The nice folks at Infidel Body Armor are always coming out with new products— products that can save your life, too. I happen to have a little bit of insight of the behind-the-scenes, and I know where their roots came from. They have continued to grow and grow.
Back when I was in 5th or 6th grade, I remember the very first pepper spray that came out. I had an uncle who was with the Chicago Police Department, and he was selling pepper spray on the side. I also remember getting in on the business, even at that young age. I sold pepper spray to the neighbors, as well as the teaching staff at my school. If I recall, a small can of pepper spray sold for 50 cents. Needless to say, in very short order, the City Of Chicago outlawed pepper spray. so, once again, the good citizens of Chicago were not allowed to defend themselves against attackers.
I remember, as a young boy, testing the pepper spray on myself. It burned my eyes, and it felt like my face was on fire. Hey, I never said I was the smartest kid on the block, but as young as I was, I didn’t quite understand how something that sprayed out of a can could stop an attacker. So, I tested it on myself, once and only once. The stuff worked!
Over the years, many different types of pepper sprays have come and gone. Remember “Mace”? It was the do all, end all, self-defense spray. I happen to know that the late Col. Rex Applegate, who I worked for over the course of 3-years, was instrumental in the development of Mace. He gave it all away to Smith & Wesson firearms. Well, needless to say, Mace didn’t always work, Sometimes, if a person were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the spray didn’t effect them in the least. Different formulas have come and gone, and there still is no sure method for stopping everyone with any kind of a self-defense spray. However, it works on most people, so keep that in mind.
One of the drawbacks to pepper sprays is the fact that it is a “spray” and can be affected by the wind, and it could spray back in your own face. They came out with pepper “spray” that dispensed in more of a stream than spray that was much better in the wind. Another thing people don’t realize is that any type of self-defense spray has a shelf-life. Most only live a couple of years before it starts to lose potency. You should discard it and buy a new can. This is something to think about.
Now we come to the use of lethal force. Not all attacks directed against you call for the use of lethal force. If you use lethal force, where a lot lesser force would have stopped the attack, you could be brought up on criminal charges. You might even go to prison for the rest of your life. So, don’t be so fast to draw your gun, when threatened.
Infidel Body Armor is selling their Pepper GEL device. It’s a bit different than anything else on the market. It is designed, first and foremost, to be used by law enforcement. The Infidel Body Armor Pepper GEL device attaches to the Picatinny rail on a shotgun, AR-15, or other similar long guns. It only takes a few minutes to attach this device to the Picatinny rail. What we have is a canister of the pepper GEL (not a spray), and you insert it into the carrier that fits on your Picatinny rail. You seal up the canister in the carrier and place the device on “safe”. Now, you are ready to go.
Now, let’s suppose you are a police officer, and you are called to the site of a domestic disturbance, where the husband is the aggressor. Your efforts to talk him down have failed, and he comes at you, bare handed or perhaps with an empty beer bottle in his hand. Are you justified in using deadly force? Maybe or maybe not! Now, if you have your police issued shotgun, with the Infidel Body Armor pepper GEL device loaded on the Picatinny rail, you simply have to push the button from “safe” to “fire” and pull back on the carrier. The gel will spray into the face of the attacker. Should you need deadly force, you don’t have to change your hand position on your shotgun or AR-15 in order to fire the weapon.
I received the Infidel Body Armor pepper GEL discharge device, along with an inert training canister, so I could see how well it worked, without having to actually deploy it against someone, or for that matter, to just shoot it out of the device. I could easily hit my intended target with the inert gel at 15-20 feet, and I’m assuming that the pepper gel will spray that far, too.
So, let’s stop and think about this for a moment, you have an AR-15 type of firearm for your house gun. When you hear something go “bump” or “bang” in the night, you reach for your trusty AR, knowing you can stop any attacker. However, let’s say what you heard was your drunken neighbor, who had broken in your front door, thinking he was at his own house. He’s now in your living room. Are you justified, in your own mind, firing live ammo at a harmless drunk? I don’t think so. If you have the Infidel Body Armor pepper gel device mounted on your AR, and your neighbor won’t leave, and you feel threatened, you can just “shoot” him with the pepper gel device.
I can easily think of a lot of different scenarios where lethal force may not be justified, and you would wish that you had something other than your firearm in your hand. Well, with the pepper gel device mounted on your AR-15, you have two choice– the gel or, if necessary, the firearm as a last resort. While I believe this device was probably designed for law enforcement, security, and even the military, it’s a good thing to have on-hand in your own home. Just because something goes “bump” in the night, doesn’t mean you have to resort to deadly force. Think about it.
Right now, Infidel Body Armor has their pepper gel device on-sale for $94.99. Refill pepper gel canisters are $29.99 each. I didn’t see anything on their website about the inert training canister, but you can ask. I’m sure they have them for sale, as an accessory. If you have an AR that is your “house gun” with Picatinny rails, then I would strongly suggest you purchase this pepper gel device and mount it on your AR. Needless to say, any police department would greatly benefit from this device, if you issue an AR-15 to your officers. It could save lives and stop lawsuits, too, When there is no need to use lethal force, when lesser force is called for in effecting an arrest, you have this option. Also, you don’t have to worry about holding a pepper spray canister in one hand and your firearm in the other. With this device, you have it all on your firearm and ready to go. In a split second, you can choose to use less lethal force or you can use deadly force.