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How To Make Pepper Spray At Home

By SS Contributor 15 Comments

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How To Make Your Own Pepper Spray

Pepper spray is one of the most effective non-lethal forms of self-defense.

If it’s potent enough (and if it hits it’s intended target) the stuff will stop a threat immediately in their tracks.

This makes pepper spray an excellent tool for survival, preparedness, and everyday self-defense.

And in the name of self-reliance, it’s worth learning how to make pepper spray at home.

Because once you learn how to make pepper spray from scratch at home, you’ll be able to create nearly an endless supply.

And that’s what being self-reliant is all about.

First, A Couple Notes Of Caution


1 – You’re Homemade Pepper Spray Won’t Be As Effective

Now before we dive into making pepper spray at home, I first want to temper your expectations a bit.

Homemade pepper spray works but it won’t be as effective as the stuff you can purchase – for two reasons.

First, the top of the line pepper sprays are developed and manufactured with machines in controlled settings.

This gives the pepper spray manufactures the ability to fine-tune the recipes to maximum effectiveness and strength.

Second, the spray bottles and trigger mechanisms are better designed and powerful than what you can develop at home.

They can package the pepper spray into bottles under intense pressure.

This allows for longer range spray patterns, which equals better self-defense.

So with that said, learning how to make pepper spray at home is 100% worth it.

However, we also wholeheartedly believe you should invest in a top of the line stuff for self-defense purposes.

For example, if for some reason, you ever run out of pepper spray and cannot buy more because society collapsed, then knowing how to make the stuff will be a major advantage.

But until that time comes, I recommend you use a top of the line pepper spray instead.

The good news is, you can get our favorite high-powered pepper spray for as little as 9 bucks.

deviljuiceIt’s called Devil Juice Pepper Spray and has a heat rating of 3 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU) which will drop an attacker in seconds.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering “how hot is a heat rating of 3 million Scoville”?

It’s insanely hot! 

Just take a look at the following table to get an idea of just how hot 3 million SHU actually is:

Scoville Heat Unit Scale

You won’t be able to make pepper spray at home with this level of intense heat.

So order a bottle of Devil Juice Pepper Spray today, so you can be prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones.

Note: At the time this article was posted, you could get a bottle of Devil Juice for the insanely discounted price of only $9. Click here to see if this deal on Devil Juice is still available…

2 – There Are Real Risks Involved In Making Homemade Pepper Spray

When you make your own pepper spray there are certain risks that can cause serious injury.

Obviously, make sure you don’t accidentally spray yourself.

This stuff is meant to burn an assailant, so it’s won’t feel good if you happen to accidentally splash your recipe into your eyes.

You also need to make your own pepper spray in a well-ventilated area.

If you (or anyone helping you) has breathing difficulties you may want to just buy some pepper spray. Breathing in the intense heat of chili peppers can cause severe problems with respiration.

Prepper Spray Ingredient List


Pepper spray is made up of 2 main ingredients: Capsaicin and a liquid.

Capsaicin is an oil extracted from chili peppers. It’s the active ingredient in pepper spray. It’s the heat.

But in order to “spray” this heat, it must be mixed with a liquid.

Now you have basically three liquid options to choose from: Water, Alcohol, or Vinegar.

Water is cheaper and more readily available. However, alcohol and vinegar help to stabilize the capsaicin oil and increase the shelf life of the mixture.

Selecting Your Peppers

Scoville Heat IndexWhen choosing peppers go for the ones with the highest Scoville Heat Unit you can find.

In general, the hotter the pepper the better it is for making pepper spray.

So you want to source extremely hot peppers but ones that won’t break the bank to acquire.

One of the lowest Scoville unit pepper is the bell pepper.

Yes, its technically a “pepper”, but it’s not going to be effective for self-defense purposes – move on.

In order to get into enough heat for self-defense, you need to move up to at least the Cayenne Pepper.

