Pepper Spray (also known as Oleoresin capsicum, AKA OC Spray) is a contentious topic. In the world of firearm media, many folks will forgo pepper spray, and just carry a gun. However, more and more people are understanding the escalation of force, and are looking for more self defense tools.
I’ve carried pepper spray on and off for a long time, but have made it a normal part of my EDC for the last few years. POM Industries is the brand that I chose, and I wanted to talk about that here. So why carry pepper spray, and why choose POM?
It’s the phrase that gets said whenever pepper spray comes up in discussion, but it’s one that is worth repeating. As Chuck Haggard said, “OC spray is the middle ground between a harsh word and a gun“. Pepper spray gives us more options for self defense (in the form of escalation of force), rather than just jumping to the gun. There are a lot of merits to pepper spray, and I’ll touch on a few of them here. There are really no downsides to carrying pepper spray, but I’ll also mention applications where it really isn’t the right tool for the job.
The big benefit of pepper spray is that it gives us a non-lethal self defense tool. Much like how the firearm is an equalizer for lethal force, pepper spray is an equalizer for non-lethal force. It’s easier to use than any of the “non-lethal” alternatives (many can be lethal), like physical weapons (blackjacks or saps), tasers, or stun guns. With self defense, we want to “cheat” as much as we can, which means having tools that we aren’t fighting to use properly.
Talking ease of use, the good OC sprays (like POM) are very easy to use and aim. We’re also out of the era of misty-spray OC, with POM using a stream that is much easier to aim and spray onto a bad person. It takes much less practice to be accurate with than a taser, and requires much less physicality than a blunt weapon.
Another merit to OC spray is that it’s generally legal to own and carry in many parts of the world. There are some restrictions in certain US states (like Massachusetts and New Jersey) and some countries (Australia and more), but the carry and self defense laws are much less restrictive on OC spray compared to other self defense weapons. You can also generally carry OC spray in more places than you could knives and guns, but again, that will vary from place to place and state to state. Be sure to check your local laws before carrying any defensive tools.
The last merit that I’ll hit is the concealability. With good modern OC spray, the canisters are fairly small, and easily fit into a pocket, onto a bag, or stashed somewhere in your clothes.
There are a lot of positives to carrying OC spray, but there are some instances where it isn’t the right tool for the job.
First and foremost, pepper spray is not a replacement for lethal force. Pepper spray is great because it sits between non-violence and lethal action, but it is certainly not a substitute for a firearm or other lethal weapons. If the situation calls for a gun, pepper spray will not be the solution.
Secondly, pepper spray (even the good stuff like POM) isn’t useful in all conditions. It is hampered by wind, and certainly has a short distance (12-14 feet maximum, with the normal sized cans). Understanding where the OC is good will take some preplanning and thought.
What are some of the places where OC works?
How about where OC isn’t great?
It’s obvious, but the closer range use and wind-dependent nature of OC do make it a bit more niche to use. That said, there are basically no downsides to carrying the stuff, and it certainly gives you more capabilities.
Why did we at Primer Peak choose POM for our preferred OC spray?
POM Industries is a relative newcomer to the pepper spray market. They have done a ton of testing, and have relied on a lot of expert input in their formulation and design, which is probably why it works as well as it does.
For the longest time, POM only made one type of OC spray. They call it the “Pepper Spray“, but over the last year, they’ve come out with some different types of spray. They’ve got a can that is imbedded into a glove (POM Runner), a larger can with a longer stream distance (POM MK3), and a can marketed for Home Defense, and is called as such. For this review, I’ll really be focussing on the original Pepper Spray, but POM did send me a can of the MK3 to have on hand too.
I’ve personally carried POM since Spring of 2023, after getting some training on it at NPE Counter Robbery. Since them, it’s been a constant in my EDC, and I’ve gotten a lot of time with it on my person. Every trip that I’ve done, every jaunt out of the house, and for my car accident last year, POM was with me.
What are the qualities that make POM great?
There are 4 big categories where I think that POM really excels.
POM uses a 10% OC, 1.4% Major Capsaicinoids (MC) formulation for all of their pepper sprays, which is the percentage of active ingredient that gives the OC it’s potency. 1.4% is fairly normal as the upper limit of MC in pepper spray (some brands go to the same percentage, and some go less), however, it’s actually over the maximum for some states. Again, knowing the laws where you are will be important, but as far as I’m concerned, that 1.4% MC blend is good to see. If you’re a fan of the Scoville meter, POM packs 2.2 million on the scale. Pretty potent stuff!
Rather than being a “spray”, POM deploys as a stream. This leads to much better accuracy in use, and better effective usable distance. I’ve found that the stream tends to buck the wind better too, albeit that wind is still certainly a concern with POM.
The potency and stream delivery on the POM is great. However, without good form factor, that means nothing. Thankfully, the folks at POM have that figured out pretty well.
The POM Pepper Spray is at its core, a three-piece assembly. We have a plastic “body”, which protects the can. At the top, there’s the housing for the button, the OC can itself in the middle, and the sliding bottom housing.
The button housing and can are permanently attached. When it’s time to replace the can (either due to age or due to use), you replace the whole unit (the bottom housing can be reused, but POM includes a new one with each can). The can is labeled with the expiration date on the bottom of it, which makes it easy to keep an eye on it.
