August 26, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

Is there a way you can safeguard yourself and protect your freedom?

Yes! You Can Stop It!

Personal safety products like pepper spray is the most powerful when you believe in yourself.  When you believe in yourself, you are far more likely to:

> Trust your sense of what’s going on. 

> Pay attention to the warnings your awareness and intuition can give you. 

> Believe in your ability to verbally or physically defend yourself. 

Give yourself the caring, safety and security you deserve.  When you believe in yourself, most people looking to cause a problem will leave you alone.

Personal safety grows from the power, energy, and passion you want in every part of life.  Personal safety became a national priority and Personal safety products like Pepper Sprays are the best protection available.  Pepper Sprays stop human attacks quickly, safely, and effectively. Pepper spray, used in self defense against dogs, human attackers, comes in an aerosol form and its active ingredient is OC (oleoresin capsicum) - a term used in reference to Chile peppers.  What does a pepper spray contain and how does it work?  Pepper spray products contain the ingredient called Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) .  They come in either 10% or 15% (the highest percentage allowed by law), and have a 2 million Scoville heat rating.  OC is a directive of hot Cayenne Peppers.  It is pure, non-toxic and nonflammable.  OC is not an irritant like tear gas but an inflammatory agent.  Contact with mucous membranes (eyes, nose, throat and lungs) causes an immediate dilation of the capillaries of the eyes, resulting in temporary blindness and constricted breathing.  It does not interfere with necessary breathing to sustain life. Effects last 30 to 45 minutes.  So victim can have enough time to escape and call for help.

Is the usage of a Pepper Spray legal?

Yes, but you may not carry it on an airplane and some U.S. states have pepper spray restrictions and formulation rules as mentioned below:

Massachusetts - you must have a Firearms Identification Card (FID) to possess and/or use pepper spray

Michigan - specific pepper or tear gas formulations are required

New York - pepper spray must be purchased from a New York state licensed firearm dealer or pharmacist

Wisconsin - state formulations do not allow UV dye in pepper spray

NOTE: It is best to contact your state or local law enforcement department to know whether the usage of pepper spray is legal or not.

Pepper Spray is a valuable self defense tool, but could be a weapon if not used properly.  Follow the basic safety precautions and rules.  Enjoy the feeling of security, confidence it offers.

For more information on personal safety products and their legal restrictions on their usage please visit the DAWG Trading Post web site.

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August 23, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

With all the crime you hear about on TV and in other news media, you’d think we are being invaded by an army of criminals. In fact, we have 5 times more murders in the USA in one single year than all the deaths of US forces in the 4 years of the IRAQ war! This figure doesn’t even include other crimes such as rape, assault, or burglary.

Big city, small town, even rural communities. Meth labs are hidden in rolling hills of small town areas - soon meth addicts are breaking into homes, hijacking cars, where violent crime was unheard of only a year ago.

RAPES…There were 94,635 reported rapes in 2004.  The highest percentage of rape is in the Northeast.  July is when the greatest number of rapes occur.

ROBBERIES…There were 401,326 robberies in 2004.  Highest percentage of these (38%) were in the South.  42% of the robberies occurred on the streets, 14% occurred in homes.

ASSAULT…There were 854,911 incidents of aggravated assault.  Firearms were used for 19.3% of the assaults, knives or cutting instruments 18.6%, other weapons (clubs, blunt objects, etc.) 35.6% and personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) accounted for 26.6% of the assaults.

CAR JACKINGS…There are around 38,000 car jackings each year.  74% of the victims faced a weapon.  About 63% of carjacking incidents occurred within 5 miles of the victim’s home, including 17% that occurred at or near the home…sometimes in their own driveway.  Only 4% occurred more than 50 miles from the victim’s home.  It’s obvious there is a need for these products.

 To say crime is all around us is an understatement.  You and you alone must be ready and are responsible for protecting yourself.  Make sure you’re prepared.

Visit DAWG Trading Post for all your Personal Safety Needs!!

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August 17, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

There is no magic bullet for keeping yourself safe in a college campus environment.  Perhaps the closest thing to a magic bullet is common sense.  Does it make sense to be walking by yourself at night time?  Is your college campus immune to the crime trends of the surrounding area?  Do you think it is safe to leave a backpack unattended on a library table or outside the library?  Of course not!  The following are some tips designed to reduce your likelihood of becoming a victim of crime.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings
The element of surprise is one of the most effective tools that a perpetrator has.  Remove that tool.  While you are walking, take frequent glances behind you and to your sides.  Be aware of your surroundings and who is there.  Many times, people are soaked up in thought, books, listening to their Ipods, and any number of distractions that a mugger or attacker can virtually be on top of them before they detect their presence.  By that time, it’s too late to come up with an effective counterattack.

