Have you ever been maced or pepper-sprayed?

In basic training (back in the summer of 1990) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, we had an exercise that tested our ability to deal with gas masks: putting them on, taking them off, then putting them back on again in a pepper spray mist filled room.


No. Not that I'm aware of.

Minutes.

Haven't been pepper sprayed or directly tear gassed, but have been on the edge of tear gas clouds and that was enough.

Rinsing the eyes out with water helps almost immediately.

I used to carry mace when I worked late at night in rough areas of San Francisco and again in Oakland. Had to take the police training course to carry it, never had occasion to use it. Probably would have maced myself too, if I had.

I went through a similar thing with CS gas. It didn't take too long to recover, however I had a cotton handkerchief in my jacket pocket. After being exposed, rubbing it really hard it turned into a fine white powder.

You're right Izzy. It was in fact tear gas in the room we were tested with. I couldn't remember what it was called when I made the post.

Similar experience, and even conducted one such experience. Did you mean the CS was a fine white powder, or it destroyed the handkerchief? Like most chemical weapons, it isn't a gas at all.

I don't think it was a gas now you mention it. We had to go into a gas chamber wearing a gas mask, take the mask off, say something or other, I can't remember what, then salute and march out. If we got any of it wrong we had to repeat it.

Once when in Manhattan, demonstrating against the Vietnam War, we had people drive by and lob tear gas at us, but it didn't have any effect.

Yeah, we dropped a few little capsules on a small stove, which caused them to vaporize. Give name, rank, and service number. On the exercise I conducted, everyone got it all right the first time, and out they went.

Hey, I might have been the CBR NCO, but I also had to live with these guys.

No, but I did have stun gun while going to college... There had been some assaults on campus....

I was only part time, the NCOs made some of us do it quite a few times. I think I had to do it twice.

No - I prefer a good taser instead.