When Scott McPherson’s daughter was heading off to college, he wanted to make sure that she’d have a personal protection device with her at all times. Given that most young people are never without their smartphone – and they always have it within easy reach – he did the obvious, and created an iPhone 4/4S case with a built-in pepper spray canister. It’s now available for purchase, in the form of the Spraytect case.
The case itself is for the most part pretty ordinary. No specs are available, although it doubtless does an at least passable job at protecting the phone against scratches, impacts and drops.
Molded into the back of the case, however, is a rail mounting system. A supplied pepper spray canister slides into that mount, where it remains indefinitely – it can be removed when it needs to be replaced, or if the user wants to take their phone through airport security.
Should the user end up getting attacked, they point the back of their encased phone at the assailant’s face, then depress an actuator button on top of the canister – habanero pepper-fueled mayhem ensues. In order to avoid accidental discharges, a safety clip must be removed and a lever must be rotated before the actuator will work. That does take away from “heat of the moment” user-friendliness a bit, but it also minimizes the chances of users unintentionally spraying their friends when they go to take their photos.
Speaking of which, it would have been impressive if the case could also trigger the phone to snap a photo whenever the actuator was pressed. That way, users would automatically end up with a shot of the assailant, to show the police. Of course, that would add considerably to the price of the case, and would require an accompanying constantly-running app.
The Spraytect is available now in four colors, for US$39.95. That price includes one pepper spray cartridge, along with a non-pepper test cartridge for practicing. Color-coordinated pepper refill cartridges are priced at $17.95. More information on the case is available in the video below.
Users looking for something that delivers a bit stronger of a message (but that requires the user to get closer to their attacker) might want to also check out the stun gun-equipped Yellow Jacket smartphone case.
Source: Spraytect via Bless This Stuff
