The decision to buy pepper spray, sometimes called OC spray, is an important decision as it affects you and your family's security. It is not a decision to take lightly. With all the different brands on the market today, it is sometimes difficult to determine which brand to choose.

Prior to buying OC spray, one should perform an extensive pepper spray review by researching online as well as offline with others that have purchased in the past. For this article, we've listed out a sample of important questions you should be asking when buying OC spray. These questions are based on our many years of experience - we frequently get these same questions from our customers.

How do I determine what is the best pepper spray to buy?

Practically speaking, the strength of defense spray is measured by it strength (heat) as well as the time it takes for it to react (called stopping power). These two factors are important for the following reasons - if you discharge your defense spray and it is extremely hot, but takes 5 seconds or more for the assailant to react to it, the OC spray is rendered useless as it will not affect the assailant in the time needed. If on the other hand, the assailant reacts very quickly to the defense spray, but the OC spray does not have a strong heat content, the end result will be the same. It is simply not effective. The best pepper spray is one which is both hot and elicits a quick reaction. Based on research that we have performed, we believe that Fox Labs Pepper Spray has the strongest heat content at 5.3 million SHU's as well as stopping power of 2 seconds or less.

Are there any laws that may affect my purchase?

OC spray is legal in all 50 states, however in a few states, there are certain restrictions such as the size of the canister, whether the canister has a safety top as well as age restrictions. There are many solid informational websites that you can review to better understand pepper spray laws, such as peppersprayslaws.com

What brand should I choose?

Based on our long history of selling defense spray to both civilians and law enforcement agencies, we've received a significant amount of feedback regarding the major brands such as SABRE RED, Defense Technologies, Mace and Fox Labs. There is no question that all of these major brands are good products, however over the years, it is clear to us that only one of these brands consistently receives glowing pepper spray reviews over the rest - Fox Labs. Customers consistently tell us that Fox OC spray is the hottest pepper spray that they have used and that its stopping power is the quickest. In addition, many law enforcement officials have told us countless times that when they perform their annual OC training, they switch out their issued Fox Pepper Spray for another brand so they don't have to feel the intense pain of Fox.

When making your purchase, performing the right amount of due diligence is critical. After all, your safety is at stake.