Self Defense Products That Work!

We get many requests for self defense product recommendations but no question is quite the same. We are asked about pepper sprays mostly, with requests on personal alarms and their features being a close second. Finally, we are asked about deterrents against dog attacks quite frequently as well.

Not all pepper sprays are created equally.  Some come with a UV marking dye, while other are strictly a tear gas, or a combination with Tear Gas, Pepper Spray and UV Dye.

Pepper spray questions usually include apprehensive remarks about the spray possibly hitting an owner’s dog or the owner.  This is a normal worry but is easily worked around by selecting a pepper spray in “Stream Delivery” as opposed to “Spray Delivery”.  It is much more accurate and delivers the defense spray in a stream of liquid rather than a spray.  This offers greater control of the stream allowing it to strike the aim point accurately, and takes all but the stiffest wind “out of play”.  You can always position yourself, with a footstep and a small pivot to be in a position where the stream or spray won’t blow back into your face.

If a dog’s owner simply won’t take the chance and worry about their dog being accidentally hit with the defense spray, we then have no other choice but to recommend the use of a stun baton or telescopic steel baton.  In both cases you have about 18 to 26 inches of reach advantage, which will keep your hands out of a possible tangle between 2 or more dogs.  In the first case you  have the advantage of stun technology (non-lethal of course) and in the second case, you control how hard you must strike an offending dog, in order to get it to release your dog or your leg! 

We advocate using the 300,000 volt stun baton since it’s length make is very easy and nimble while in use or trying to maneuver it into position.  They also have electrified metal strips on the sides of the baton which assure you of making solid contact.

The biggest reason we recommend the 300K volt stun baton is that in every email we have received with feedback - the owner never had to do more than perform a standard, one second burst, test firing of the baton and the offending dogs stopped their approach immediately.  In future walks, problem neighborhood dogs only needed to “see” the baton and they ignored the customer and her dog or family members completely.  Dogs are awfully smart and a one second burst really emits an angry electrical snarl for them to consider.  So far, to my knowledge, no dog has decided to brave that arcing burst of blue/white electricity.

My first choice would be a standard pepper spray with “Stream” delivery option and followed with a 300k volt stun baton.  Between these two you’ll find your answer in defending yourself or your dog from being attacked by the local bullies that are sometimes allowed to roam the neighborhood without supervision.

Are You Sure That’s Right? 

I was watching a TV show last week - I believe it was Spike TV’s “Manswers” - but don’t hold me to that okay?  It may have been a similar TV Show.

The question posed was “what is the best way to defend yourself in a street-fighting scenario, against multiple opponents. ” The story will now go completely downhill, as there obviously were no Master Instructors to edit and approve their scenario.

Ok, the guy walks outside the back door and into an alley, where for some reason, he is accosted by about 4 or 5 large to extra-large opponents.  They appeared to be either angry with our subject or maybe just attempting to lighten his wallet a bit. The question is posed again “what is the best technique to defend yourself from this situation.”

The bad guys kind of surround the victim in a Bruce Lee, Ring of Death type scenario.  One bad guy gets a nice Tae Kwon Do kick to the head and he’s finished (not in real life)!  Another attacks and is judo thrown to the ground (not in real life)!  They are all standing there in the background like movie spectators as the star of the clip takes a couple of guys down to the ground and follows, to finish them off while his friends stand poised but immobile, as if dosed with ether (not in real life)!

Finally the giant of the group is left staring down at his miniscule victim and shouting at him.  Their ultimate technique to finish him off was to have the victim (martial artist) jump onto the big fella’s side and take his back while applying a rear naked choke (not in real life)!

I was appalled as a martial arts practitioner of long standing, to see the absolute B.S. that they had just aired.  Jumping on a 6′5″ street tough attacker is a very dicey proposition, let alone jumping into perfect position to take his back (while still standing) and apply the rear naked choke.  C’mon, the little guy couldn’t even sink it in properly - the big man would have never gone down or out.  Not to mention head kicking in an alley fight, against multiple attackers.  What crap and what a surefire way to commit suicide.  See, I’m still PO’ed a week later - it was that bad.

Rather than expound for several paragraphs on the proper methods to effectively remove yourself from such a scenario.  I’m just laying it out there for you and am asking you to comment if you saw this ridiculous TV segment and looking for some remarks from you, in hope of a little bit of discussion. 

C’mon, let’s talk about this. Bad martial Arts strategy is often met with fatal results for those who follow this sort of bad instruction!

The Ultimate Trap Stops Rapists!

Well, after our controversial post on the RapeX anti-rape condom, I promised to do a follow up post.  After contacting the creators twice for permission to use an image or two plus a bit of copy here and there, and not receiving any reply - I will simply provide a link you can copy and paste in your web browser’s address bar to read the information straight from the horse’s mouth - so to speak.

