Self defense for disarmed college students

[Geronimo45]

"any ballistic knife" What's a ballistic knife? That a fancy name for a switchblade?
Bulletproof vest. 'Biner on the end of some paracord. Steel toed boots. Another knife - when I do the Mall Ninja flashlight stance, I hold a knife in the same hand. 'Course, I've got a gun in the other hand...

 

[Snarlingiron]

I'm kind of surprised that no one has suggested it (or maybe I missed it), but a sturdy walking cane makes a formidable weapon. I saw a recent episode of Personal Defense TV, and Masad Ayoob demonstrated some moves with one. He also related a story about Rex Applegate. He was in his late 70's or early 80's and was out for a walk with a cane. Two fellows approached him thinking he would be an easy mark for mugging. Mr. Applegate took them both out, struck one on the head, and the other one in the genitals, and continued on his walk. And hey, I have a sore foot so who's to say I can't use a cane?

 

[gunsmith]

A cane or walking stick

really good oc too.

FYI these kinds of questions are easier to answer when we know what state your in.

 

[tbird]

The best weapon is something you should already have if you are in school.... some good old sharp #2 pencils.

TBird

 

[ripcurlksm]

Good suggestion snarl, but he isnt walking in the woods, he will be with his peers... walking to class.....with a big stick.... who is that? johnny appleseed? a wizard? is he lost? Lets throw my empty beer at the wizards head!

All in good fun there

 

[Glock22]

idaho is where i am.

 

[1911ShooterTJ]

Unless it is specifically illegal to carry on a college campus in your state, it is just a rule. Feel free to break em

I am a college student and understand your position. My university has a similar rule against firearms, but I take my chances. Would rather be kicked out of school than die a victim.

However if illegal (or you just choose not to break the rule), I agree with what others have posted. Maybe some pepper spray would be useful. It may just give you enough time to run. But be careful, it can spray back at you.

Otherwise use what you have. Pencils, heavy books, your flashlight, fists, etc. All is fair game.

Good luck!

 

[tellner]

Bad advice tmil, pretty close to "felony stupid" advice actually. It's "just a rule" that will get you expelled with extreme prejudice if they catch you. A university is allowed to make its own rules and enforce them. Claiming that the Second Amendment (laaa!) protects you will get you a speech along the lines of "The Constitution is the government's contract with you. It does not apply to your personal agreement with us."

 

[gunsmith]

Idaho

is a pretty good State to be in, I'm sure a 4 inch crkt would never be noticed.
A good walking stick or cane probably wouldn't really raise eyebrows either, not one of those six footers, just a cane sized one.

 

[1911ShooterTJ]

Tellner - I don't believe it classifies anywhere near "felony studpid". I did imply to break any laws. Perhaps I wasn't clear in my first post, but if it is illegal to carry on college campuses in your state, by no means would I advise you to do so. And yes, I'm sure that the University would come back with that response. However just as a person carrying into a business, if caught and asked to leave I would. And in the case of being expelled, I can take my education, and therefore also my money (to the tune of tens of thousands a year) elsewhere.

This falls along the same lines of those who carry at work despite company policies that say they are not permitted to have firearms on the premises. As many have said, jobs are replaceable, lives are not.

However since the poster did not seem to care for carrying on campus (or he would not have asked), I urged him to follow the excellent advise of those who have posted before me.

 

[carpediem]

And in the case of being expelled, I can take my education, and therefore also my money (to the tune of tens of thousands a year) elsewhere.

Good luck getting them to release transcripts..

Idaho is a pretty good State to be in, I'm sure a 4 inch crkt would never be noticed. A good walking stick or cane probably wouldn't really raise eyebrows either, not one of those six footers, just a cane sized one.

I dunno. IANAL, YMMV, et al. IIRC from my days at Bladeforums, you have wide carry latitude according to their STATE laws, so long as it is open carry.

