Spice Up Your Self Defense With the Firepower of Pepper Spray!

The “heat” or “hotness” of chili peppers and consequently pepper sprays is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) or the Scoville scale, named after the American chemist Wilbur Scoville. The presence of the chemical capsaicin is responsible for this pleasant or unpleasant degree of heat, depending on if you are talking to a hot wings connoisseur or an assailant with pepper spray dripping from his face.

For all you culinary folks or chili eaters, a sweet bell pepper is rated 0, containing no capsaicin. A pimento or pepperoncini is only mildly spicier with a 100-500 SHU rating. Green pepper Tabasco sauce may yield 600-800, regular pepper Tabasco at 2500-5000, and super spicy habanero Tabasco sauce topping out at 7000-8000 SHU. Widely popular jalape