POM’s spray button has a flip-top cap safety. This prevents unintentional sprays, which is very good to have. Accidental OC spraying is certainly something that we want to avoid!
The top half of the main housing has a little ledge beneath the sprayer nozzle. This prevents you from sliding up over the nozzle, and spraying your hands. It’s a great indexing point too, which is handy to have on a tubular can of spray.
On the bottom housing, we’ve got a place to carry the spray. POM has 3 options for carrying the spray, which I’ll touch on in a bit. All-in-all, the design and form factor of the standard POM Pepper Spray is great. Simple, and easy to use.
What are those options like?
When buying a can of POM Pepper Spray, you’ve got a whole lot of variety to choose from.
For the carriage of the can, there are 3 models. You’ve got the Clip, Key, and Snap.
The Clip is quite simple. The bottom body section has a plastic clip attached to it. This clip looks a lot like a pen clip, which is nice for concealment, and I’ve yet to break one. It’s my preferred way to carry my POM, as it works well in gym clothes or my slacks.
On the Key, there’s a small keyring attached to the bottom of the body, with a breakaway attached to that. These are great for a keyring (duh). The breakaway requires a little force to do, but no so much that it’s hard. My girlfriend uses this type for her POM, and really likes it.
The last option is the Snap. This is nearly identical to the Key, except rather than a keyring going through the body of the spray, there’s a plastic carabiner hook. It also ships with the same breakaway as the Key. Being totally transparent, I really don’t know what the Snap does differently than the Key, but it’s still attached to the same great can of POM.
POM sells 3 body colors for your spray, and 10 accent color rings. The ring helps if you wanted to color-code cans for certain family members or friends, and my GF and I have two colors for our cans. I stick with the black body, and go for a purple ring.
That pretty much covers the POM Pepper Spray. That said, there is one more massive quality that I want to hit on, and it doesn’t pertain to the live OC spray itself.
Pepper spray is generally pretty easy to learn how to use, but practice is still handy. As such, POM sells inert practice cans.
These are blue cans, and are packed with compressed water. This water fires the stream out in the same exact pattern as the live stuff, which makes it a great way to practice. I’ve done quite a bit of training and practice with the inert cans, and it really inspires some confidence. For many folks, pepper spray is often misunderstood, and people just don’t know how to really use it. The inert cans are a cheap way to build that confidence, especially in folks who are just getting into carrying tools for self defense.
The inert cans are generally about half the price of the live cans, so I’d recommend buying a few if you choose to pick up some POM.
All of the qualities come together to make POM a great OC spray for carry. How easily does it work into my EDC?
POM has been a part of my EDC for about 2.5 years. Way back in my Spring EDC 2023 update, I had it shown there. Adding it to my EDC may have been the easy thing I’ve every added to my EDC.
If you have a pocket, you have a place to put your POM. I’ve used the Clip can for all of my time with it, and it works great on every pocket on every pair of pants, shorts, or gym shorts that I own. It’s been an effortless thing to carry, and it’s generally always on my person. It’s also pretty discreet. The can is generally covered by my shirt, but when exposed, it’s significantly less overt than a DCC clip, or something of that nature. The clip looks a lot like a clip for a permanent marker, and I like that.
For the two keychain POM’s, we’ve had no failures of our clips. My GF has a habit of swinging her keys, and the breakaway is strong enough to keep the OC on her keychain well enough. I’m less of a fan of the keychain pepper spray (very overt), but for a lot of folks, that’s how they default to carrying their spray.
As for the flip-top safety, it works great! I’ve never had my OC fire by accident, and I think that the design of that cap certainly plays a part. Hell, even my rollover car accident in 2024 didn’t get my POM to deploy.
Before I give my verdict, I want to give some ways to practice with the POM, both with just the can, and in conjunction with a firearm.
A big selling point for POM is the inert tester cans. These allow you to actually go out and test the distance of the spray, and how to aim it. There is a ton of merit in that, but I like to go a step further, and integrate my inert POM into my shooting practice.
It’s really pretty simple. I simple take a shooting drill (pick any of your favorite ones) that begin with the gun holstered. From there, I change my start position to have my POM in my primary hand (I carry it on my primary side), and with my support hand up in a fencing position, protecting my face. On shot timer beep, I drop the can of POM, draw the handgun, and shoot the drill.
It’s really easy to integrate into your practice, and costs nothing to do. I keep my spent inert cans around for use with drills, and it’s just a handy thing to have.
Now, how about that verdict?
The POM carries great, and has been with me for a lot of travel. Multiple cross-country trips, half a dozen weddings, a rollover car accident, and the rigors of daily life. I trust it, recommend it, and have bought it for a lot of friends over the last few years.
There are a handful of good OC sprays on the market, but I really do think that POM is the best. The design, form factor, performance, and training capacity are fantastic. It’s an easy recommendation from me, and if you aren’t carrying pepper spray, you should change that.
I made a video over the Summer, in which I go into a lot of detail about my POM experience. If you want to check out the full channel, click this link!
Pepper spray is an important part of our EDC’s here at Primer Peak, so check out some of our other pepper spray related articles:
If you’d like to support me on Patreon, I’ve got the link for that here. Nearly everything that I do on Primer Peak is paid for out of my own pocket, and my content is not shilled or driven by manufacturers or companies. If you decide to donate, I’d really appreciate it, as it would allow for me to continue to bring you quality work.
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