here's sort of a cool vehicle defense idea...

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It would definitely end the attack, but might also end the car, but that's the least of your worries at that time.
 
maybe not the best option, but really not all that bad of an idea. not to mention that flares may come in handy in a road side emergency someday.
 
An outdoor flare in an indoor space. Not a good idea AFAIC.

Didn't work very well in the Brazil nightclub fire recently.
 
A nice little container of pepper spray may be a better option.
 
pepper spray inside a car, you are getting hit with it too. Not that you are going to breathe for long inside a car with a lit flare.

Tis a good place to keep some kind of weapon though.
 
I bet it would make them leave the car.

Keep the car doors locked, keep enough space between you and the car ahead of you so you can hit the sidewalk or other lane and keep an eye on the mirrors when stopped. That would greatly reduce the chance of needing to set fire to anything...
 
That side of the car is a good place for an innocuous item that can be used as a weapon. I must admit I'd never considered a road flare as an improvised weapon, however.
 
Well, it might work, but there is potential for it to go horribly wrong. Drop flare (in your lap) panic and/or set car on fire while you are still in it and possibly moving, attacker gains control of flare before or after being burned, attacker wrecking car.
 
The good thing about throwing McDonald's coffee at the attacker is that it will be McDonald's that gets sued instead of you.

I didn't watch the video (youtube is terribly slow at work) but I can tell you for sure if there is something emitting smoke in a car, you will not be able to see in no-time flat. When I was a teenager, one of my friends a few days before the 4th of July had hot-boxed a car with one of those little colored smoke balls. I had some smoke bombs about the size of a roll of quarters, and he suggested we use one of those. It didn't slowly fill the car up. It was like *POOF* I can't see! I would say a flare inside the car would probably not be a good idea.

What I can say is that OWB carry for cross-draw or a special car holster (I like the look of the under-the-steering-column holster) would provide you a very good option.
 
eh

I mean, with a purse on, and being pushed down to the ground and trying to fight off an attacker, I think it would be pretty tough to grab a flare, pop it open and then ignite it and not burn yourself. I'd rather have a pair of scissors or something if you couldn't have a knife there. But I do like the idea of placing a improvised weapon there.
 
I like the concept of using a flare as an improvised weapon. I agree with others on here that it might not be the best option in the situation described. Road flares spit molten wax and phosphorus, not a good combo to have around when you're trying to maneuver the flare into the attacker. I believe though that a lit road flare is about as disarm proof as anything on the planet, a weapon strip or defensive technique that might work with even a double edge blade is just going to burn some other portion of your anatomy. Hell might toss one in my gear for that very reason now that I think on it.

-Jenrick
 
I think I want something I can deploy quickly with one hand so that I don't have to spill my coffee.
 
Hmmm....

Remind me why this is better than a .38 special? Pistol is faster, better 'distance', and certainly more lethal and intimidating.

Heck, I'm not even sure I know how to operate a road flare in time to get one off if someone jumped me! I wouldn't expect a non-defense oriented person to do it.

Imagine a woman with hairspray popping this off inches from her head in a struggle. Not pretty.

And of course there's always the thought of the lawsuit from the perp turned victim, when he claims he was there asking for directions when you disfigured him and melted his privates and face and hands off with a road flare...

Next up: How to use a cheese grater to ward off your attacker in the kitchen! HA!

Trying too hard to make a better mousetrap. Lead and gunpowder have been working wonders for centuries. Ain't much that trumps em, and certainly nothing a civilian can own.

No thanks.

Situational awareness goes a long way to avoiding this. The old saying is true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Drive around your spot before you park; park in well lit area; park facing OUT, not IN, for quick getaway; look before you open your door; etc.
 
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Seems like a lot to do while in shock and being manhandled - grab, open, strike. Then there's the heat, fumes, light.

The take away to me is to place something in the space between the seats or in that opposite door that will be a dead simple defensive tool with the understanding that you might get stuffed down like described.

At least with pepper spray you would recover instead of suffering 2nd and 3rd degree burns from a 1,400-F pyrotechnic and you won't be inhaling fume (lots of strontium nitrate in flares) and you won't be holding onto a live flare while you're trying to get your doors closed and locked (more like dropping the live flare).

The flare is good food for though, but it is bad in and of itself.
 
Road flare is a good idea for states with not so friendly or grey area firearm laws. But in this situation on the body carry of a firearm beats flare anytime. I am not too fond of leaving a firearm inside a car, especially in an unsecured area such as a door panel.
 
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