OFFICER Labs: ASP Defender OC

Armament Systems and Procedures, better known as ASP, a company that’s been around for decades and a leader in law enforcement equipment and training, recently released their new Defender LE OC product. Already well known and respected for their lines of batons, restraints, tactical lighting products, red guns and other training gear, the addition of an LE line of OC products simply adds to their legacy.

The Defender LE OC product, more commonly known as “pepper spray,” was released earlier this year and is available in both MK-3 and MK-4 aerosol canisters. Further, the product is available in a variety of dispersal types to include stream, gel and fog. When our team was contacted to conduct testing on the Defender OC product, we couldn’t find a volunteer to “take the shot.” After quite the coordination effort, a retired officer and training specialist in Florida was found who was willing to be sprayed with the product to testify to its effectiveness.

Corporal Jared Douds, retired from a major Florida municipality, has about two decades of experience with chemical munitions and, in that role, has been directly exposed to nearly every commercially manufactured CN, CS, OC or mixed spray on the market. Most officers who have experienced “tear gas,” will cite OC Spray as far more effective. ASP, however, wasn’t satisfied with putting “just another OC spray product on the market,” so they invested the time and research to develop their own formula which is 1.4% major capsaicinoids and then, for added identification benefit, includes a UV Dye. And, aware of the history of OC products as used by law enforcement in the U.S., ASP made sure that the Defender OC was 100% CEW safe. The Made-in-the-USA product has chain of custody labeling, omnidirectional spray for stream and gel, and about a 15-18 foot deployment range.

True to ASP’s recognized leadership in training for law enforcement, they developed exclusive, tuition-free OC training and Instructor Certification for qualifying officers and agencies. With training in mind throughout the product development, the end product line includes both live and inert canisters, easily distinguishable by their label. Red+Black equals live. Blue+White equals inert.

All product information is great, but in the end the question is: How effective is the OC when sprayed on a subject? (In other words, how much does it FEEL like it’s burning and how well does it incapacitate?) For that information, we turned to the test subject mentioned above: Cpl. Jared Douds (ret)—who volunteered to “take the hit.”

Our team spoke with Cpl. Douds who explained that he was working as a Training Specialist after retirement and when a local agency decided they needed to select an OC product, the choice was made to test them all and then pick the most effective. Cpl. Douds was the brave (unfortunate?) guinea pig that took the exposure for the Defender OC in the gel delivery configuration.

As Cpl. Doud described the exposure incident, the distance was approximately three feet and the testing took place on an indoor training range. He used his hand to cover his right eye and was sprayed on the left side of his face to include his eye and nose. During the interview, he made the following observations. “It was definitely very effective as quickly as expected. There was a very intense heat sensation. It’s as hot as any brand I’ve experienced, if not more so.” He stated that the decon time was longer than he expected, with decon including mostly fresh air and some water. He stated that there was still some exposure sensation the next day on his hands. As of this writing, ASP anticipates releasing their line of ASP Defender Decon spray in the coming weeks.

Based on our interviews with the product development team and with Cpl. Douds first-hand exposure experience (and background), OFFICER Media Group is proud to award ASP, Inc.’s Defender® OC product the OFFICER Labs “Tested—Field Rated” seal of approval.