Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Find Out How A Stun Gun Works

By Jim Wilkinson

When you purchase a stun gun it is important to understand the mechanics and the principles behind the operation of a stun gun. This will help you manage the personal protection device and use it most effectively for self defense.

Stun guns jumble up the electrical pulses in a body. These are the pulses that are being sent from the brain to other parts of the body telling the other parts what to do, such as "OK, raise your arm". These electrical pulses control every function and movement of the body. When a stun gun is applied to an attacker those electrical pulses go awry. As an example, the electrical pulse being sent to the arm gets rerouted to the leg and the arm does not perform as it was instructed. This is because of the very low amperage sent from the stun gun into a body.

A stun gun causes the brain to go on vacation for a few seconds and the body shuts down. When this happens a great deal of energy is used up by the body. This energy is depleted because the blood sugar level in the body becomes seriously low. The body is sometimes paralyzed momentarily and the attacker cannot function at all. Maybe except to drool a little bit!

The way stun guns work is actually pretty simple. They get their power usually from a little 9 volt battery or they can be rechargeable. Inside the stun gun are transformers that increase the voltage of the battery and at the same time reduce the amperage that is sent into the body. This is not a continuous action as there is a little oscillator that produces a pulsing effect. A capacitor inside the stun gun builds up a charge and sends it to the electrodes at the top of the stun gun. These electrodes are what come in contact with an attacker. That is all there is to the workings of a stun gun. Simple, huh?

The great thing about stun guns is that when the current is unable to flow across the double electrodes in the top, the current will go to the two test electrodes. They are close together which allow the flow of energy to leap between each of them. As the current moves it ionizes the air particles and results in a spark that is visible. You can also hear a crackling noise that is very intimidating. The purpose of this is so attackers can see that you have a stun gun. Usually the visible sign of the electrodes sparking and the sound of the crackling is enough of a deterrent for personal protection. Most attackers will go away.

We have seen how a little 9 volt battery can incapacitate an attacker. It simply disrupts the electrical signals from the brain. This is all accomplished by introducing an electric charge with about 3 milliamps behind it. There are small stun guns, big stun guns, disguised stun guns, all shapes and sizes but they all do the same thing. Give you a chance to escape.

A few things to keep in mind when you use a stun gun, you must be touching the attacker with the stun gun. You will not get shocked even if you are touching the attacker at the time. These are non-lethal self defense items. Stun guns give you a chance to escape a dangerous situation.

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