While this pepper will burn and irritate an assailant’s eyes, it’s not likely to stop them in their tracks.

The next level up would be the Red Savina Habanero, the heating unit has increased a good bit and will give you some decent time to escape an attack.

At the top of the Scoville scale is the Carolina Reaper.

These will stop a would-be attacker or looter in their tracks. The burn factor will last a considerable amount of hours.

This will give you plenty of time to subdue your attacker.

Now it’s not always feasible to get all of these types of pepper but the main objective isn’t to maim, its to stun your attacker long enough to get your family to safety or deter them from proceeding further.

How To Make Pepper Spray


Safety First

When you make your own pepper spray you will need to wear rubber gloves and safety goggles. This is to protect your hands and eyes from the oil.

I can not stress this enough – unless you are immune to capsaicin you do not want this oil anywhere near your skin or eyes.

Also, wear a mask to prevent inhalation of the vapors, especially if you are sensitive to strong odors or allergic to peppers.

You will need to find a refillable spray bottle and check it for leaks, you don’t want it dripping all over your bug out pack, purse or car.

You will also need at least six chili’s; the hotter the better.

You need garlic either one bulb, two tablespoons of minced garlic or two tablespoons of powdered garlic.

You will also need a stove or food dehydrator to dry the chilies.

If you are on the run a solar oven will work as well. The best case scenario has a stockpile already started of dried chili peppers.

First step is to dry your peppers with a food dehydrator, an oven at a low temperature or by solar oven.

Once the peppers have been dried. Add them to a blender or chop the peppers as finely as possible then place them in a bowl.

Next you want to add the garlic followed by two tablespoons of baby oil, this helps the spray adhere to your attacker’s clothes, and finally twelve ounces of vodka or vinegar, this increases the shelf life of the pepper spray.

If you are using a blender blend on high for two minutes.

If you are doing it by hand mash until its a fine smooth paste. Be careful to avoid spilling the paste.

Then you want to pour the mixture into a large bottle using a funnel and let it sit overnight in a cool place.

The mixture needs to reduce to increase the effectiveness. This is an important part of the process of how to make pepper spray at home.

The next morning you will need a funnel, cheesecloth, and a water bottle.

Place the funnel in the 20-ounce container you wish to use as a storage vessel, then place the cheesecloth over the funnel. Pour the pepper mixture into the bottle very carefully.

Finally, add another twelve ounces of alcohol or vinegar and there you have it.

That my friends is how to make your own pepper spray.

The pepper spray you have made should be stored in the refrigerator or a cool place. If the need arises it’s ready to pour at a moment’s notice and you are ready to defend yourselves.

Since we have used vinegar or alcohol this mixture should last anywhere from a month to three months.


It’s Time To Clean Up

Now that you have made your pepper spray it’s time to clean up any containers and the blender or grinder.

Capsaicin is an oil plain old soap and water isn’t going to get rid of the residue. You will need a solution of bleach and water.

This will help counteract the oils left behind in all the containers.

To clean your blender or grinder you will need a solution of mineral oil, dish soap, and hot water. Let the solution soak for up to about thirty minutes to make sure all traces have been lifted from the plastic.

We all know plastic holds not only odors, but it can trap oils as well. A word of caution as when you made your pepper spray wear protective goggles and gloves in the event of any splashing.

Just remember you can make pepper spray with powdered or ground peppers not only by the use of homegrown or store-bought dried peppers.

Equally important to remember is the intent, which is to get the maximum use of the peppers and garlic combined to stop an assailant.

deviljuiceSo get yourself a bottle of Devil Juice Pepper Spray.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more high powered pepper spray at the low price of only $9.

P.s. Do you know where the closest nuclear bunker is from your home?

There are a lot of natural nuclear shelters in the US that are absolutely free. And one of them is near your home.

Click here to see the Closest Natural Nuclear Bunker to Your Home?

Click on the image above to find out where you need to take shelter.

