ASP Key Defender

The Key Defender is a kubotan with integrated pepper spray, a functional and effective tool for self-defense.

In this article I want to talk to you about the two chilli spray models of the Defender family,a line of tools produced and marketed
by ASP (Armament Systems and Procedures, Inc.).

The company that produces it and holds the patent is ASP, an American company specialized in the production of equipment for security and police forces, on their website you will find a catalog of different products.

The models we’re going to see are from the Defender series:

Street Defender — > the biggest version,
Key Defender — > the medium-sized version,
Palm Defender — > the smallest in size.

Having in the same object two self-defense tools is very useful because it allows you to have in case of need a debilitating sequence such as the pepper spray anti aggression and persuasive/percussive with the
kubotan
.

It is an object built with high quality standards and designed to be simple to use in a high stress condition to use it.

Defender line devices feature an aeronautical aluminum cylindricalbody, a plastic safety mechanism, and a brass activation button.

The main body has a central knurling to favor grip,while the ends are smooth and rounded so as not to be annoying during the port.

The main body internally contains O-ring seals to ensure that the only point from which the irritating product can come out is the special front nozzle.

The average price of this product is around 60 euros (depending on the model), it can be so much or little, it is an aspect related to yourself but it can be a different gift that you can give yourself or loved ones on several occasions.

There are 3 versions that vary in length:

Palm Defender — > 11.2 cm x 1.8 cm x 1.5 cm – Weight 52 grams
Key Defender — > 14.5 cm x 1.8 cm x 1.5 cm – Weight 52 grams
Street Defender — > 17.0 cm x 2.0 cm x 1.7 cm – Weight 86 grams

The difference is there and it makes itself felt, especially in hand, but still they are made to get into almost any pocket without bothering.

Clearly you can have more than one depending on the contexts in which you move, it is a personal choice also because remember that it must be a tool with quick access to use.

The Key Defender is certainly a more compact option and therefore, in general, more suitable for everyone’s pockets but I repeat it is a context-related choice.

In general they are non-heavy objects that are easily transportable.

The aluminum used for the main body turns out to be a smart choice, since it helps keep the weight low but gives solidity to the device, which therefore lends itself to being able to be used as a kubotan which is a pain amplifier and increases the impact capacity.

All three models of the Defender line are regular under Italian law:

Key Defender and Palm Defender are also explicitly mentioned on the State Police website as free selling devices.

However, even the latter model, comparing the specifications provided by the manufacturer with the requirements listed in decree of the Ministry of the Interior n° 103 of May 12, 2011,turns out to comply with the legislation and is for free sale and port for the purposes of self-defense.

This object is “In accordance with Legislative Decree No. 103 issued by the Ministry of the Interior.” Technical characteristics of defense of spraying self-defense tools”. Forbidden to children under 16.”

Key Defender – Ministry Document

“Capsicum Aerosol” better known as pepper spray or pepper spray is not flammable and the kubotan is built of ultra-high-strength aeronautical aluminum.

It’s light,
easy to carry,
tremendously effective.

The anodized, shiny activation button is operated with a Delrin self-locking valve injection system.

Double bronze key ring, black chrome.

The openings at both ends are both sealed with o-ring.

The activation is safe as it requires two distinct movements, creating a cone-shaped jet, with a range of 1 to 2 meters that comes directly to the target.

The safety mechanism

The safety mechanism is, as always, something that cannot be underestimated.

In the ASP Defender, security is entrusted to a plastic band located near the dispensing activation button, which opens with the thumb and pinned is at the opposite end of the nozzle from which the product is sprayed.

This is something very intuitive! A well-designed solution that makes this safe accessible, opening speed and solidity ensuring you avoid accidental disinserting of the mechanism and as I told you ensuring a good operability of the same, once you have taken your hand.

These aspects should not be underestimated when it comes to stressful drives!

The safety is very practical on all versions of ASP Defender and the difference in size does not imply substantial changes in the usability of the mechanism and this allows you to change the model as needed without changing its handling, which is also important.

The operation of the safety

Operation is simple.

