Budget-friendly, Improvised weapons/tools/devices

I imagine that if there was a waterbottle shaped like a small 2-5lb dumbbell, that would be ideal. With the shape, would be easy to grasp and hold onto. Would give two sides for striking too.



I like reading this thread. The best weapon is the resourceful mind.

Goes to who carries a can of wasp spray with them? It needs to be part of your working environment with a primary purpose aside of self defense. Like, brake or carburetor cleaner. Not pretty when it's sprayed in the eyes, as I found out. And it wasn't self inflicted, the owner's young son was goofing around.

There was also a modding thread a few years back on which ink pens to take apart and combine to make one all stainless steel. Pilot IIRC. I built one and then wouldn't take it to work - too many customers have stolen pens from me at the counter.

Flashlights, yes. The latest is this one: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/?s=flashlight Yes, flashlights like the 6 C or D Cell Maglite were common in LEO use twenty years ago, but they fell into disrepute when they were constantly used as truncheons instead of nightsticks. Many departments have banned them now. Liability and convenience are issues - there's only so much gear you can wear on the belt and then it contributes to officer injury. Big lights are now generally considered weapons on first sight. And they aren't user friendly anymore than a nightstick.

Canes, however, get their own subforum here. No further mentioned needed.

I'm surprised no one (I think) has mentioned a ball of keys on a long nylon lanyard. Very common these days. I don't subscribe to them having been a locksmith and understanding that you don't want to lose the keys that should have been kept home. Nonetheless a lot of folks keep adding on rings and keys until they have at least a pound on them. To a certain degree the impact is blunted by them spreading out, like a dead blow hammer. Nonetheless they would not be a bad choice whipped across the face.

The Cold Steel shovel is an excellent item to keep in the car.



Looks like a simple utilitarian hand shovel you'd get at the Home Depot. The Russian special forces however, train with this thing as a hand to hand weapon in addition to it's use as an entrenching tool. It is devastating and the equivalent of a hatchet or small axe, but looks much more friendly. It comes sharpened from the factory, and would be a deadly force on force close in personal quarters battle item if need be. One hit to the temple or ortho-octo-cranial cavity or thoracic trunk, or spinal column, and it's lights out for baddie.

I keep it in my back seat. If the officer says "what's that for" I tell him it's in case I get stuck.

I have used a heavy carabiner on a braided 550 lanyard, with either keys or a light on the other end. I have carried such through multiple high-security checkpoints. When working security jobs, or any other job where you frequently need a light, the light/carabiner lanyard is very practical, since you can clip the carabiner around a belt loop or your Wildderness Systems belt buckle. It takes up less space than the traditional 2-5 cell MagLite, while giving more reach, should you have to use it defensively. It also takes up much less room and weighs less.

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Do you have any pics? If not, about how long was the 550 part, and do you know the type of braid?

The Cold Steel shovel is an excellent item to keep in the car.

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My friend just got one and showed it to me. I can't imagine any police officer not giving it the hairy eye, at least around here.

I actually am talking about a cheap disposable unopened plastic water bottle.

I have been unable to strike a hard object with enough force to rupture one.

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I have no independent verification of this but my impression is that there are two different flavors of disposable water bottles. The ones that are shrink wrapped and sold as cases are as flimsy as is practical to make them. The ones that come out of vending machines seem noticeably less flimsy to me.

20 oz carbonated soda bottles are even stronger because they have to withstand the internal CO2 pressurization. If I was improvising a bottle as a striking implement I would choose a plastic Coke bottle over water.

MDI_Weapon said:

Mason jar with a matching lid. Drilled a hole through the top and put on a 1/4" nipple so I could attach it to a pump. I was surprised at how much pressure it could take. I have used the same setup to stabilize wooden knife scales. It really doesn't take much of a vacuum to pull the air out. You will see air bubbles coming out of the wood quickly at first and then more slowly until no more bubbles form.

Instead of epoxy or Fiberglass resin, wood hardener like Pentacryl wood stabilizer will work. If you use epoxy, it actually isn't that hard to clean out of the jar - wipe it out with acetone or wait until it dries and use a sharp edge to scrape it out. Speaking of acetone, if you are in a really DIY mood, you can melt plexiglas or lexan in acetone and use that in place of epoxy, resin or wood stabilizer but it takes a little trial and error to get it to the right thickness.

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Go to the farm store and buy a giant horse syringe. Run the plunger all the way in, attach it to the chamber described above then slowly withdraw the plunger and lock it in place with tape or a clamp.

Just for fun put a marshmallow inside the jar and see what happens when you take the air pressure away.

Old school here,a childs wooden baseball bat under the drivers seat.I may be going to a ball game lol.

Don't discount your clothing. Heavy shoes with hard sole or softer for traction, steel toed or at a minimum reinforced.

Clothing that moves well. Some jeans I wear I swear I couldn't do half the stuff I do in some different cargo pants.

Heavy belt, both the leather and buckle. You could flail or wrap your hand with the belt.

Change purse leather with strap- works like a sap, if shaped properly can be really discrete.

I have a sharpened piece of G10 similar to credit card that I put behind my hospital badge and affixed another hospital phone list on the side. Very discrete and very durable and sharp. Picked it up at the last Blade Show from Mickey Yurco.

jmr40 said:

I taught for 30 years, most of them in Industrial Arts. I always figured if we had a school shooting I'd issue "tools" to all of the kids. Anyone who got through the door with a firearm would be bombarded with hammers, circular saw blades, files, and wrenches. Better than hiding in a closet.

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I was told over and over with great fervor that the most deadly weapon in the human arsenal resided within the pitifully few cubic inches inside your skull. My American adopted grandfather could cause more injuries and create more havoc with a stock cane than a battalion of 2nd Lt's could with a hundred maps.

My Philippine grandfather tried to teach me a few tricks with what he called a Dulo-Dulo. A simple stick a little longer and about the same diameter as the LED flashlight I carry.

Item last- when threatened a woman's place is in the kitchen, that's where all the knives and cast iron skillets are. As my priest oft repeated to the girls in CYO - the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus acknowledged it had to be cleaned out when the money changers took over the temple.

What the heck, is the officer going to arrest you for having a small shovel to dig yourself out of a rut?

Give me a break. These people are not your god overlords.

They would have no right to take a small shovel from you.

Cooldill- I think in your post you mentioned the shovel in your back seat. I'm up in CT, we have a knife law that the blade cannot be 4 inches or over in length outside your home unless you have a hunting/fishing license and are actively hunting/fishing. There's a lot of blade length on that CS shovel.

JShirley- that's one reservation I have about the water bottle, or tactical pens I see. They aren't subtle.

Had a buddy that was a rural postman some years ago. He told me he fought off a pack of big dogs one time with a fire extinguisher hose and his steel toed boots. He did get bit a couple times but he was able to put some serious hurt on the dogs. The hose was metal mesh and rubber with a steel nozzle. He said he split one of the dogs head wide open with it.