Safety Tips for Walking to Your Car at Night

Posted on December 7, 2015November 16, 2015 by BlastAdmin

Everyone, at some point, will have to walk to his or her car in the dark of night in an empty parking lot or parking garage. It is important to know how to keep yourself safe in these moments. If there is a possible crime to take place in that dark alley, lot, or garage, it will most likely be a crime of opportunity. So, take a few precautions before walking out to your vehicle and make sure to have a plan. Here are a few tips that will hopefully keep you safer when you are walking to your car at night.

Preplan the walk to your car. If you are in an unfamiliar environment e.g. hospital parking lots, or a lot in an unfamiliar area of downtown, know the route that you are going to take back to the car. Also, it would be helpful to notice any alternate routes if by chance your intended route didn’t work out according to plan. Always remember where your car is parked. The dark of night in a quiet parking garage is not the time for you to forget where you parked the car. Take note of the spot, write it down, and put it in your phone. Don’t forget.

Black Friday Shopping Safety Tips

When you reach your car, be prepared by having the car keys ready to unlock the car door. Don’t have the keys buried in your coat, pants pocket, or purse. If you needed access to the keys in an emergent situation, it is best to have them ready. Also, carry your keys on a key ring that you can hold through the middle when you are walking. This will help to prevent you from dropping the keys. Also, when you are walking back to your vehicle, continually scan your surroundings. Prevention is the key to your safety. Be aware of your intuition. If the situation doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Also, walk down the center isle of the parking lot; this will hopefully ensure that you are not surprised by anyone hiding behind another vehicle or a pillar in a parking garage. And don’t forget to get your UDAP Keychain Pepper Spray to carry with you at all times.

What Makes Pepper Spray So Effective?

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

Most of us have heard of pepper spray. It is used by military and police forces to subdue dangerous criminals in a non-lethal way. Popular shows, such as “Cops” and “CSI” have shown or portrayed pepper spray being used to stop attackers. Some of these attackers are under the influence of very dangerous drugs, such as methamphetamines, hallucinogenics, and extremely high amounts of alcohol and unknown mixtures of any number of drugs. These drugs can make users stronger, less susceptible to pain and more volatile. So, how is it that one substance, such as pepper spray, can stop them all? Why is it so effective?

The Science Behind the Spray

Pepper spray is a derivative of cayenne pepper, more specifically, various parts of the cayenne pepper plant. When this derivative is sprayed on an assailant, it invades the lungs, eyes and sinuses. Once there, it causes burning and swelling, incapacitating the would-be assailant. A person that has been sprayed with pepper spray cannot fight back because he or she cannot breathe. The inability to breath stops the attacker, regardless of the drug or drugs he or she may be on.

The active ingredient in pepper spray is capsaicin. It is the same ingredient that gives cayenne and other peppers their sting. However, with pepper spray, the capsaicin is extremely concentrated, resulting in what is known as a substance called oleoresin capsicum. Once introduced to the respiratory system, oleoresin capsicum has the ability to render any individual helpless.

College Campus Safety

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

For those going to college for the first time this fall, safety is something on everyone’s minds. Many news outlets shout out how sexual offenses and assault are “practically an epidemic” on college campuses. Furthermore, frightening statistics show that college-aged students are at the highest risk of being the victim of several types of crime. Some of these are committed by someone the victim knows well. But as chilling as these can be, the news tends to hype up bad news for more views. More importantly, there are things you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a statistic.

Nobody should have to face becoming a victim of crime first-hand, and although it is never the fault of the victim, there are still plenty of things that college-age students can do to keep themselves safe.

Walking to Class or Walking Home

Contrary to what some people believe, most crimes aren’t committed by strangers who attack women or other vulnerable groups late at night. Many crimes can be committed by fellow students you know. But night attacks can still happen as there tend to be fewer witnesses at night, making criminals – both familiar and unfamiliar – bold enough to attack.