The plastic band wraps the cylindrical body of the device for about 2/3 of its circumference, at one end there is the part on which the band rotates (to insert or disengage the safety) and the other end is obviously free but clutched to ensure that it does not rotate accidentally.

To turn off the safety just look with your thumb for the free end of the band and push it outwards, until a “click” warns us of the shot in an open position.

This is important because you can hear without having to look!

To reinsert the safety, simply push the plastic ring back in the opposite direction towards the cylindrical body by closing it, until you feel the snap.

The only aspect that with practice is eliminated of this mechanism is that you have to get used to hearing the opening side of the plastic ring to disengage the safety because being cylindrical and opening from a single verse there are not many references on its orientation, and at the beginning you tend to look because you immediately can not see which side the free end of the ring is on but with practice avoids looking away that is not optimal in a context of personal defense but it assures you that with little practice you get used to “feeling”, it takes very little really.

Especially if you have to use it with both hands, the more you train to turn off the safety without looking,the easier you can figure out how to rotate the ring to turn the safety off without looking.

The refill contains the 10 of Oleoresin Capsicum – 2mil. SHU (Scoville Heat Units)

Each replacement has the capacity of 6 1/2 second emissions.

The Key Defeder you can buy it in various colors according to your tastes

Net weight: about 5.4 ml.

The cost of replacement charging is about 9 euros.

Length: 13 cm (but depends on version)

The Key Defender has a reinforced ring where you can attach the keys to your home or car.

An effective concept because you always have them with you and especially while you are in the car, you are coming home, etc.

General features

Light, easy to use and extremely effective against people and animals, the Palm Defender pepper spray is the most compact solution in the Defender line produced by ASP (among the world’s leading companies producing pepper spray for self-defense).

Built in ultra-high-strength aerospace aluminum is very light so easy to carry and in expert hands it can become a useful defense tool even from exhaust used as a kubotan.

A secure unlock allows it to be activated through 2 distinct movements allowing it to be transported safely so that it can be used as a keychain thanks to the double steel ring placed on the supplied end, ideal for hooking the keys.

It has a conical jet (cone-shaped) and a range of 1 to 2 meters that arrives directly on the target.

It is rechargeable with both OC chilli and water-inert “Test” refills and is offered in 7 separate versions: Black, Silver/Grey, Pink, Red, Blue, Gold/Yellow and Purple

The device, marketed in Italy, does not require carrying weapons as it is free for the over-16s. It is therefore legal at 100 as it is part of the ministerial decree of 12 May 2011 No.103.

How to use it

The Palm Defender is equipped with a self-blocking valve and activation button with safety.

Point the device in the direction of the attacker’s face (person or animal);
Unlock the safe with your thumb;
Press the button;
Lift your finger to stop the emission;

The device can be used multiple times and it is recommended to make multiple emissions by half a second.

Effects of pepper

The time to react to contamination varies from 1 to 3 seconds.

Exposure (also accidental) of the respiratory system, eyes and mucous causes a temporary visual impediment, a strong cough,burning on the skin with feeling of suffocation, in some cases, nausea.

Symptoms will cease within 45 minutes (duration is subjective) and also depends on treatment to relieve and decrease the effect.

No permanent damage to contaminated subjects.

All devices in the ASP Defender line deliver a product based on Oleoresin Capsicum in nebulized form (conical jet) of two million Scoville drives.

This unit of measurement, internationally known as Scoville Heat Unit (SHU), serves to quantify the “spiciness” of the compound. The amount of Oleoresin Capsicum dissolved in the mixture is equal to 10%, that is, the maximum allowed by Italian Law.

The concentration of capsaicinoids is 1.33% (a percentage that by law can reach a maximum of 2.5%).

The range changes depending on the model:

The maximum range declared by the manufacturer for the Street Defender is 3 meters and 1.5 meters for the Key Defender.

The capacity declared by the manufacturer for the Street Defender is 16.2 ml, delivered in about 30 sprays of 0.5 seconds.

In contrast, the Key Defender can count on 5.4 ml of product, distributed in about 6 sprays of 0.5 seconds.