Walking in obscure areas or areas with heavy foliage can also increase your chances of being surprised by an attacker.  Especially while walking alone, give these “hiding places” enough distance for your own safety.  Do this even if you have to cross the street or take other slightly inconvenient steps to distance yourself from potential threats.  A small piece of inconvenience is a far cry from a lot of hurt.  Be cautious of your surroundings, and do not allow these danger areas surprise you.

Think Before You Drink
It is an innate quality of hunters such as lions and wolves to target the very young, the elderly, and the physically weak.  Criminals are predators too and have the same mentality.  A person who is drunk to the point of physical and mental impairment makes himself and easy prey for an attacker.  Alcohol impairs many of our abilities.  Drunk individuals are more likely to be risk takers than sober people.  If you must drink at a party, always be careful not to drive home.  Also never walk home alone.  Ask someone to call a taxi if you get too drunk.  However, walking home drunk can be as hazardous to your personal safety as driving.  It is a fact that inebriated pedestrians account for a large number of pedestrian-involved traffic accidents.  Drunk pedestrians are more likely to become a crime victim.

Heed this advice so that you can minimize crime on your college campus and prevent being a victim of the crime of assault or robbery.

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August 17, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

Women need to defend themselves from individuals who might want to cause them harm.  As a result all women need their own personal security devices to help them defend predators, thieves, or would be attackers.  There are all kinds of personal security devices women may use to protect themselves. Some of those include pepper spray, stun guns, and stun batons.

Pepper Spray
Pepper spray is an excellent option for women to carry in their purses or even on their key chains.  This spray comes in a small aerosol can that when the button is pressed a stream of pepper spray ejects.  If aimed at the attacker’s face and eyes it will cause them to stop in pain.  The spray does not cause long-term harm but it does cause immediate pain that in most cases will stop the attacker in his tracks and give the woman time to escape.  If you buy a pepper spray to carry with you then you should try it out once or twice to ensure you know how to use it and that the spray works well.

Stun Guns
Stun guns are another personal security device that women should consider carrying with them.  A stun gun is a small hand held device that delivers a high voltage shock when it is touched to an individual for approximately three to five seconds.  Once shocked the individual will lose control of their muscles, lose their balance, become confused and disoriented, and fall to the ground.  The individual will recover completely within five to 10 minutes, but this is enough time for the woman to get away.

Stun Baton
A stun baton is a long metal baton, similar to a flashlight that has an electric shock head.  This baton allows you to keep an attacker at arm’s length and you can shock them without having to be very close to them.  This is an excellent way to protect yourself and fend off would be attackers.

These are just some of the security devices available for women.  There are other options available as well that will help women protect themselves in a scary situation.  Hopefully every women out there carrying a stun gun, stun baton, or pepper spray will never need to use it.  But in the case where it becomes necessary it could be a lifesaver.  All women should carry some form of self-defense with them at all times, especially if they travel alone at night.

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August 17, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

Almost on a weekly basis we hear or see reports of bear encounters in urban areas near mountainous terrain.

In one two day stretch in New Mexico there were 4 bear attacks.  They happen with great frequency in Colorado this time of year.  Bear attacks are getting more common as the population slowly encroaches into bear territory.

Bears are mostly curious and are driven by an acute sense of smell.  They can smell food from miles away.  For homeowners near mountainous areas or campers out in the wilderness keeping food wrapped and covered is a must so the smells don’t draw the bears.

There are several things homeowners, hunters, backwoodsmen, and campers can do to protect themselves in case of a bear encounter.

Homeowners and campers who are at risk can arm themselves with bear pepper spray.   If a confrontation with a bear occurs, pepper spray may be the best weapon to repel a bear.  So much so that the Sierra Club is recommending that anyone who goes into bear country has bear pepper spray.

Bear pepper spray is more effective than a .44 magnum because it burns the bears’ eyes and nose and their mucous membranes are very sensitive to it.  IT WORKS!!

Homeowners can use the sound of barking dogs to scare bears away as well.   Folks out in the Lake Tahoe area know all about how well this works.

Campers who venture into the wilderness and homeowners who live near mountainous areas can protect themselves by getting some bear pepper spray and a device called the ‘electronic watchdog’ to protect themselves and their property from bear attacks.

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August 12, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

(The following has been reprinted with permission)

Author: SA Rubin

Article:
Pepper sprays, stun guns, kubotans, they all work well for preventing an assault, but does one self-defense weapon really work any better than another? There is no short answer to this question. Each personal defense weapon has advantages as well as
disadvantages.

I’ve already written a number of articles on how some of these weapons work, so this time I’ll just attempt to give you a brief description of the pros and cons of some of the more popular self-defense weapons, and then only you can decide which one works best for you.