To protect yourself, try not to go out by yourself after dark if you can help it. Walk with friends, try to stick to well-lit or crowded places, avoid shortcuts, and don’t wear headphones or earbuds. If someone asks you for directions or a question from a vehicle, answer from a distance. Don’t get within arm’s length of the vehicle. Finally, if you are attacked during your walk, it helps to have a can of pepper spray with you. Pepper spray is very painful when sprayed into the eyes, and it has been known to incapacitate even the largest and most dangerous assailants.

Drink and Party Responsibly

Whether people want to admit it or not, drinking alcohol and partying is a big part of the college experience. Schools are full of young men and women who are away from home for the first time and may be getting their first true taste of alcohol. Needless to say, many freshmen don’t handle alcohol responsibly; if you’re wondering whether you are one of the many, you could check this out to see if any of the points made here ring true with you. Becoming drunk means you aren’t thinking straight, meaning it is easier for you to make decisions you regret when you are sober. It’s easier to get into a fight or take violent actions. It makes you an easier target to pickpocket or steal from. And, sadly, many people also take advantage of this kind of irresponsible drinking and use it as a chance (or excuse?) to have sexual encounters.

Know your limits with each type of alcoholic drink and stop when you have had enough when to prevent you from becoming drunk. If going to a nightclub keep your valuables secure or consider using a “get your ID here” website to get a copy ID so your real ID stays safe. Don’t drink on an empty stomach since that will cause the alcohol to be absorbed by your body more quickly. Always make sure that you have a sober friend with you and keep a close eye on your drink so that nobody has the chance to slip something into it.

Tell friends where you are

Whether you are frequenting a bar you know like the back of your hand or you are visiting a new friend at their home off-campus, tell a friend where you are. If you plan to go other places in the night tell them that too, and tell them when you get home safely. Should anything happen, your friends and law enforcement will have a record of your last steps to find and help you. To help aid communication, make sure you have the best wifi for college students in your accommodation. This will allow you to message friends and family instantly should there ever be any trouble, and will also allow you to receive messages straight away from friends in need.

Stay calm and respect boundaries

College is a place where stress flies high and where it’s easy to get worked up over the littlest things. You’ll also be in contact with people from all different kinds of backgrounds, and what they may find comfortable, you may not. Many incidents on college campuses happen because stress was not handled well or because personal and physical boundaries were not respected.

If someone says no it means no. If you feel a fellow college student is being problematic on campus there are many things you can do. You can seek help from the faculty staff or report incidents to them. You can intervene and tell that person to respect boundaries but ensure your safety and the safety of other people will not be compromised by doing this.

Trust your gut

Above all else, learn to trust your gut whenever you’re in an unfamiliar situation. If something doesn’t feel right to you or you feel uncomfortable about a certain situation, don’t be afraid to leave. Your intuition can tell you more than you know, so you should listen to it at all times. It could save your life. And be sure to carry UDAP Pepper Spray the world’s hottest pepper spray!

Real Estate Market is Booming

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

The real estate market is booming, in part thanks to the oil field workers. Realtors are having problems finding houses to sell and sellers are benefiting from the bidding wars on multiple offers.

And while the multiple offers sound good, it’s not all good for realtors. Recently, in New York, a homeless man robbed a real estate agent at knife point as she showed him an empty house. According to USA Today, 2 real estate agents were killed as they were showing a house and another robbed.

Real Estate Agents need to show houses, but they need to stay safe as well! UDAP has an electric stun gun with a flashlight to help. The agent can carry the stun gun in his/her hand while showing a house, using it as a flashlight and it’s ready to go if needed. Keep yourself safe. For more information, you can view our entire selection at UDAP.com!

Smartphone Theft On The Rise

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

Smartphone thefts rose again in 2013 despite efforts to stop them. According to the Huffington Post, it has become an epidemic of violent street crimes. Police Departments nation wide have stepped up efforts to educate the public on Smartphone theft safety to prevent being a victim of robbery.

There is currently a nationwide effort to encourage Smartphone makers to create a “kill switch” that will render the phone useless if stolen. Some companies are implementing kill switches and while others are looking at it, Smartphone users need to become more aware of their surroundings. Watch the people around them, whether sitting in a restaurant or walking down the street.

