I've only carried the spray with the kids in areas of downtown Portland that have unsavory individuals or areas with dogs off leash. I got it mainly because my daughter had once been chased around me by a Pit Bull and my foot to the dogs head hardly phased it.

My XW would legally carry something a wee bit more potent than pepper spray. I used to envision us getting mugged and myself reenacting an Al Pacino line from Scarface - "Honey, shoot dis piece of sh!t for me".