Improvised weapon in action:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003550609_lighterfluid01m.html

Turns out that the attacker was another schizophrenic wandering the downtown Seattle streets. Gotta like this 82 year old, though, and his picture!

If you look closely at the cane there seems to be a dent about half way down:D

no dent. its a lock so the cane doesnt collapse if the adjustment ball thingie gets pressed.

id rather see that firebug hit with somthing heavier than a hollow aluminum cane. maybe a hammer or shovel. or a bullet.

I think the old fellow said to one reporter that his cane did get bent when he whacked the nutjob. I don't know whether oak canes are harder to use for walking problems, but they do have other advantages.

Good for him!

Pitty he wasn't carrying something with a little more "ooomph" to it.

My wife has informed me that I'm going to make a mean little old man, should I live that long.

I went to a cane fighting course once and you wouldn't beleive how deadly a cane can be.

I went to a cane fighting course once and you wouldn't beleive how deadly a cane can be.

I agree. A cane is an excellent weapon to have concealed in plain sight. ;)

I love this quote!

"I'm not a tough guy; I don't bother nobody and nobody bothers me," he said. "But if somebody is going to harm you, you got to harm them."

That rocks.

I love hearing things like this for a change.

I wish Mr. Jones had had an oak or hickory cane too- he might have inflicted enough damage to keep the two ladies from getting lit up. Farm supply stores all over the country sell good oak canes relatively inexpensively ($10 or so) for people to use in handling livestock, and they can easily be shortened as needed to fit an individual user. Add a rubber crutch tip for non-slip walking and it's good to go, I like to make a ferrule out of a short piece of copper pipe fitted to the bottom of the shaft for good measure. I also like to reshape the horn to open up the crook a little for easier hooking, and put a blunt point on the horn at the same time.

lpl/nc

Same here, LanEvo.

Umbrellas and Canes (without any secret openings or contents) are legal everywhere, even aboard airplanes.

No one questions it. Mine is an Ipe rod. It's nearly indestructible; like ironwood, Ipe will not float.

There is a two part article written By E.W. Barton-Wright in Pearson’s Magazine, 11 (January 1901), called "Self-defence with a Walking-stick: The Different Methods of Defending Oneself with a Walking-Stick or Umbrella when Attacked under Unequal Conditions"

"...in order to make a stick a real means of self-defence, it has been necessary to devise a system by which one can guard a blow in such a way as to cause it to slide away from the hand instead of toward it, and thus obviate the risk of being disarmed by being hit upon the fingers.

"After some fifteen years of hard work, such a system has been devised by a Swiss professor of arms, M. Vigny. It has recently been assimilated by me into my system of self-defence called "Bartitsu."

Part 1: http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_barton-wright_0200.htm

Part 2: http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_barton-wright_0400.htm

In this country "self defence" is not considered a genuine reason to own a gun.

My grandfather's walking stick sits next to my bed, it's a straight hardwood stick that's been drilled out at the top and filled with about a pound of lead.

My grandfather used to call it his "magic wand".

http://ejmas.com/jnc/barton-wright/barton-wright1.10.gif

That sure looks alot like the "monkey steals the peach" move to me!

Thanks MacEntyre, it has been awhile since I read that.

lead weighted canes are illegal here in cali. or at least used to be. who knows about elsewhere. be careful with that.

I just like seeing a journalist use the word "holler." :) It's in the second paragraph, I think.

That's o'kay hso! My wife tells me "...evil never dies...you'll be around forever!"

:D

Update:

The Police Guild bought Mr. Jones a new cane.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=cane07m&date=20070207&query=cane

Unfortunately (maybe) it was another lightweight aluminum jobbie.

I'm tempted to start a collection to buy him a good wood one, but my guess is he likes what he has for its main use- helping him walk after a hip operation.