 

Related

Comments

  1. Rose says

    February 21, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    I hang dry my peppers, they dry fast if small enough . also I would keep it in a spray bottle , out of reach of little hands . if you are being attacked there won’t be time to run over and pour from one vessel to the next . I make my own massage oils , it is not necessary to use both a strainer and a cheese cloth .I use just a cheese cloth and a coffee filter to filter out sediment.

    Reply
  2. joe says

    March 2, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    I will try this to keep dogs away.

    Reply
    • Mark Watts says

      September 3, 2018 at 9:36 pm

      Why? Dogs are our best friends and a great defence weapon…maybe the BEST weapon cos ppl dont even TRY to trouble you if you have your dog!

      Reply
    • bel says

      October 25, 2018 at 4:23 pm

      i feel sick reading that Joe. Dont you DARE attack in innocent defenceless creature. If youre using weapons for anything other than self defence like you are suggesting, youre a disgusting peice of human waste.

      Reply
      • Fred says

        January 1, 2019 at 6:30 pm

        Well I wouldn’t consider them very iñnocent and defenceless if they were attacking me, would you?

        Reply
      • Ivar Losna says

        August 30, 2019 at 11:01 pm

        There’s nothing innocent or defenseless about creatures that top the bite statistics. I don’t want any of the countless infections a dog bite can cause so I’ll defend myself if the mutt gets to close.

        Reply
  3. wendy haze says

    March 5, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    I was wondering if you can mix pepper spray into the fog juice that is used in the party fog machines and create a pepper spray fog bank to keep intruders off your property like have it set off by motion and set to run for a spacifice interval.the fog juice is just watered down glyiserin thats heated up. I realize it wouldnt be as potant but if it covered a good size area and made it uncomfortable to be in it would serve its purpose right?
    .

    Reply
    • Just In Case Jack says

      March 21, 2018 at 9:18 am

      Interesting idea. Why don’t you give it a go and come back and let us all know how it turned out!!

      Reply
    • Bib Allan says

      April 10, 2018 at 1:23 pm

      As far as I know, those ‘fog bank’ machines use glycol (glycol-based or glycerin, used in cough medicine and cooking) which is the stuff that ‘vapour smoker manufacturers’ use for those electronic cigarettes. The alcohol to use would be Isopropanol. It’s an industrial alcohol for cleaning electronics but can be used to dissolve the peppers in and is readily available. Carolina Peppers are the hottest known apparently and can be bought on Amazon already dried. So yes I would say you can use those fog banks. In England, they use heavy duty ‘fog banks called cloak smoke’ in shops so burglars once in, can’t see what they are doing. If it had hot pepper in that would be wicked.

      Reply
  4. justaguy says

    March 26, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    Hello
    Does it last like 3 month outside the freezer ? How long into the freezer do you think ?
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Just In Case Jack says

      April 12, 2018 at 1:57 pm

      I found this article about pepper spray shelf life: https://www.pepper-spray-store.com/pages/pepper-spray-expiration

      Reply
  5. Deb says

    February 11, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    Why not fresh peppers?

    Reply
  6. Marky Lon says

    March 10, 2019 at 5:40 am

    YOU said 3 liquid options, water, alcohol and vinegar, but you missed the MOST important one out, which is OIL, if you use a natural oil like Olive Oil, this acts as a good carrier, but because it doesn’t mix with water, it makes it much harder for the person to wash their eyes out with water so OIL makes it difficult to quickly rinse off and re-attack.

    Another liquid you can use is FOOD COLOUR Such as Blue or Green, this will mean that your attacked will be stained with the ink and will be very very difficult to wash off, to aid identification so when they run off they will stand out!!!

    The attacker will also get identified when they get home by anyone else noticing the INK on the face

    Reply
  7. craig linton says

    June 26, 2020 at 6:06 am

    very interesting

    Reply
  8. Shelley Pederson says

    September 20, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    I’m going to can some. I’ll let you know how it works.

    Reply

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