If the training unit is any guide...
...then the Kimber LifeAct Guardian Angel (marketing--sheesh!)--what's the word? Oh, yeah--SUCKS!
(I am a new member and I hope the above does not violate THR decorum).
I am non-LE. I've been a big fan of chemical sprays since the old tear gas (CN/CS) days. I was happy to graduate to pepperspray (OC) around 1995.
I keep OC at the house for the non-firearm inclined in my family. I recently noticed (OOPS!) that the ones I placed years ago during a local crime scare were all expired. So I decided to see if I could switch to Kimber. I ordered their tester units (dispenses blue dye, not OC).
Problem 1: Kimber says that use within 2 ft is "unsafe." I emailed them and was told that was because the high-speed (90MPH) stream directed at the eyes at close range can cause permanent eye injury (i.e., crippling injury). So, you need to ask the guy to let go of you and step back so you can spray 'm. Or, he sues you for injury in civil court after the attack, calling the Kimber techies as his experts, testifying to your gross negligence.
Problem 2: A technique I was taught with CN/CS was if the eyes weren't available, spray the attacker's pants (yes, right THERE) as irritants in that area will likely change the attacker's behavior. Seemed like a reasonable tactic if within two feet with the Kimber, to avoid the personal injury brigade. So, I put some swimming trunks on an IPSC silhouette, and asked my (obviously long-suffering) wife to take the Kimber trainer and hit 'm where it hurts, contact distance. An unimpressive "pffft" of blue goo bounced off the trunks, with no stain on the cardboard.
Problem 3: Asked the wife (who was looking at me more worriedly than usual by now) to back up a couple steps (muzzle to target maybe 4 ft now) and let loose a blast in the face area (which I had covered with sunglasses--the ads say the spray is SO POWERFUL it shoots around glasses). Pffft. I watched a big blue glob sail over the target. Target inspection reveals maybe 40 pin-point (literally) blue marks in the face area, and maybe 8 drops as wide as a tooth pick. So aim is not intuitive with the Kimber.
Problem 4: Now you're out of shots.
Don't get me wrong: I love OC! (Never been sprayed-- unless you count VERY minor wind-shift blow-back one day when I was practicing outside with an "expired" fogger that got me coughing for about five minutes--and never planning on volunteering!)
Some may argue that the microscopic amounts of dye I found on the target, were it OC, would have instantly incapacitated even a PCP-smoking Shrek. But when I compare the amount of OC I could deliver on the target out to 6 or 8 feet using a traditional (expired) fogger (and with lots of shots available, no less!) to the Kimber's unimpressive performance....
I'll stick with foggers for now. I understand (well!) that some will prefer gels or foams, concerned about indoor fumes or outdoor winds, but the foggers seem to saturate targets with no need for extreme accuracy, and that's what I'm looking for.
(Currently using Wildfire 18% foggers.)
YMMV. Yuh puts down yuh money, and yuh takes yuh chances . Good luck!
