nothing radical, just follow the instructions and assume the manufacturers know what they are doing.

drlogik 

Get a bag of Dog Yummies instead, or better yet, a couple of hot dogs. When the dog starts to chase, throw a few on the ground. Even if he doesn't see them right away, he will. Make friends with the dog. Pepper spray is last resort. The dog will hate you like no other if you use it on him. For persistent dogs, over the years, I just give them a squirt with the water bottle in the face. It stops almost any dog.

Rick

Halt used to be quite effective if you actually caught the dog in the eyes. The current batch is puppy friendly. I like the 16oz can of bear spray that shoots out to 30 feet.

JW in AK

Sorry dr, I think your logik is flawed in this scenario. You don't want to train a dog to think that chasing cyclists results in snacks. That said, it's important for people to be able to discern between a dog playfully running after a fast moving object and one that intends to attack and choose their reaction accordingly.

wolfchild

Terrible advice, because it will just encourage dogs to chase cyclists.

alo

It is probably easier to pick up a few rocks, to throw at dogs.

livedarklions

I always pack a small bear on the back of the bike. Dog chases bike, bear eats dog, everyone wins.

Bald Paul

I've always used Halt spray, and it's always been effective. Bear spray is, IMHO, a bit of overkill (unless you are being chased by a grizzly) and may be so strong it could seriously harm a dog. No matter what you choose to use, make sure you are either riding alone, or at the back of the group. If you're in a group and not at the back, you're going to be very unpopular with the riders behind you.
The squirt from the water bottle trick works on some dogs. We have a Chow on one of our regular group rides that, believe me, would appreciate being served a drink along with his meal of your calf. (He only has three legs. Doesn't slow him down a bit, unfortunately!)

Troul 

spraying at the face of a dog in hopes there tongue is out/mouth is open. That's where it becomes effective.

Cordless vacuum & a wad of newspaper??

Kabuki12

When I was young I had a paper route and a sting ray bike . I liked it because the butterfly handlebars seemed to work well with tossing the papers. There were a couple of dogs on my route that could easily catch me and nip at my ankles as I tried to pedal away. I never got bit badly but it used to really piss me off and I hated those dogs. As I look back I should have directed my frustration at the dog owners. I had been successful at kicking the poor animals in the jaw but they still came after me. I guess I was lucky I was never seriously injured by the dogs or crashing trying to fight them off. I am pretty sure bear spray would work and I probably would have used it on the dogs that chased me because every day they would come after me and I was so scared but I still did the route.

veganbikes

Oy vey not this again!

Pop N Wood

I carry a cannister of this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In this holster

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also made a sleeve from stretchy band elastic and some velcro I got in the sowing section at Walmart. Mounts right on the steering tube of my recumbent.

Don't know about the differences between a dog and a human but I can tell you for a fact this stuff will stop even the most determined dog. I carry a second can because sometimes you may need that for confronting the belligerent owner. I feel bad for the dogs, not their fault the owners are negligent.

You do know that 99% of the time simply stopping will stop the dog dead in it's tracks. Once the chase is over so is the thrill for the dog.