Standard disclaimers about municipalities and private institutions (particularly schools) very likely having additional laws apply. There is no substitute for consulting reliable sources. Check your local laws. Check your institution's policies. If that works out, a 4" pocketknife sounds quite utilitarian.

As far as all the posters who have suggested a cane or walking stick All I care to say - as a college student - are 2 things:

1) You will stick out like a sore thumb unless you have [or have the appearance of] a bona fide disability/injury. Ever watched someone park in a Handicapped Parking space and stroll off, then wonder what their disability was? Carrying a cane garners the same type of attention and potentially the same reaction.

2) People aren't going to be fooled by the "well, gosh, I - er - sprained my toe" The person who really did break something will most likely be using crutches, as did a girl in my Psych class last semester.

 

[1911ShooterTJ]

They will not withold your trascripts. However it would have your expulsion listed on them for sure.

But in any case this isn't about me or my decisions... Like those who carry at work in face of rules, I won't be the victim. It's his decision, not mine.

 

[Egg Shen]

Metal knuckles of any type are banned in CA and perhaps they would not be identified, but if caught they are specificly outlawed.

They are made out of plastic.

 

[gunsmith]

Carpdiem

no I meant clipped in your pocket, I don't know where you live
but Reno is a hop skip and a jump from Idaho, just about every guy
has a knife clipped strong side....no one ever looks twice.
Open? Concealed? No one cares or notices, I am positive nothing
would happen.

 

[____hoot____]

A couple quick ideas

lengthen the holding strap that connects the cap to your water bottle so that you can get your hand in there and use the leverage and weight to club

find a one strap "sling" type backpack that can be swung in a pinch like a "super sap"

become a ring collector: lots of heavy pointy metal on your fingers can do some awesome damage, have seen the effects

Do have a heavy duty outsized metal "air pump" on your bike, ditto for a heavy duty outsized "chain and lock"

And as has been suggested before, take up sports such as "baseball" and "pool" that require a little lumber

Always keep a shovel handy in your car and truck. I prefer the lighter
quicker #1 shovel over the much more common #2. Others prefer the older GI single folders for "wet" work.

Wasp spray is nice to have handy when you are being "bugged"

 

[razorburn]

They will not withold your trascripts. However it would have your expulsion listed on them for sure.

But in any case this isn't about me or my decisions... Like those who carry at work in face of rules, I won't be the victim. It's his decision, not mine.

They could also fail you in all your currently enrolled courses, you lose your 20k in tuition, and have a hard time getting into any other schools. Leaving you with a mountain of debt and all your former aspirations for the future crushed. Basically ruin your life. I'd almost rather be dead. I wouldn't risk it myself.. I'd gone 20 years before I started carrying and I lived. I leave my gun at home while at school.

 

[gunsmith]

The Clancey Brothers once said

I'd gone 20 years before I started carrying and I lived.

"And always remember the longer you live, the sooner you bloody will die"

YMMV

 

[1911ShooterTJ]

I'll take my chances. I don't plan on being caught anyways. Concealed means concealed. But thanks for looking out for me

 

[RP86]

Tmil I don't mean to bash you or anything, but carrying on campus illegaly doesn't make too much sense to me. Lets say for some reason you do get into a situation where you use your firearm. You think the court will just forget that you were carrying a firearm before you injured/killed the attacker? It seems to me that if you had to use it you would probably end up behind bars. That's on top of the family of the attacker suing you for every cent your family has. I hope you have a CWL, or else you're screwed if you even get pulled over anywhere and the firearm is on you. You may not realize how small the parameters are for legally using a firearm in self defense, even if you were legally carrying at the time. If I was in your situation I sure as heck wouldn't tell anybody else about it, even people online.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but cover your own a$$. Not only gun owners read these forums, anti-gun people read them and prowl for anything they can use against us.

-Ryan

 

[1911ShooterTJ]

Ryan,

As I said, I would never tell anyone to do anything illegal. It is NOT illegal to carry on a college campus in my state! Only K-12 schools. And of course I have a LTCF. I follow ever letter of the law.

