If at all possible, try to find a stun gun that has a comfortable ergonomic design. This means that it should have things such as contoured finger rests, and as mentioned previously slip-resistant rubber grips. It should also fit perfectly in your hand; not too long, not too short, and light-weight. Overall, it needs to be comfortable and easy to handle.

In short, simply pick a stun gun that is solidly built, is comfortable to hold in your hand, and has some sort of safety mechanism.

BATTERIES

Batteries are the life source of your stun gun. They are what gives it the power it needs to produce the electricity that your attacker is about to get hit with. And the amount of electricity that comes out is dependent on two factors; what type of battery it is, and how charged it is.

Most stun guns now have built-in rechargeable batteries, but there are still plenty that do not. There are reasons for both, however, and while this is more of a personal preference issue, we do highly recommend that you buy a modern stun gun with the built-in battery. It’s just a lot easier to manage overall.

Having to buy batteries constantly is time-consuming and gets really expensive,  really fast.

When you start exploring the higher end stun guns, a lot more options start to open up to you when it comes to the battery issue. You will start to notice that a lot of the higher end models accept external batteries that you have to change out when they die. This is a great option to have as not everyone likes built-in batteries for a variety of reasons.

With replaceable batteries, you are less limited in your power supply options and may be able to find a battery that performs better than one that is built-in.

Built-in batteries are easier to manage but can’t really be replaced that easily if it fails, whereas removable batteries give you the freedom to use whatever battery you prefer but can become quite the hassle.

VOLTAGE

The voltage of your device plays a big role in how effective it is in any given situation. You don’t want anything that is completely ineffective, but you also don’t need anything that’s overkill.

In other words, more voltage means more shocking power. More shocking power means better personal defense. Anything in the 15-30 million volt range should do quite well for you.

PRONGS

If you want to go with something that gives you a lot more contact with your assailant, grab a stun gun that has shard probes instead of traditional metal plates.

This kind of stun gun is extremely useful when you need to make contact with a layer or two of clothing.

If you decide that you really don’t need spiked prongs, you can always go the traditional route and get a stun gun with metal plates instead.

Here’s a quick pro-tip:

If you live in a colder climate, buy a stun gun with spiked prongs instead of metal plates. The reason being is that in colder climates, people will more than likely be wearing layers of clothing to keep warm. Yes, even your attacker. Those spiked prongs will make sure you make contact even through their heavy coat.

If you live in a warmer climate, either style should work all the same for you.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In this article, we have reviewed our top 5 picks for best stun guns on the market at the moment. To do this we scoured the internet reading other users experiences with these stun guns. To make things a little more fun,  we even got some hands-on experience with a couple of these in order to provide a better review.

Every single one of these stun guns has made the list for one reason or another. They all have their pros and cons, but in the end, there is one stun gun on our list thatdeserves to be crowned the champion.

Our top pick overall for best stun gun is the Vipertek VTS-989. This stun gun packs a huge punch at 38 million volts. But what we really liked the most about it is the shock plates on the sides, and its dual spiked prongs.

Do you have a favorite stun gun that you don’t see on our list? Leave us a comment and let us know! We are always eager and excited to test out new gear.

This article by Will Ellis originally appeared at Gun News Daily in 2019.

Image: Wikimedia.