Pepper spray: Pepper spray is an excellent self-defense weapon but it does have limitations. The chemical heat generated from defensive sprays works extremely well at stopping an attacker in their tracks. Pepper spray causes an almost instantaneous inflammation of the mucus membranes in the eyes, nose, throat and lungs of your attacker, causing them a great deal of pain as well as the inability to open their eyes or
catch their breath, thus allowing you to get away.

The average pepper spray on the market today has a range of anywhere from 8 feet up to 20 feet allowing you to use the device from considerable distance away from your would be attacker. The limitations of pepper spray are that your attacker must be hit in or around the area of their face for it to be effective.

Unfortunately, wind conditions can have an effect on the direction of the spray. Also many assaults happen from behind or by surprise, making it difficult to take aim with a defensive spray. On the other hand, if you have your pepper spray ready and are alert enough to your surrounding to avoid being surprised, then pepper spray is possibly the most effective non lethal defense weapon you can have.

Stun Guns: Stun guns are another excellent self-defense weapon. They use electrical voltage to disrupt the muscle functions of your attacker. The voltage produced by a stun gun causes some pain but more importantly, they interfere with the neurological impulses from the brain to the muscles rendering your attacker unable to control their muscle function. The down side to a stun device is that the electrodes must come into contact with your target. That means that your attacker has to be right in your face before you can use the weapon against them.

On the plus side, stun guns are effective almost anywhere on the body, so if you are attacked from behind or surprised, you don’t need to take aim as you would with the defensive sprays. Just reach around and jam the weapon into your attackers body, then
push the button.

Kubotans: Kubotans are possibly the most popular of all personal self-defense weapons. One reason is that the kubotan is a highly effective pressure point weapon that is considered non lethal and legal almost everywhere. (I say almost everywhere because even though I don’t know of anywhere that they’re not legal, I also don’t know every law in every city in the country. I will however say this, if they are illegal somewhere, that law needs to be changed).

Another reason kubotans are so popular is that they are extremely easy to carry. While there are a number of different styles of kubotans, the average one is little more than a stick that’s about 5 ½ inches long and about ½ inch in diameter. They can be easily carried in your pocket and most of the kubotans today have a key ring attached to them, which makes them readily available whenever you are carrying your keys with you.

Knives: Knives are rarely used for self-defense purposes. While they can make an excellent self-defense weapon, few people are truly prepared to cut or stab another person. There’s something about slashing another human being that would make most people all too aware of just how soft and fragile their own bodies are. I have personally spent some time learning knife-fighting techniques, but it’s still not my weapon of choice.

Handguns: The final weapons that I’ll talk about today are handguns. What can be said about a gun that hasn’t already been said? Handguns are possibly the ultimate self-defense weapons. Even someone with minimal intelligence is likely to stop whatever they’re doing when they find themselves looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. The only downside to guns is that almost anyone can pull the trigger of a gun and kill another person. Even a small child can accidentally shoot and kill someone with a handgun. A number of people are accidentally killed every year by someone who didn’t know how to properly use a gun. This can make guns very dangerous in the wrong hands. I am personally a strong advocate for the right to bear arms, but I am just as strongly opposed to anyone handling a firearm without the proper training.

That’s about it for today folks. I could go on and on about self-defense weapons, but this article is already getting a bit lengthy. I’ll go into more detail with some of my future
articles, but for now, I hope that I’ve given you enough brain food to cause you to want to do some of your own research on self-defense weapons.

About the author:
SA Rubin is the owner of North American Security Products, LLC.

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August 5, 2007 by Bruce Gregg.

I’m sure most everyone watched the TV show “Cops” and seen those videos of out-of-control “bad guys” and seen them get shocked or tased by either a stun gun or a taser. Or, for any “24″ fans out there we all saw Jack shock President Logan in an attempt to subdue him and get him off of the helicopter. Well, the problem with most stun guns today is that although they are pretty small, you may want them just a little bit smaller. Maybe something just a little easier to carry around with you is all you would want. That time has come. The new kid in town is here. Introducing The Runt Stun Gun.

Everyone has seen the Stun Master’s and what they look like. The new Runt Stun Gun is easily concealable and it will fit virtually undetectable in the hand of a woman or a man. This allows your attacker to approach with no fear. The element of surprise is the key here. Your attacker will drop to his knees and will never see it coming.

The reason for this sudden surprise and drop comes from the technology that The Runt possesses. It uses new cutting edge micro-technology that allows it to deliver unprecedented power from a palm sized weapon. It contains three voltage levels so you can choose how much you need to use. I would recommend choosing the level based on your own size and how much more power you would need to subdue a man two or three times your size.

The Runt is perfect for all women or men of all sizes and is available in 350k, 650k, and 950k volts. This selection of voltage will allow people to get the kind of voltage they are looking for. At 950k volts, this is hands down one of the most powerful stun guns on the market today.

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