Anyone ever carry pepper spray?
 

Leaving for Barcelona tomorrow and just read on NY Times travel blog about someone not just getting pickpocketed in Barcelona, but mugged resulting in shoulder injury.

I was thinking that if one carried pepper spray this might help if physically "attacked". Anyone have any thoughts or experiences?

I sometimes carry it for work and we use the same concentration as the spanish - 5%.

It doesn't bloody well work. You'd be better off kicking the mugger in the nads. That's what we do (unless anyone's looking).

Believe me, by the time you figure out that you've had your pocket picked in Barcelona or anywhere else you may as well take that stuff and spray it into your own face for being so careless.

I'm sorry but I think you are worrying needlessly about being mugged in Barcelona.

Hi LC,

In some countries pepper spray is considered a weapon.

I have a small, hand-held air horn (available at your local boat supply shop) that is loud enough to wake the dead (I have tried it at our local cemetery).

It doesn't incapacitate, but it brings people running to see what happened.

((I))

In many European countries the mere possession of pepper spray is a jailable offence - and Spanish justice runs VERY slowly

First of all, the chances of you reacting quickly enough to use something like pepper spray is pretty much nil.

Second, it could be illegal to carry it in Spain, in which case you might end up arrested and jailed in addition to mugged.

I would concentrate on more positive aspects of your upcoming trip.

As I said - it is legal in Spain - up to 5% concentration.

That is the same we use here (it is illegal here for private use). Quite simply it doesn't work in the face of someone who's high on adrenaline (and god knows what else).

Plus it's really hard to use reactively - even if you have been trained. It's fiddly and you have to get very close - and that means you're going to get some of it yourself.

Thirdly - it's windbourne and quite a lot of times people misjudge the wind and end up spraying themselves or their companions.

Fourthly - spraying some attacker with this stuff ups the violence ante hugely. This not not usually a good thing for the untrained to do.

Finally - like most weapons - it gives a false sense of security that is no substitute for general vigilence, especially as the worst that can happen is you lose your purse (don't keep everything in one place etc)

Wear your bag across your body, dont leave it open, leave a strap hanging over your leg etc. when sitting down.
Just by being confident and alert, with a littl common sense, you will not have to worry about getting mugged.
No pepper spray.
Have a nice trip, its sunny and warm.

I doubt you are allowed to carry pepper spray on a plane.

CW should know because it was used i think on a Spurs fan in a wheelchair in the Seville soccer riots a year or two ago - i guess it was really mace perhaps - yup Spanish cops maced a guy in a wheelchair

The best thing is too stay alert, wherever you go.
If something doesn't feel right, leave. I loved Barcelona but didn't like Las Rambles area but that was just me.

At one point I told my dh we should leave. He didn't believe me, we rounded a corner and some woman had just had her purse stolen.
We left and now, he trusts me.

i guess it was really mace perhaps >>>>

Mace is pretty much the same thing - it's all based on capsicum oils. I think Mace is just a brand name.

The stuff the, cowardly, despicable, spanish police used is much stronger than that allowed for civilian use. Also they weren't using it defensivley (which is what the OP was suggesting) - they were using it as an offensive weapon (where it has some value).

Having traveled in europe for 20 years, never had a bad experience or been pick pocketed probably due to our carefulness and awareness, having lived in NYC.
It just seems that if you are going to get mugged (again by my post, not just pockets emptied while unaware) having spray might be of some help if you keep it at the ready. I sure do not want to end up in a Spanish jail over using such a spray so will not go that route.
Someone has posted that the Born area where our apartment will be has dark,narrow streets and "druggy" types hanging about....not very appealing to find that out...oh well, can always eat a big lunch and stay in or very close to "home" at night if it is really that bad.

IMHO travel_buzzing says it best!

Just do as travel_buzzing advises. don't try to invite trouble, relax and enjoy your visit.

It takes a very specific situation where you will have a chance to be able to get out your pepper spray and have it do you any good!

Much easier to simply take precautions so you are not a target of pickpocketing or mugging.

I saw a passenger ahead of me in line at airline security have her pepper spray confiscated a few years back.

The real threat in Barcelona and many other cities is pickpockets and luggage thieves, not muggers. The company I'm working with at the moment had three employee laptops picked on trains between Brussels and Amsterdam this month.

Take this instead:

http://www.selfdefensegearco.com/c2-taser.htm

Agree with Ira. Carry a sports whistle.

If you're mugged, you won't feel where the wind blows, and may accidentally spray at yourself. Pepper spray also does not work in rainy weather if you travel at shoulder season.

And of course make sure the spray is legal where you're going. I am sure it's not allowed in the carry-on, are you checking your luggage?

Wow Zeus, that tazer looks like it could really be "overkill" for Barcelona but I might just get one for my husband to have in hand when he walks our dog late at night in the NC mountains where there a lot of black bears.