@CaptainMan251@lemmy.world , if you’re hoping to get good input from this thread you really gotta elaborate on the situations you’re worried about in order to differentiate between useful and useless advice.
A barky dog is good advice about some types of home security. It’s no use if you’re worried about walking down the street
I’m not looking for any particular advice. I like hearing what others think, which is why I left it open ended
As a person who volunteered input, I think that’s a great way to hear bad ideas.
You either don’t know that and are going to have no filter between what’s useful input that should be internalized and what shouldn’t, possibly putting you in a dangerous and unnecessary situation or you do know and you are interested in what used to be called pot stirring and is now more often referred to as engagement farming.
But it’s not just a great way for you to hear bad ideas, it’s a great way to give bad ideas somewhere to be heard!
No matter if you know that you’re soliciting bad input or not, since the forum is public, the question by its very nature deals with safety and security and the input is solicited in an unfocused way, the results will not just be heard by you but also by everyone who looks at the thread, which is in the front page of some bigger instances.
Now rather than benignly hearing what people think or creating engagement you’re providing a space for any kind of suggestion to be given equal time, Wolverine claw keyrings get to stand alongside “speak to a lawyer about your local laws” because there is no greater context or detail that can be used to weigh one against the other.
The point of this reply isn’t to make you feel bad or call you out, but to make clear the effect that Just Asking Questions has when applied outside its usual political argument territory.
You in particular could, as the op, take action to change the state of the thread by providing more information, a jurisdiction, some specific details you’re interested in knowing about or just delete the post.
I can run real fast.
I can’t, but I take my brother with me who’s even slower.
An umbrella built to be a defensive baton, no I am not kidding.
If you aren’t in an enclosed narrow space and having an umbrella/parasol this is by far your best option besides pepper spray type options.
Something like this (not recommending this site specifically just using as an example).
Even better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella
Although that might be more of an offensive umbrella…
I’m gonna take from this thread that most people are both heavily armed with random dangerous shit in their pockets including knives and guns, very skiddish and ready to fight, severely untrained, while also being willing to use anything else in your immediate vicinity as a weapon including water bottles and wooden walking sticks fashioned with dangerous sharp spikes on the end.
I am keeping a safe distance from all of you until further notice
Probably the best defense.
Shoes you can run in.
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Roll of nickels.
shovel to dig a trench
Yourself, along with some martial arts training.
You won’t be doing any Bruce Lee moves with basic training, but even basic training can make a big difference.
One of the first things you learnt in most martial arts is how to balance and move. This, combined with some basic blocks, is often enough to disengage and retreat quickly. It also helps train your brain to drop into defence/combat mode when required. This stops you freezing up for a critical few seconds.
Any weapon is mostly useless without the training to use it in the heat of an encounter. If you’re going to train with something, it might as well be a weapon you will always have available.
My preference is Tae Kwon Do, but any general martial art will be hugely beneficial.
Oh, and as a side effect, martial arts often help train a mindset change. You know you can defend yourself, and so subconsciously project confidence. It makes you less of a target to begin with.
The best defense is being able to run.
pocket sand
I saw a show about self defense for women in NY city. The instructor said to always carry a sucker. One of those tootsie pops or the like. If in trouble, hold the ball in your hand, turn the stick outward, between your middle and ring finger and punch at something soft and fleshy like stomach or face (eyes, mouth). It’s nice because it works everywhere. Even the TSA will let you board a plane with a sucker.
A lot better than that horrible “use your keys like Wolverine” idea.
Not trying to be a smart ass, but a good pair of running shoes or being in relatively good shape to run.
Even if you do have a firearm, for example, I live in a “duty to retreat” state, and in most cases, if you don’t attempt to retreat where reasonable, before using deadly force you can get charged
so here’s the thing about self defense: it’s only a last resort. Don’t try to actually defend yourself unless it’s the only thing left to do. Reaching for a self defense tool at the first sign is cop shit.
As for defense tools, they’re all good and viable. You just need to know how to use them. There’s no such thing as a no-effort defense tool. Buying a pepper spray and sticking it onto your keychain without a second thought does not make it a self defense tool. You need to practice to the point where it’s second nature to use it. That means knowing the effective range, knowing the shortfalls and limitations, and continual practice.
Pepper spray is good. Especially for dogs.
Make sure you are aware of how your spray comes out. There’s the traditional type that comes out as an aerosol cone and the recipient can’t really block (it just goes around their hand) but there’s also the kind that comes out as silly string that can be blocked but won’t be affected by a stiff breeze and just blow back into your face.
The nice thing about pepper spray is you and your friends can get together and do jackass routines on each other to figure out how you’ll actually fish it out of your pockets or purse when you need to use it and get comfortable spraying it. You can also subsequently figure out how to counteract the effects so that if it blows back on you or gets smeared on you you’re not experiencing it for the first time in a “I bet you’re wondering how I got here” type freeze frame.
It’s also good to come home to the wife filled with adrenaline smelling like a five pepper curry plate mixed with spoiled milk making your most amorous advances.
Your best non-firearm self defense object though is a gun. I know that sounds crazy, but stay with me. Self defense is staying alive, in most places, legally speaking. When some crap happens and a month later you and the other person are in front of some law authority, that judge is gonna be trying to figure out if one of you claiming self defense can reasonably be considered to be in fear for your life or safety. So it’s not like there’s a legal obligation not to use a gun if you’re allowed to have one and a firearms generally considered status as lethal force acts as support for your claim of life and limb, if you credibly have one.
But didn’t you just fucking say “non firearm”? Yes. Yes you did. At least in the United States, but also in many other jurisdictions, some guns aren’t firearms. In the us, cap and ball revolvers for example, even modern reproductions, are not considered firearms. For the question of viability, see the many YouTube videos of gun influencers dressing up in cosplay and shooting the gel torso man with uberti’s latest product.
So you can generally use a gun in self defense and if for some reason you are barred from carrying a firearm, guns are an option.
Make sure to schedule similar fun time with friends to figure out how to safely carry, draw and reholster your blunderbuss. Do not point guns at people you don’t intend to kill.
Okay here’s the thing to actually read:
If you haven’t been in a situation where you’re scared for your life, don’t go seeking one out. Develop a way to express your emotions and practice everyday saving them up for that release instead of being goaded. Avoid every fight as much as possible. You do not get stronger from fighting, you physically destroy your body and mind. Using a self defense object will cause you to experience deep and lasting trauma whose consequences will have an effect on every relationship you hold.
Retain the services of a lawyer in your area to obtain specific advice for your situation. They will be familiar with the local authorities, laws, training organizations and you will be protected from scrutiny by their client confidentiality.
Again, go directly to your local legal aid agency and locate a lawyer who can advise you. No one knows who or where you are and they will ask questions that are pertinent in your jurisdiction.
Pepper spray notes here: they usually come in a few types. There’s stream, fog, and gel. Gel can be pulled off and flung back at you, fog just hangs in the air and you’ll probably breathe it in, so I suggest a stream. Also there’s water based and oil based. Oil based is much harder to get off. There’s also peppermace, which combines both (though some people have a tolerance to mace and it may be considered a chemical weapon in your area).
Tl;dr oil-based stream pepper spray is the way to go. Practice with it.