UDAP Pepper Power has two products that can assist you in staying safe. UDAP self defense pepper spray!

Bear Spray Can Prevent Dog Attacks Too!

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

Now that the weather has gotten nicer, many folks are walking around their neighborhoods and walking paths, taking in the beautiful the spring colors and warmth. Enjoying the warm sun until a dog jumps out of the bushes and charges! UDAP Bear Spray can stop a grizzly bear but it can also stop a ferocious dog as well.

Here is a link to a story where a man was attacked by a dog in Lethbridge, Canada. The dog had never attacked anyone before, the owner stated. You never know where or when an angry dog will come at you when you are out walking, so be sure to always carry your UDAP Bear Spray!

Read more of the Lethbridge, Canada attack here…

Camping in the Back Country of Montana

Posted on July 6, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

One of the biggest chores in the backcountry is hanging your food in the trees so bears won’t get to it. It is very time consuming. Not any longer, thanks to the Bear Shock® Food Storage Electric Fence for the backcountry.

Nothing says Montana like a backcountry camping experience! But while you are out enjoying the Big Sky Country, please be BEAR AWARE! Being bear-friendly in Montana is something that we pride ourselves on. And it does come with sacrifice—the welfare of the bear always come first even if it means that we won’t be able to see a bear or get that perfect picture. It means taking steps to prevent bears from finding sources of food on your property or when you are out camping like using our Bear Shock® Food Storage Electric Fence.

Did you know that once a bear is food-trained, it is often impossible to un-train them. That is why biologists so often say a fed bear is a dead bear. So let’s don’t feed the bears!

Your attentiveness in keeping your outdoor camp space “Bear Friendly” is doing your part to keep Montana’s grizzly and black bears wild and free.

“Bear Friendly” means allowing every bear to retain its wild and free nature.

Real Estate Agents Placed in Danger

Posted on July 5, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

How many real estate agents have been placed in danger, because of the nature of their job? While I am not a realtor, there have been a few times in my life, and I suspect in yours as well, that something has happened where your life was placed in danger but you managed to avoid a catastrophe by sheer luck. Either you realized what was about to happen and changed course or someone came to your rescue. These are the “near-misses” in our lives that we all experience from time-to-time, situations that we seldom hear about but situations that we could learn a lot from if we were made aware of the details. Sometimes someone else causes the incident that leads to a “near miss” and there’s probably little that we can do about that except to be as observant as we can and then react quickly enough to avoid a problem.

For example, a real estate agent showing a prospective client a house after dark and he/she is robbed. Wouldn’t a stun gun or pepper spray come in handy? UDAP Stun Guns can double as a flashlight, so you have it ready in your handy and you can use it to show clients those dark crawl spaces or under sinks. Make that would be robber think twice. Don’t depend on luck to keep you safe, be prepared whether it’s carrying UDAP Pepper Spray or a UDAP Stun Gun, detect the precursors of life endangering situations and avoid them! Always be prepared for those dangerous situations.

Recreationists gather at Helena Outdoor Fest

Posted on July 5, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

Adventure | Event gives attendees a chance to get hands-on experience with various outdoor activities

Helena Outdoor Fest

Stopping a charging bear with a blast of pepper spray, driving a four-wheeler and trap shooting were just some of the fun simulation activities kids got to try at this year’s Outdoors Fest on Saturday.

Now in its fifth year, the event at Montana Wild Education Center and Spring Meadow Lake State Park, gives kids and families an array of fun outdoor activities to try out, said Laurie Evarts, Montana Wild education program manager.

Activities ranged from kayaking, rafting and archery to trap shooting with a laser gun, mountain biking and fishing. Altogether 70 volunteers and some 200 to 300 kids and their parents got to play in the outdoors and try out some new adventures.

The Off Highway Vehicle simulator is a fun way to get kids to think about safety, said Tom Reilly, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks assistant
administrator. “Always wear a helmet,” he said, as he helped yet another excited child into the driver’s seat of the OHV. Soon it would be bucking down a back road as the child’s eyes grew larger and larger and their hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Always wear boots,” Reilly
advised, “and always wear protective gloves.”

