This post from my experience at FPF Training’s Concealed Carry: Advanced Skills and Tactics (CCASAT) course, taught by John Murphy last summer, got lost in my drafts folder. Well, as we used to say in Californian, mas vale tarde que nunca. Better late than never.

Pepper spray is a widely-accepted and (potentially) effective tool of self-defense. It is (perhaps) useful in more situations than a firearm, and even those who don’t believe in armed self-defense don’t balk at suggesting people carry pepper spray.

My daughter, my wife, and I have all been carrying pepper spray for years, but did we have any idea how to use it? Absolutely not.

An incredibly valuable part of CCASAT, as noted previously, was the opportunity to practice carrying and deploying pepper spray.

Everyone in the class was given a Sabre MK-6 inert training spray that we had the opportunity to test fire on a static target: Murphy.

Deploying pepper spray is nowhere near as easy as it seems. This was evident when Murphy upped the stress just a little bit by walking slowly toward us and having us get the pepper spray out and use it.

In the video below you can see a slight fumble, followed by a hand change, and then the nozzle got blocked by the index finger.

The three major takeaways from this component of the class for me were:

1. Definitely carry pepper spray.

2. Definitely practice using it.

3. Take a pepper spray class with someone like Chuck Haggard.