While visiting their website, be sure to visit (click the links) and read the “Frequently Asked Questions.”  I highly suggest using the link to the “Image Gallery” in order to actually see what this little beast looks like. There’s no doubt that you will be amazed by it’s ingenious design, while at the same time, men will shudder and recall my earlier post where I described it as “the penis bear trap!”

One can only speculate on the pain caused by the rows of rattlesnake fangs buried in the rapist’s offending member! The site indicates that they’re flooded with inquiries and are preparing business packages to prospective dealers - yes I’ve already applied for one - and their site counter is at 3/4 of a million visits and that’s “pre-launch”!

They are asking for donations too, if you care to donate a small gift. Likely they’ll not need the money for long, this product is going to blow the roof off the building when it actually rolls out and is available in stores and/or online. I plan on being in on it for two reasons. To make money and to protect women who will use the product responsibly, to capture the creeps who continue to think they can rape women!

You can even purchase advertising space on their website if you care to.  Aww, heck, I’m stingy with giving out links but this product deserves one, just click this link to take you directly to the Home Page of RAPEX and read all about it.  Cheers!

The Telescopic Steel Baton - No Joke

Did my title startle any of you conspiracy theorists? Well, it’s not about the college secret society.  It’s about another society that’s public, yet so little known in general, that you could almost call it one.  The brotherhood of stick and blade fighters.

Sounds like a union huh? Amongst the population there are many schools that teach their various types of stick and blade systems to new students but sadly, few carry on for long enough to call themselves eskrimadors / escrimadors.  But, the students who do stay, carry on the proud fighting styles of a variety of FMA that originated in the Philippines.

At our school we teach Eskrima and practice with rattan sticks which are excellent as training tools and in the absence of a blade, a very lethal weapon.

Today, at our Saturday “open class” (2.5 hrs of whatever) which is well attended, we had some excitement.  Any student can grab an instructor or senior student, and work on whatever they need help with or want to do. This could be the proper performance and nuances of katas, sparring, self defense drills, grappling, Tai Chi, Muay Thai and Eskrima.  That pretty well sums up what we teach and continue to learn together.

We start beginners with foam batons and as their skill level increases they move on to rattan sticks. As partners practice the drills of Doce Pares and do the mechanics of “the twelve pairs”, they practice an outline of the system, comprised of a set of 12 strikes and 12 matching blocks or deflections. As the student progresses, the cuts are added to the defensive maneuvers and before long you have back and forth, two man drills that are as crude or sophisticated as the eskrimadors who are training.

Today, as mentioned, something new - a green belt brought in a pair of 21 inch telescopic steel batons and wanted to try them in a few drills. We did a few cuts together and I swung the steel batons to get a feel for the weight and found them to be quite easy to work with. They were made from a lightweight aircraft alloy and they were 21 inch models, more suited to Serrada Eskrima than Doce Pares’ traditional Largo Mano, longer strikes.

Handing his steel batons to one of my more enthusiastic Asst. Instructors was probably a mistake in hindsight. They began doing the 12 strikes / 12 blocks drill and as a minute or two went by, the speed began picking up. The younger (ranked) student lunged forward with a straight stabbing cut and accidentally, was stuck on the wrist with a “hanger” defense.  The rounded motion of the baton in this block is fairly brisk but not a crushing block, rather, a deflection, but the older student missed the stick and struck his partner squarely on the wrist with the telescopic baton.

It began to swell immediately as we got ice on it, and within 15 minutes or so, he seemed to have a badly bruised or broken wrist.  His arm was the same thickness at the wrist as near the elbow. So, off to the ER he was taken. Luckily, no bones were broken and he’ll fine with the generous use of ice and then switching to a little ice, then heat, in about 48 hrs..

After they’d departed, I walked over to “pick-up” and found that the rattan sticks were deeply dinged and the end was even a bit “fat” and beginning to splinter! That impressed me big time! I recommend the use of a lightweight alloy, telescopic steel baton, to any seasoned stick man (depending on your local laws of course). They didn’t help their owner too much today but they certainly showed me, that they transfer a lot of energy into the target. Use the link provided to take a look at some and see if they interest you.

I would certainly recommend them for self defense - but not constant training. I’d advise using them enough to be comfortable with one, but everyday drills would probably mess with the mechanics of the telescopic function and the comfy, hardened, foam handle grip would probably wear off or break up. 

For the back seat of the car though, I think I’m going to put one there for self defense only.  It will save me from rotating my rattan sticks, so they don’t warp, plus the handle conceals the baton and that makes for a very “low profile” baton!