Across the parking lot, another popular simulator was going full bore. Mark Matheny, a grizzly bear attack survivor and the president of UDAP, which makes bear spray, was demonstrating a new piece of protective equipment and also his charging-bear simulator.

“We’re celebrating 20 years of being in business,” he said. “I was mauled Sept. 25, 1992, just outside of Big Sky when I was bow hunting.” His hunting partner happened to be a physician and EMT, who got him to an emergency room and closed his wounds with more than 200 stitches.

Helena Outdoor Fest

Matheny was mauled by a female grizzly with three cubs, he said. “When my head was in her mouth, I had an out-of-body experience. I was going
down a white bright tunnel.”

But it turned out to not be his time to die. “I got a message to go back and serve others,” he said, and he began to make products to make people safer.

The latest product he showed off Saturday is a bear spray pack that attaches to the back of a backpack and can be deployed if a person is attacked from behind and has a bear on their back. A push of a button on the backpack shoulder strap releases a burst of pepper spray into the bear’s face.

His new charging-bear simulator machine gives people an opportunity to practice using bear spray on a “bear” racing at them at 25 miles per
hour.

“It gives you an idea of the actual speed bears can move,” said Matheny. “They are faster than a race horse. People can be stunned because of their quickness.”

For the younger set, like 4-year-old Savannah Crumley, there were some calmer activities to try out such as fish tattoos, the Wildlife Olympics, making leaf sun catchers and the oh-so-fascinating tornado in a bottle.

Meanwhile, indoors at the Montana Wild Center, the laser-shooting simulator was a hit, drawing a line of enthusiasts.

Kids and some moms tried out laser trap shooting under the watchful eye of volunteers who showed them the correct way to hold the rifle.

The simulator is also used for hunter education classes across the state, where students learn about safe shots to take in the field and which
ones to pass up.

“It’s a way to teach shooting skills and technique and it’s a confidence builder,” said Wayde Cooperider, FWP outdoor skills and safety supervisor. “This is a safe environment to work on shooting skills.”

Six-year-old Cheyenne Prater had just scored six hits. “It’s a perfect score for a 6-year-old,” she said, smiling at her mom, Kristy Brown.

“They’ve liked it all,” said Brown of the activities the family had tried. “But bear spray practice was the favorite.”

Original Article here

Tips to Protect Yourself When Jogging/Walking in Your Neighborhood

Posted on July 5, 2015September 11, 2015 by BlastAdmin

It’s beautiful early fall outdoors and most people enjoy a walk or around the neighbor enjoying all of the fall colors. But with street crimes increasing in most large U.S. cities, it’s more important than ever that you protect yourself when jogging/walking in your neighborhood.

A few tips:

• Be alert for loiterers and do not interact with them.

• Don’t carry large sums of money in your wallet, if you’re a man, or a purse, if you’re a woman.

• If possible, stay out of bad parts of town and if you have to, travel with another person. This is especially true after dark.

• Never hitchhike or accept rides from strangers. Believe it or not, the majority of women who are raped by strangers were hitchhiking at the time.

• Walk on the side of the street nearest to oncoming traffic. If accosted by someone in a car, run in the direction opposite the way the car is headed.

• Beware of people who approach asking directions; keep a safe distance. Just say “Sorry” and keep moving if you are in an unsafe area or simply don’t like the guys looks. You have no obligation to be friendly or helpful to strangers on the street.

• If you think someone might be following you, speed up. If they speed up also, cross the street in mid-block. If they do also, start running and yelling loud. Create a scene. Make a spectacle of yourself. Get out in the middle of the street and try to wave down a car. Much better to make a fool of yourself in front of a bunch of strangers than to end up in a hospital or morgue.

But more importantly carry UDAP Bear Spray or a UDAP Stun Gun! You can purchase both online at UDAP.COM today! So go on your walk and jog, enjoy the great fall colors and be SAFE!