Women’s Self Defense Weekly: Less-Than-Lethal Defense Options

Lever Action you hit it on the head. An example is yesterday at work a woman and her 5 year old son are on a bus.The kid accidentally kicks a woman. The woman begins to curse at the child and mother. The Mother tells the woman not to curse at her child ,when the mom and her 5 year old are immediately attacked by the woman and her fricking boyfriend. no warning nothing but immediate attack.

This has been a norm lately in the city I work in. The story is always the same from the victim "the attack came out of nowhere"Except when you here the whole story you hear multiple warning signs that an attack was at least impending.

I believe the most important lesson that people need to learn is you need to be ready to go from 0mph to 110mph in a blink of an eye,because the bad guy is always ready and willing to hurt you.

Something no one has mentioned - It's Not That People Don't Know What To Do. It's They Don't Know When To Cross That Line in The Mind and Act. The decision to act is a tough one for standard-issue people. Bad men have no such restraint. Good people do. You have to get over that. Train just as hard WHEN TO ACT as you train for what to do. 

I have  learned the hard way that Muscle Memory is for real.I like to punch the heavy bag ,but I tape my hands and wear gloves,to protect my hands (I have screws in both wrists) .On the street no gloves, no tape ,so punching is not a real good option for me,elbow is better.Yet recently while working had patient attack  me and Police  Officer with round house punch.Muscle memory in action what did i do ,right cross & hurt hand,, Duh. On the other hand when I workout I do a circuit that ends with multiple knee strikes to heavy bag.Same scenario when the drugged up patient went for the police officers handgun ,,muscle memory kicked in 3 well aimed ,effective knee strikes & end of story. So my pea brain has decided to work on elbow strikes and knee strikes and only use punching when clear shot available . Also i have a terrible habit of putting my hands in my pockets, I know one of these days it may cost me,need someone to slap me in the side of the head every time I put my hands in my pocket while at work and at the scene of an incident. Also i tend to look in peoples eyes and forget the HANDS..real stupid

Ideally I would like to train for multiple attackers, very tough to do.  I'm nearly to the point that we may enter a local dojo just to get the experience.  I figure train for the worst and anything less will be easier.

Tasers need to be treated just like a sidearm. Do not shoot people for shits and giggles or practice. Its a dangerous tool, "Less Lethal" is a misnomer. To get my X26 I volunteered to be lit up in a controlled environment with medical staff present, it hurts, a lot( It was a LE Program TI put on). People have had bones break from muscle contractions as well as people who may have had a bad blood pump and not known it have vapor locked. Treat it with the same respect as a handgun.

For those wanting to practice buy the practice cartridges.

Remember dont treat it like a toy.

http://store.taser.com/taser0174-c20153-2-pack-training-cartridges-p112.aspx

Obviously, if anyone has read my previous comments on the tactical flashlight, you guys know I'm a HUGE proponent of this tool. I can't stress enough how effective the tactical flashlight is! It's the kind of Personal Protection tool that will get you out of a situation before it even starts. I do recommend finding someone (which may be hard) that will train you on defensive flashlight methodology but even without training it's an easy concept to grasp. I will say too that 500 lumens is a bit much. There are certainly situations that call for that amount of light but around 120 to 200 lumens is more ideal and practical for personal protection. As far as the pepper spray or OC spray. I DO NOT suggest the use of the key chain models or the one pictured above. Try getting that thing deployed under stress and you'll know why I'm not a fan. When your body is under an "alarm response" getting to a small device on a swinging key chain while also getting around safety mechanisms just to access a tiny button is going to near impossible. I suggest the Kimber Guardian Angel Pepper Blaster II. It's easy to use and it fires via a small pyrotechnic charge. It has some pretty decent range (30' I think) and because it fires the charge at high speed the "blowback" is not much of an issue if at all. It carries easily in a pocket or purse and there are practice blasters available as well. I carry one in the car as well as on my person when I can't carry a gun somewhere. Two shots per blaster is enough to create some distance and get the hell outa there. The TASER I have mixed feelings about. It's a fantastic tool no doubt about it and the C3 is super easy to use and effective. However, users should understand how to use it and practice "drawing" it as much as possible. There are holsters available for it which make it easy to get into action. The other problem besides deploying it is that people need to understand that TASER's don't always work. The last thing you want is for your attacker to continue coming at you while you're still attached to him! Fire your charge, DROP the damn thing and run! One of the cool things about the C3 is that if you file a police report and turn it into the company, they will provide you with a new one. One other thing I'm not sure about is the serial numbered "confetti" pieces. When you fire the C3 it let's loose hundreds of serial numbered "confetti" like pieces everywhere. It's supposed to be for proving what happened in case you have to drop the unit and run (which is what you SHOULD do). With the serial numbers all over the place you can go back to the scene and show proof that you had to defend yourself. That way you can file a police report, get a replacement unit, and maybe even ID the guy/gal that tried to attack you by finding the pieces on his/her clothing or in his car or on his property. I'm just not sure about leaving evidence of myself all over the place.

Bears repeating on the Taser: Practice practice practice.  You probably won't get a second shot.

I've been outed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsxVqyP25fA&feature=related

I am a huge fan of the Surefire E2D LED carry one at work and have used it successfully against drunken fools.However I was recently denied access to a sports venue when they found it in my pocket,I had to return to my auto and leave it there. So I recently purchased one of those so called  tactical pens. I bought the UZI model nice hard pen you could do some damage with it.For kicks I slammed it into a 2x4 and it stuck..If you are using pepper spray but  sudecon wipes,they work great if sprayed. The inner city street rats have been spraying people prior to robbing them and we use the wipes and yes clear instantly.

The flashlight sounds like a great idea for my wife. Besides it always good to have a light.

We decided against the pepper spray for my wife because of Blowback.  Being a Security guard and qualifying to carry OS I know what it's like to get a face full.  The C2 taser in pink rides along with an ASP and a 6p Surefire where ever my wife goes.  

Even with this arsenal we concentrate on training, regular sparring with my wife and girls.  Believe me my little 5yr old will hurt you!!!

i guess I must retire my Star Spangled sweat pants and Do Rag, bummer.