Getting a canister of tear gas lobbed at you can be frightening, but it’s really no big deal.
Canisters are easy to throw back at your tormenter. So the next time you go out to protest, be prepared to grab a hot tear gas canister and return it to sender.
First: Attend the protests wearing at least one glove. Tear gas canisters are hot and can burn your hand. A glove is all you need to grab the canister and send it back at the basijis. (The Egyptian protester in the photo isn’t using a glove, but you are strongly advised to wear one.) If you can, throw the canister into the open window of a regime vehicle, such as police car or truck, or jam it into the grille or beneath the engine so the gas gets into the air intake. Or throw it where basijis are concentrated together and would have a hard time escaping.
Below are some links that describe how tear gas works, how the canisters themselves work, and how to throw the weapons back at your oppressors to limit the harm to innocent people.
http://freedommanual.blogspot.com/2009/12/tear-gas.html. This is an excellent primer on how to deal with tear gas, including what to wear when going to a place where tear gas may be expected, how to prepare yourselves, how to deal with pepper spray and so forth.
http://thestrictmachine.com/2011/01/26/how-to-deal-with-tear-gas/. Not quite so comprehensive, but contains useful material that doesn’t appear above.
How to make your own tear gas – great for improvisation, but dangerous, too. Read at your own risk: http://www.bombshock.com/weapons_combat/poisons/making_homemade_teargas.html
