Anyone else carry a collapsible baton?

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Sulaco

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Due to several things outside of my control, I cannot carry concealed to or while at work. Which means my decent walk from where I park to where I work is unarmed. I've taken to training with and carrying a collapsible baton and was curious of others do as well? If not what do you do for similar situations?
 
I have carried an expanding baton in the past. I found them heavy and hard to carry, compared to pepper spray, which has more range and can conceal in the hand easier, if you are not sure whether or not to use it yet.
 
I carry an ASP Protector 16". It has a pocket clip and I just clip it inside one of my pants pockets while foot commuting then drop it in my desk drawer when I get to the office.
 
My wife carries a small pepper spray with her when she walks and I have one in my desk drawer. I had one spray in my pocket one time so I am leery of carrying them. It was probably a one in a million type thing but that made for a miserable ride home!
 
I've checked into the legal aspect of carrying and using it in my area.
 
I carried an ASP baton as part of my duty gear for some years - can't claim I ever used it since when things needed to get physical I always chose "other means"... One thing I can say with some confidence that anyone carrying an expanding baton had better have had some very thorough training - before attempting to use one. Entirely too easy for your opponent to take it away and beat you to death with it... Also much too easy to strike a killing blow with one for the un-trained...

No I'm not a martial artist in any sense of the words - just a very practical guy that survived a number of things I foolishly got myself into (mostly when younger - a lot younger...). Sometimes, even as a cop in uniform a quick pair of feet is your best defense - at least until help arrives...
 
I carried an ASP baton as part of my duty gear for some years - can't claim I ever used it since when things needed to get physical I always chose "other means"... One thing I can say with some confidence that anyone carrying an expanding baton had better have had some very thorough training - before attempting to use one. Entirely too easy for your opponent to take it away and beat you to death with it... Also much too easy to strike a killing blow with one for the un-trained...

No I'm not a martial artist in any sense of the words - just a very practical guy that survived a number of things I foolishly got myself into (mostly when younger - a lot younger...). Sometimes, even as a cop in uniform a quick pair of feet is your best defense - at least until help arrives...
I always thought they gave me an ASP to toss to the bad guy and then...well, you know. Really, I'm with you. I never used it and really never cared for it. It was just another tool the powers that be decided we needed, to be used somewhere in the continuum between shaking your finger at a guy and blasting him.
 
I did work with guys who really used an impact weapon very effectively but the few times I used one - all it did was really fire up the guy I was dealing with. As a result I quit relying on them in a scrap.
 
Due to several things outside of my control, I cannot carry concealed to or while at work. Which means my decent walk from where I park to where I work is unarmed. I've taken to training with and carrying a collapsible baton and was curious of others do as well? If not what do you do for similar situations?

I "qualified" with the ASP 26" collapsible baton in 1988. I carried one daily in that config until 2016, when I retired from law enforcement. I instructed the use of them for two decades. The goal of using this impact weapon, is dysfunction; to stop an attack through striking joints, muscle groups and common peroneal nerve junctions.

The success of stopping attacks with a collapsible baton, is in my opinion, questionable at best. The baton lacks the mass to effectively produce the dysfunction that you want. I am 6'02", I have always been well muscled, and not afraid of a fight. I have bent a baton on an attacker, and not gotten the results that I needed. I found the collapsible baton to be a panacea. It was part of the State's use of force policy, and I taught it as such.
I trust my fists and feet more than a baton.

What often happens, if the attack is pressed, and strikes are ineffective, the user often resorts to striking the head of the attacker. Death can be a result.

If this is the self defense option that you want to choose, I would find a dojo that can give you guidance on its use.

Just a candid response from an old warhorse, for what it's worth.
JeffG
 
Very well said... In our training regime when my agency switched to the ASP we also included sessions with an opponent in a Red Man suit.... don't know how well it prepped you for using the baton but it was exhausting to go five minutes one on one as you tried to hit all the places we were taught to strike....

My go to in a scrap was always to try to run my opponent head first into something hard and immovable... Works every time if you do it right (and you have a backup - or several backups....). I was not in any way trying to "fight" -just bring someone under control - that was my only goal...

In a physical confrontation it's always possible to have an opponent who's not only stronger and quicker than you are - but also pretty much impervious to any kind of pain... and that's a nightmare scenario in every sense of the words... South Florida for all practical purposes is pretty much one city that's every bit of seventy miles long so you rarely encounter a problem -that's someone you know. During my era there was one incident that everyone planning on using an impact weapon for defense should remember... Three uniform officers encountered him one night - and when the dust had settled - this un-armed man had killed all three by beating the first officer until he was out of the fight - then taking his weapon and killing the other two officers on the spot... Put simply - the good guys don't always win. All three of them were hands on the bad guy and it got them killed as a result.
 
Batons are good tools, but there are times it is not the best tool. It was stated above that striking the arms/shins/nerve centers do not always give compliance, and that it is easy to step up to a head strike or other lethal force blow.

I have a friend who used one of the old 4 cell mag lights as an improvised baton one night when he was working unarmed security. The perp was on drugs and could not feel pain from any strikes, the final blow came down to a strike to the back of the neck. That is considered lethal force pretty much everywhere. My friend spent quite a bit of time in a courtroom over that issue.

I am more inclined to use OC spray and run away vs. get caught up with a cop who doesn't like me carrying a "weapon" and looking for trouble. If I wanted to carry an impact weapon it would be a simple cane that does not look like a weapon, rather it is a tool for my "trick knee" and I have ADA protection for carrying it.
 
I also carried an asp baton, it was the 16 inch model. I was also trained as an asp instructor, for our department. The reason we went to the asp was two fold, it was easy to carry and it didn’t resemble the evil PR24. Thanks to the king incident the PR24 was not looked upon favorably. I had several occasions to put my asp baton to work I will admit I used it like a PR24. It worked great for arm bars and shin strikes, but it had no effect on one muscle bound drunk. I resorted to my pepper spray as I was about to get my a## handed to me, with that guy.I learned a very important lesson that evening. Never, I repeat never expect one form or tool to resolve every situation. Always, always have more than one option in mind or available when dealing with people. I still to this day have an asp baton close by if not on my person, but I also carry pepper spray, because I can handle being sprayed and still function rationally but most people can’t handle being pepper sprayed and continue to fight. The asp baton is just one option, keep your options open. I have been retired now for several years, but still try to stay in shape and constantly think about options. In my opinion your brain is your most valuable tool and train yourself to be aware of your surroundings, as I grow older and less capable I have become more attuned to the activity around me. I can’t fight with a 20 something year old anymore so I just try to be more aware of the activity near me. The asp baton is an excellent tool but keep your options open. Just my thoughts from the Big Sky Country.
 
I was exploring those and I got one. Apparently, here in TN you actually need a separate permit to carry one and that requires a course. There is one instructor maybe 80 - 100 miles away. That was too inconvenient so I chose a Taser with Pepper spray as an alternative when forced to relinquish my carry.

I really find it surprising, I can carry a knife, Taser, Pepper spray, cane, etc with no additional requirements but a baton requires a course ?
 
I was exploring those and I got one. Apparently, here in TN you actually need a separate permit to carry one and that requires a course. There is one instructor maybe 80 - 100 miles away. That was too inconvenient so I chose a Taser with Pepper spray as an alternative when forced to relinquish my carry.

I really find it surprising, I can carry a knife, Taser, Pepper spray, cane, etc with no additional requirements but a baton requires a course ?

Silly, isn't it?
 
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