Improvised Defensive Weapons

[Bear Tracker]

Wondering if anyone has any unique ideas for improvised weapons made with common everyday materials. You know, like 'sock with a rock' or a pump sprayer, spray bottle, super soaker filled with ammonia, that kind of thing. How about a draftsman’s pencil. The kind with the needle like .05mm point?Always liked the 'Steven Segal cue ball in a bar towel' myself. That is, if you happen to have a cue ball and a bar towel.

I think someone started a tread like this a while back and it led to man traps and such, but it was closed by the moderator, so please avoid that kind of stuff.

 

[Bezoar]

um you actually need a list of things that can be used as an improvised weapon? No offense intended, but seriously..
anyone with true engineering or american ingenuity will be able to realize in a pinch that just about anything can be used to kill if used correctly.
Although these threads can be fun, they are really not very highroad as it tends to encourage some posters to get rather outrageous and cross into "pre meditated felony murder" territory.

 

[Bear Tracker]

I understand completely. That is why I tried to set the tone. I guess it is possible to kill someone with a squirt gun filled with ammonia (drowning? blinded and walk in front of a tractor trailer? :-0).
I once did a pretty good job on myself, when I was a kid, with a sort of improvised weapon. In that case it was the male end of a electrical cord, driven with ferocity, on a plastic cord reel. Man did that smart. It took 1-2 hours and a few bags of ice before I could walk normal again.

 

[Bezoar]

And for the most authentically minded people here, some of the historical methods to non firearm self defense are felonies and misdemeanors.
I mean the switch blades, the loaded canes, sheleleighs, etc.
On a thread like this it would take a few minutes before baby food jars of homemade napalm in a tactical assualt backpack would appear.

hey, how do you make a do it yourself "tactical assault backpack"? sometimes Gecko would be fun to have around still..

 

[CWL]

Walk thru your home. Anything that you don't want pushed into your eye or hitting your head would probably make a good improvised weapon depending on the urgency.

Baseball bat seems very appropriate.

 

[Jdude]

Let's see... within eyesight my improvised weapons are:
1: Slap them with your keyboard.
2: Throw your monitor at them.
3: ULTIMATE WEDGIE!!!
4: Put wood chips in someone's pants. Release enraged woodpecker.
5: Insult him in creative ways. The person will commit suicide.
6: Drown them in the toilet.
7: Tap heels together, saying "there's no place like jail." Implant said heels in an uncomfortable place.
8: Hammertime! Can't touch this. Nuh nuh nuh na nuh
9: Refrigerator
10: Electrocute them with your kid's poorly assembled lamp from shop class.
11: Attack Cat (De-barked, of course)
12: Deep fry bacon, sausage, and eggs. Have heart attack, land on opponent. He dies of starvation.

 

[rrruuunnn]

seeing deadly things are sometimes intuitive. but it helps to understand the physics behind force.

why do hard objects inflict so much damage. there are two equations. one is impulse. change in momentum is equal to force and time. when a hard object bounces off, it's contact time is very short and thus great force is required to change the momentum or direction.

the second equation is pressure. pressure is force divided by area. when something has a small contact point, the pressure is increased.

so look for anything hard and pointy.

mass factors in but you usually want something to maneuver fast. if you have someone stunned, something heavy could be useful. because you can store more energy into an object by picking it up and swinging or throwing it.

 

[mrmeval]

Bezoar,

I can have this and carry it without license.
http://mrmeval.is-a-geek.net/~mrmeval/images/sword/dsc00006.jpg

But not a switch blade or throwing star which are completely prohibited.

But I can get a lifetime CCW permit.

No the sword is *still* not completed, a blacksmith friend probably won't get it done before they deploy overseas.

 

[plexreticle]

I once knew a woman that use to keep a can of wasp spray to use as improvised mace.

I hope she never had to use it.

 

[mrmeval]

I once knew a woman that use to keep a can of wasp spray to use as improvised mace.

I hope she never had to use it.

Hand her a match just in case.

 

[theotherwaldo]

The only true weapon is the mind. If you put your mind to it, anything can become a weapon.

I once hospitalized someone with a newspaper.

He lived.

I don't think he'll try to knife anyone again.

I lost my paper route, though.

 

[Bear Tracker]

Once kept a length of black automotive heater hose with three nickel sized ball bearings stuffed in one end in my car as a kid. Grab the end with the ball bearings in it, and it would be effective deterrent. Hold the other end and it could be lethal. It was unobtrusive and blended in with the interior. Slipped neatly between the seats. I called it the “dissuader”.

 

[JN01]

You might try a look at the "Non-firearms Weapons" section of this board.

 

[Cave Dweller]

I believe he may be seeking more innocuous items, one might have on their person.
Socks are legal to carry, a billiard ball is legal to carry. As soon as you put them together, you risk running afoul of the law.
I'd suggest keeping a sturdy writing pen, a metal one with a really fine tip. Wear sturdy shoes, good for kicking or running. Most states of cities allow pepper spray. Most also allow tasers, one shot, 40 bucks a shot... but it's still a shot when you can't legally carry. Cost as much as a cheap pistol.
My brother used to keep a steering wheel club next to him in the car. Our state has laws against weapons in the passenger compartment (bats, swords, fixed bladed knives, mag lights 4 d cell or larger...) But a theft prevention device to the head is pretty effective. Doesn't matter if he never put it on the steering wheel. There are ways to skirt the law without breaking it.