I am also familiar with the window to use firearms. I have taken some defense courses recently and know the extreme danger I would have to be in to even think about drawing.

Again I would never do anything illegal. It's just a campus rule... just like a office rule against firearms that so many ignore... I guess my posts have not been clear enough? And I understand no one is trying to bash me or be a jerk. Again maybe I haven't been clear enough? :banghead:

 

[gunsmith]

RP

I think the guys in Idaho, things are a little different out here
then FL, most of the gun laws in FL are great, but they are anal retentive about their stupid laws.
In FL (I think NV may be the same unfortunately) it is a felony to ccw without a permit...but open carry is legal in most of the west.
FL in many respects is like NY south, a bunch of busybodies (not you, I mean in general) out west people tend to mind their own biz, they wouldn't freak out and call the police if they see a knife or gun..it's just different then the east.

 

[Egg Shen]

I have a friend that has a pair of pewter rings that he wears on his middle fingers. I've seen him tear some faces up with them.

Something like this:

You can get a couple of pewter rings from amazon.com for around 20 bucks.

 

[shooter71]

ill vote on a small but powerful flashlight..nuwai makes a 3.75" one that is 75 lumens no more than $50 ..and it has a beveled front..they also make one thats 6" , same output and around the same price..75 lumens is pretty darn bright for something that small. not in college so i dont know the rules with carrying a folder on campus. and if nothing else a small loud airhorn..its corny i know but everyone knows how loud they are


and those rings above...um yeah might as well carry some knucks, since youll prb get into trb with either..might as well have the bigger of the two

 

[Zoogster]

"any ballistic knife" What's a ballistic knife? That a fancy name for a switchblade?

8) As used in this section, a "ballistic knife" means a device that propels a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil spring, elastic material, or compressed gas.
No switchblades are outlawed under a seperate law if they are over 1.9 inches in length.

"653k: Every person who possesses in the passenger's or driver's area of any motor vehicle in any public place or place open to the public, carries upon his or her person, and every person who sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, loans, transfers, or gives to any other person a switchblade knife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor.
For the purposes of this section, "switchblade knife" means a knife having the appearance of a pocketknife and includes a spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by any type of mechanism whatsoever. "Switchblade knife" does not include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position."

And you thought just gun laws are confusing? Any folding knife basicly that does not have a detent, or one of those lil screws to tighten is technicaly a switchblade in CA, not just the normal ones. Also most colleges in CA ban knives longer than 2 1/2 inches though if otherwise legal and a folder that is only a violation of the school and not the state law.

Egg Shen Quote:
Metal knuckles of any type are banned in CA and perhaps they would not be identified, but if caught they are specificly outlawed.

They are made out of plastic.

Not as serious as the metal ones but hereis the next penal code:
12020.1. Any person in this state who commercially manufactures or causes to be commercially manufactured, or who knowingly imports into the state for commercial sale, keeps for commercial sale, or offers or exposes for commercial sale, any hard plastic knuckles is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section, "hard plastic knuckles" means any device or instrument made wholly or partially of plastic that is not a metal knuckle as defined in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020, that is worn for purposes of offense or defense in or on the hand, and that either protects the wearer's hand while striking a blow or increases the force of impact from the blow or injury to the individual receiving the blow. The plastic contained in the device may help support the hand or fist, provide a shield to protect it, or consist of projections or studs that would contact the individual receiving a blow.
In fact by exposing them for sale you just commited a misdemeanor if your within CA
Just pointing someone in the direction or telling them where they can buy them is exposing for sale.

 

[Davo]

I carry a folder, cell phone, and go to the gym (dont know martial arts). Never had a problem, but Im a fairly big guy and if somebody approaches me they are gonna mean business...and probably have a gun...and be nervous. My school is right in downtown, surrounded by unsavory characters.

BTW...is a katana legal in a dorm room? Seems better than alot of other choices, and would be tough to take away.