The Best Self Defense Devices for Women

Even so an average woman is physically less capable than an average man, they need even more protection. For one example, you would not hear a lot about raped men. The statistics is clear: women are a more vulnerable category. The more important becomes the trend to take responsibility for personal safety and protection, with women being one of the largest groups that constantly look for self defense devices on the market.

In this article we review a number of popular self defense devices and highlight pros and cons of each approach to protecting yourself in threatening situations.

1. Stun guns (electric shockers)

The first self defense non-lethal weapon category is stun guns.

Principle of operation

Stun guns use high-voltage (up to 50,000 volts) electric discharge to stun the enemy. Electric charge shocks the attacker and causes severe pain in the body. The pain effectively immobilizes the attacker and forces him to abandon his intentions, while do not pose a serious threat to his health.

There are two kinds of stun guns:

• Contact stun guns work on direct contact of electrodes with the enemy.
• Ranged stun guns, the so called tasers are a projectile based electric stun guns.

Advantages

Stun guns are simple and easy to use. They are compact, so they easily fit into any woman bag or even into a pocket. They are also efficient, and do not require strength or specific skill to use. One more advantage in comparison to firearms is that you won’t incidentally hurt an attacker thus exceeding limits of self defense.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of the stun gun is its close range. Literally: you can only use it when the attacker is right near you. Sometimes this is ok, but in other situations, when the enemy is near you, it is too late to apply self defense devices. Also, you need to check and maintain the charge of the stun gun regularly.

2. Pepper sprays

Pepper sprays also known as Maces are popular among women thanks to simplicity and relative efficiency.

Principle of operation

Natural pepper contains capsaicin – a substance that cause great irritation to mucosae including eyes and nostrils, and also to skin. A cloud of pepper gas released to the face of an attacker – be that a human or an animal, stops it with a guarantee.

There are two types of pepper sprays:

• Jet spray. This type of self defense device for women delivers a jet of liquid pepper. It has longer range and allows for more precise targeting. At the same time, you should aim more accurately to hit the enemy.
• Cloud spray. This type releases a cloud of pepper gas. The cloud does not require precise aiming, but has shorter range and is affected by wind.

Advantages

Pepper sprays are really compact, and can be carried with you almost anywhere. They are perfectly legal too. The stopping power of a pepper spray makes it an ideal self defense weapon for women against wild dogs and hostile people.

Disadvantages

A relatively short range of pepper sprays means you cannot prevent the attack beforehand. Also, you can inhale the cloud of pepper gas yourself, especially if you spray against the wind.

3. Pepper ball launchers / Byrna Guns

Pepper ball launcher is a self defense device capable of propelling a small projectile containing pepper gas to a distance of 60-80 feet. Sometimes such launchers look like a pistol. One of the most popular and efficient solutions in this niche is Byrna Gun.

Byrna Gun offers a number of self defense products including:

• Pistols. Currently Battle Steel®️ offers Byrna SD and Byrna EP pistol launchers. Such pistols are lightweight, compact, and accurate enough to hit the target at 80 ft.
• Rifles. One example is Byrna Tactical Combat Rifle (TCR). This model propels balls forward at 300 feet per second allowing longer distances without degradation of accuracy.
• Byrna Kits. If you want a ready-to-go option that contains everything you need to start using the Byrna launcher, take a closer look at Byrna Kits. Such kit already contains the launcher, spare magazines, spare CO2 canisters, one or more additional sets of projectiles.

Note that Byrna ball launchers can shoot with several types of projectiles, including pepper balls, tear gas balls, kinetic balls, and eco-friendly degradable kinetic balls. Depending on your proposed usage scenario, you can prefer one type of projectiles over others.

Principle of operation

Pepper ball launchers use the energy of the pressurized CO2 to propel the projectile. When the ball hits the target it breaks and releases the cloud of pepper powder that immobilizes the enemy. The kinetic type of projectiles does physical non-lethal damage shocking to the enemy and stopping him.

Thanks to ease of use, pepper ball launchers currently gain popularity among women with a protection mindset.

Advantages

The key advantage of Byrna Guns is simplicity and user-friendliness. The launchers are designed with woman-users in mind, so they are really straightforward whether it comes to shooting the gun, reloading it, or replacing the CO2 cylinder.

Also, Byrna Gun is lightweight and portable, so a woman can carry it in a pocket or in a bag without problems.

Even though the launcher somewhat mimics real firearms, it is not considered as one under the Federal Law. This means you will not face problems carrying it in hotels, airports or public places.

Disadvantages

Unlike pepper sprays, pepper ball launchers require a bit of practice before you can use them efficiently. That is why Byrna offers PRO-training projectile without any active chemicals, so you can get the feel of it.

Also, one may think Byrna is a bit costly, but is there a too high price for your safety?

4. Personal alarms

Safety alarms are designed to produce a very loud sound and answer multiple questions at once:

• you can activate it in an emergency to get help
• you can scary away a potential attacker
• you can win a few seconds to run away

Principle of operation

Let’s see how safety alarms work on the example of Byrna Banshee Safety Alarm. This small device operates from two CR2032 batteries and is activated when the user pulls out the safety pin. This can be done with one hand. The device then emits an extremely loud sound (>130 dB) that shocks the enemy and can be heard from a long distance.

Advantages

Such alarm can be used as a self defense device not only by women, but also by kids and senior people. The magnitude of sound is equivalent to staying next to an aircraft when it takes off. The gadget is lightweight and thanks to a carabineer can be attached to a bag, a waist belt, or a pulse strap for instant access.

Disadvantages

There are none. We really recommend buying this device for every member of your family.

Conclusion

The request for personal safety gadget has greatly increased in recent years, especially among women. We recommend trying several self defense options to get the feel of each one, and then stop on the one that suits you and matches your priorities best.

As always, if you are unsure about what to prefer, please do not hesitate to chat with BattleSteel®️ consultants. We will be happy to assist you.