This difference in range and dispensing capacity is linked to the larger size desired by the manufacturer who, having chosen to have a larger diameter for the body of the Street Defender, allowed it to mount refills from the body more often with greater capacity and more pressurized to have a range of 3 meters.

The result is that Street Defender refills can contain more product and manage to spray farther so take this into account since it is very important and can make a difference depending on the type of use for which it is intended.

As much as I have just said, the Key Defender also remains a great option if you are also interested in the greater compactness.

Consider that it is a sprayed product, 30 sprays are probably more than necessary if they score.

Charging is enough to spray a highly irritating substance for 15 seconds (the equivalent of 30 0.5-second splashes) is not a little 15 seconds.

Imagine doing this in a closed environment, it would not be usable and for this reason every pressure is from 0.5 seconds because let’s remember that a continuous spray in a closed space definitely saturates the area, which means contamination of yourself, of third parties who do not center anything, etc.

With sprayed products compared to ballistic gel products it is very important to understand that direction, environment, wind, etc. can affect.

The only observation”negative” on the Key and Palm versions that I can say about this tool is that The jet compared to a standard can pepper spray has a range of less than 1.5 meters compared to 3.5 meters of the cans, but it also has the advantage of having a kubotan and I believe that the choice to create the Street version is also linked to cover this need.

Ps. I do not know if it is tied to a limit imposed by our law, you would have to try the American refills to see if it is indeed an Italian limit imposed by law.

The contents of the package

Nr. 1 Black Palm Defender Spray Device;
1 Recharge OC chilli for Palm Defender already inserted into your device;
No. 1 Steel key ring;

Inerti charges for training

An interesting opportunity offered by defender line devices is the ability to mount inerti refills [for training].

These are exact copies of the jet of Heat refills (the “true” refills, containing capsicums), but they have no irritating effect on the person.

This is very useful to be able to fully understand the use, range, and other dynamics of use by exercising yourself safely.

Training in using and therefore familiarizing yourself with such tools is essential because doing the operating test when you really need it is not the best choice.

Using ASP Defender as Kubotan

All ASP Defender devices, due to their shape and ability to withstand impacts, can be used as Kubotan.

The cases in which you can use this tools not only to spray are different:

To hit and create space for you to use it
or to hit the attacker without spraying
or to hit the attacker again after it has been contaminated if you can’t escape or by choice.
You’ve run out of splashes,
You are in too small an environment (and therefore at risk of self-contamination),
You’re not able to turn the safety off at that time for some reason.
The spray is expired and ineffective for a feature of the attacker
Etc.

The use of improper weapons in Personal Defense is critical, and this product gives you this ability to make the most of your multi-feature ASP Defender.

Using ASP Defender as a pepper spray

It is essential that self-defense devices are available quickly when needed, and the same goes for the ASP Defender.

If you want the extraction to be as quick as possible you have to have it in an easily accessible area because if you keep it inside the bag, the backpack no longer remembering where it is in the midst of a thousand other items is “a weapon” that you will never find when you need it and that you will not be able to use to defend yourself.

Beyond that you have to consider training because using under stress for the first time something you have never used however intuitive it is not optimal.

The port and extraction of the ASP Defender

The pockets of your pants or vest are a great place to take the ASP Defender, because they are easily accessible areas in many situations but you remember that you have to based on the context and situations you perceive moving it as a position until you already hold it in your hand.

The Street Defender is fine in your pocket and despite the size it is transportable,
the Key Defender and Palm Defender look good inside their pockets.

The central knurling exerts the friction necessary not to slide the device out of your pocket when you sit in the car, bus, work, etc., which can happen easily with for example spray cans that are smooth.

The key ring tucked into the hole of the activation button allows you to quickly extract the tools and have already oriented it from the right side to shoot the spray, during extraction.

I recommend even if it is intuitive to wear it in your pocket with the nozzle facing down, so that it is already well oriented and ready to spray, adopting an “icebreaker” socket with the thumb that is ready to lift the safety and press the drive pocket.

