How to Make Tear Gas

Tear gas can be  a valuable tool to keep crowds away from your home during civil unrest. At the moment, it can be legally purchased, but during a grid-down scenario or in the event that laws are changed, that may not be an option so learning how to make your own can be a valuable skill.

Everything you need to make tear gas is available at any grocery store, and with these instructions, it’s easy to make.

1.) Start with about one pound of hot peppers—the hotter the better. Your best option is the habanero, which can be found in any grocery store in red, orange, yellow and green varieties. This evil little fruit is one of the hottest peppers available and very well may have originated right from Satan’s shorts.

2.) Next you’ll need to dry the peppers. Put on rubber gloves (trust me on this or your next trip to the bathroom will be the most excruciating experience in your life) and cut the peppers in half, then place them on a cookie sheet in the oven at the lowest temperature you can set. (Usually around 150°.) Leave the door cracked and keep an eye on the peppers—it will take a few hours for them to dry.

3.) Once they’ve dried, chop them up with a knife, blender, or food processor, transfer them to a large container, and pour in enough denatured ethyl alcohol to cover the peppers. You can heat this on the stove, but the alcohol can easily catch fire, so I prefer to just place the container in the sun for a few days. Then filter the peppers from the alcohol, and evaporate it down to about 100mL.

4.) Finally, mix the solution with mineral oil at a ratio of 5%:95%. The finished tear gas solution can be dispersed any way you see fit, such as a spray bottle, Super Soaker, or even water balloons.

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