 

[Rachen]

I have a bamboo clothespole that I use to hang laundry outside my window. Flexible, devastating in the hands of a Wushu practitioner.
My Wushu Lao Shi taught me the awesome power of a simple bamboo staff. It was the bamboo staff plus the halberd that allowed an army of Korean monks to destroy a Japanese invasion force led by Hideyoshi in 1542.

When used properly, the bamboo pole can absolutely shatter the spine or neck of the enemy within a split second.

 

[dubious]

Not that I'm any sort of expert on this, but I'd say Pepper spray is the best solution, since it's effective and cops use it all the time... it has a ton of legal precedents. Though that's not exactly improvised... I did see some documentary on the discovery channel made shortly after 9/11 about a self defense class oriented to air travel. They demonstrated that an unopened soda can or a very tightly rolled up magazine can make effective improvised weapons.

I'll stick with my trusty 40 oz bottle of Tapatio:

Es una salsa... MUY salsa!


Speaking of which, I hear Obama and Hillary want to ban this:

Definitely more dangerous than 10 mac 10s.

 

[CWL]

It was the bamboo staff plus the halberd that allowed an army of Korean monks to destroy a Japanese invasion force led by Hideyoshi in 1542.

In 1542, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would have been 4 years old...not that he ever stepped foot in Korea.

Factually, the Koreans were never able to defeat the Japanese in land battles, however they were more than a match at sea using their armored "turtle boats".

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Context

If you're speaking of "around the home" as a venue, then there's just no end of useful stuff. I mean, really. Everywhere.

The kitchen is just full of sharp things and blunt objects with handles. Dining area has a sliding door; I keep a couple of stout dowels just the right length to secure the door -- one's a spare, as my wife often misplaces the primary. Living room has a very stout yardstick, which is quite useful for shooing cats from behind the TV and retrieving the ends of electric cords from behind the TV console. There are moderate to heavy flashlights all over the house. More dowels in the rooms (sliding windows). My office/hobby room is infested with sharp stuff, sticks, hunks of rock, wood, whatever.

Really, you only need to look around.

On the other hand, if I'm in my car, I have tools strewn all over the place. Hammer on the floor in back. Machete in back. Shovel. Hatchet. Jumper cables. Long screwdrivers. And so on.

On my person . . . it depends. Usually something(s) sharp. Sometimes a stick of some sort -- a trefoil cross-sectioned ruler (scale) for example -- sometimes other stuff. Other times it's just a 20-ounce steel-walled thermal coffee mug with a good stout handle.

Just depends.

 

[Bear Tracker]

10-4 on the pepper juices. Make mine the “Screaming Hornets Hot Sauce”. That stuff is hot! My grandmother used to carry Tabasco sauce in her purse.

Bamboo staff could certainly qualify. I have noticed broom sticks since they are normally grain parallel to there length, break into some pretty sharp thrusting weapons.

Kind of on the make shift mace theme, how about a can of “Dust Off” held upside down and sprayed into an assailants’ _____________ (use your imagination to fill in the blanks here).

 

[retgarr]

I just improvised the 28" barrel off my ithaca and the 22" on.

 

[tepin]

Remember: Kitchen spoons don’t kill people, people kill people.

 

[Biker]

Yup, my Mom had a 4th degree black belt in Wooden Spoon fighting.

Biker

 

[rantingredneck]

At times when you have to take your holster and firearm off, remember you still have a belt. A good sturdy belt inflicts enough pain to deter an attack. May not be lethal but it will be painful.

Once back when I was in school I had a run in with a knifewielding classmate. All I had was my doubled 1.5" belt. He didn't end up in the hospital as the knifewielder who ran afoul of theotherwaldo's newspaper, but he did carry a nice welt across his face for a bit.

A belt offers reach and the benefit of centrifugal (or is it centripetal? I always get those confused) force compounding it's impact. Offers a nice resounding smack when applied correctly as well.

 

[eliphalet]

Improvise, improvise, improvise
Knocked a bully down with wooden picnic bench once, swung like a huge baseball bat, gave me enough of a head start to get away. Also a garden hoe got me out of a backyard beating from older kids when I was in grade school. Both incidents were kinda a serious situation I was being beaten and bloodied, Once that is happening I tend to subscribe to the "all's fair in love and war" ideal. Use what is handy and will help your cause.
Don't use a glass bottle if you can help it, Had a buddy that spent several hours in micro-surgery repairing tendons etc to his hand from laying a guy out with a partly full beer bottle.
If nothing else get ornery. Had three SOB's on me in a bar incident, they had me down sitting on me, six fists beating me, I was in serious trouble but learned if you see how far your fingers will go into a guys eye sockets you will then only be dealing with two jerks. If dealing with two jerks and you hit one in the adams apple with your fist as hard as you can there is only one left, different time but it worked. Improvise depending on how serious the situation is.

At times when you have to take your holster and firearm off, remember you still have a belt. A good sturdy belt inflicts enough pain to deter an attack.

If it is a serious situation a belt is only good for pain and believe me it isn't enough. I had a guy try to beat me with a belt buckle once, I got a bigger stick and left him laying flat and hurt. He was the aggressor I just defended myself. Besides taking off your belt might make it hard to run away if your britches are falling down , Grin!

 

[Bigdtc]

I carry a piece of MCM 500 size electrical wire in my vehicle.It is about 20" long and @ 2lbs. you dont want to get hit with it believe me. Oh, and if asked about it. I am recycling it for copper and I am an electrician!