Be careful, however, that the pockets are wide, the device can rotate and arrange horizontally, or we may have placed it in reverse unk knowingly.

The ring gives an important reference because as soon as you put your hand in your pocket you feel the ring that allows you to hold the device correctly without having to look at it, which is a very important thing.

Use as an ASP Defender keychain

As for using it as a real keychain, I don’t recommend it.

Keep the tool clean, at most a key to access your front door and use it as a perforating element but this is a separate talk.

Attaching the keys to us and thinking of using them as “key flail“,(waving hitting the attacker with keys in the face) to dissuade him from attacking you is fine in the cinema but not in real aggressions.

Stop believing this bullshit, because an attacker used to the street doesn’t get intimidated by a bunch of keys or a few scratches in his face that you got him.

In fact, it’s likely to blow up an aggressive charge that you have to handle when you could anticipate it.

Another aspect is also what you can lose the object during scuffle or escape and I don’t think it’s good to lose your house keys.

Attention! If you lose the ASP Defender has lost a tool to defend you but if you also lose our keys together with the Kubotan, you are no longer able to return to the house, or get into the car or motorcycle to get away, for example if you keep the keys of the car / motorcycle attached to the Kubotan.

Pointing and using the ASP Defender

The Kubotan shape of the Defender line is designed to make it practically impossible to turn the nozzle against yourself and spray accidentally (as can happen with a classic can).

This is a fundamental because under stress it also becomes complicated to check where the pepper comes from or even forget to do it.

During the targeting phase towards the attacker the ASP Defender “forces” you to keep your guard high and bent the arm holding the spray, as if you keep a classic boxing guard apart from some variants that can be used and that we explain during private formations.

Having a proper defensive posture while holding and using the weapon during pointing and action is very important, even the fact of not having to lay out the arm completely is very useful, in the case of attacker with cutting weapon / bottle or other .

It is not necessary to “aim” a specific point, but to direct the spray jet in front of you towards the face of the aggressor who, compared to a ballistic gel, goes to cover a certainly wider area but is less visual and in closed rooms it is to be used carefully.

This mode of use also allows you not only to keep a high guard to have an instinctive aim that although not precise does not matter because as I have already told you it is not necessary when we are talking about a conical jet spray.

Be careful when you are in a closed place and if there is wind before spraying, having a rough idea of the direction and intensity of the wind can be important but if the situation is critical use it or first hit with the kubotan, each situation is to itself.

After spraying always taken out of the attacker’s line of attack because even if he is unable to keep his eyes open for the burning caused by the spray, he can still see the shadow or “charge” blindly towards the last position he saw and even if he does not see hitting.

There are several videos of people who used the pepper spray And they were still attacked like the case of a lady on the bus who had no escape route or the lady who was killed near the metro station because she used it with the person who held her grabbed continued to spray but the girl pulled out a knife and hit her blindly killing her.

So watch out!

Conclusions

Of course prevention work is important and I have written several articles about it.

Attention!!

The pepper spray expires and the duration is about a year, so every year you have to replace the refill, but you can use the old outdoor one (I recommend) to try and test how it works maybe against a target hanging from a tree.

These are really good products that manage to communicate a sense of ease of use that generates safety and usability even under stress.

They are tools that now have years of field testing and case studies on their shoulders by law enforcement and ordinary citizens.

Very interesting the possibility of practicing with an inert recharge in order to understand the operation, the flow rate of the jet, analyze critical situations such as when there is wind is (important to point out that a conical jet spray spray sprayed against the wind comes back)

This is very useful and important to be able to safely test the device you have is chosen for your defense and that of your loved ones.

This allows you to know more about the tool because knowing the tool and being able to practice allows you to have a more effective and incisive use if it is really necessary.

Even the larger version in the end is not so uncomfortable to carry despite the size, my advice is to have more dimensions both to have it on several occasions without giving in the eye and also to have it in multiple positions and in this case even keys if you have more than one otherwise do not keep it hooked to your keys.

Stay Tuned!

Street Fight Mentality

Andrea