Water bottle improvised defensive tool perfected

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sort of. In my humble opinion using an "improvised" weapon is more of a legal minefield than using a lawfully carried firearm.

I've not necessarily found that to be case, at least in my state. It's totally a matter of if the force was justified. And in real life things are RARELY as black and white as a lot of the "scenarios" discussed on this forum.

In Chilcoat v MD 2002, the defendant came into his ex girlfriends house, and argued with the new boyfriend. Defendant claims new boyfriend picked something up and went for him with it, cutting his hand and chest, so he picked up a beer mug and hit him over the head 4 times. He lived, but had to have part of his skull replaced with mesh and didn't remember a thing. Girlfriend and her son deny new boyfriend had anything in his hand. No evidence of injury on the defendant. Defendant get's convicted for Assault 1. It wasn't the beer mug that made it Assault in the first degree, it was that he nearly killed the guy with the injuries he sustained. According to the transcript, the arguments were over the medical testimony, not the device used. Had he used a gun, it makes it automatically Assault 1 according to the law in MD.
 
Last edited:
I am not impressed by that eco-friendly Big Gulp cup on the front page. The AR-mug is pretty cool but not for that kind of money. Now if you want to talk about beverage containers that could knockout a few teeth........

Anyone else remember having an old metal boy scout canteen?

http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/m/mGuA5i8OqCS54yaaalvY25A/140.jpg

Now THAT was a water jug that could do some damage! The carrier made it perfect for swinging around too. (Only downside is it did resemble a purse.)
 
Funny you should mention those old Boy Scout canteens, I was thinking about them about two days ago!

They looked like you could toss them in the air and take a picture and claim it as a UFO!

With enough speed and weight, that thing would almost take a head off!
 
Anyone else remember having an old metal boy scout canteen?

You're making me nostalgic. I still have mine stashed somewhere.

'Course they came a bit bigger in my day (see pic)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3534s.jpg
    IMG_3534s.jpg
    54.3 KB · Views: 20
Last edited:
HSO, you're quite right I didn't consider that someone might have a need for an impact weapon away from home or vehicle. Most of what I know about extinguishers involves entry denial situations (or forced entry solutions, just depends on your point of view). An extinguisher is a reasonable household item, and also reasonable in vehicle or on boat. A water bottle is an item that many would carry with them while out on foot in one place or another.

For those that worry about improvised weapons.... it's what you actually do with one and the surrounding circumstances that will determine whether you might need a lawyer. At least that's how I always expected my officers to view whatever mess they found when someone needed medical attention and one side or the other of the equation was probably going down for whatever happened. A grandmother who uses hairspray on an attacker's eyes is likely to get a medal. An irritated housewife who uses the same spray on someone that angered her would be headed the other direction (and that lady was actually the wife of a cop, many years ago....).
 
I've not necessarily found that to be case, at least in my state. It's totally a matter of if the force was justified. And in real life things are RARELY as black and white as a lot of the "scenarios" discussed on this foru

I am mostly meaning an improvised weapon that may not be easily explainable in court. With what I carry that I can use if needed, I am not worried. I still run into folks that think a bag of lead shot, bat with a few nails in it, etc..are normal everday items.

For those that worry about improvised weapons....

If that was for me... I am not all that worried, IF the item wasn't enhanced, or isn't easily explainable as a "carry" item...ie..three feet of chain is legal..however who has an explainable need to carry it in town at 2 am?
 
In my part of Tx if you cryed to the Judge you got wacked upside the head during a attempted robbery with a Water bottle and that what stopped you, He would hurt himself laughing !
 
With what I carry that I can use if needed, I am not worried. I still run into folks that think a bag of lead shot, bat with a few nails in it, etc..are normal everday items.

Thank the gods that someone gets that you can carry something that wouldn't be seen as a weapon nor as unusual AND that you could actually use day in day out and still select a version that improves it's use in a self defense situation. No goofy weapon trying to pass as a day to day item or some "Wait while I unscrew my bottle of molecular acid and douse you with it". Just a plain old everyday normal item that happens to be built in such a way to give you a quick SD advantage instead of some Walter Mitty-Rube Goldberg collaboration.

I swear to Loki that some of you folks watch waaayyyyy too much Phineas & Ferb.
 
Hey, I like the show and my 12 year old and I laugh our butts off watching it at times (like tonight). Still, I don't mistake it, or James Bond movies, for a good source of SD ideas like some of our members do.

KISS was a sound principal before it was a band.
 
One of the beauties of a full 16-20 oz water (or soda) bottle, is the great grip that's possible. It just fits perfectly in one hand, and a strike hard enough to knock out an assailant won't rupture the bottle.

No need for uber-tactical battle-ready hydration carrier units. No freezing, slingshotting, or lead-filling required. Just the willingness to carry a full water bottle around.

Oh, yeah, you can drink it, too, if you bring several, or the threat of dehydration is more serious than the possibility of attack.
 
Wife and I are in our 60s. I have an over the shoulder bottled water carrier with a long carry strap and an extra elastic loop to hold the bottle in. Bottle holder itself is foam padded to help hold temperature. I keep frozen bottles of water in small garage fridge. I have never hit any person with it. There is a neighbor 1/2 mile down the street who is never going to get his dog back again. I did say I keep the bottles frozen didn't I. It is a lot like my cane, unnoticed and goes anywhere.

blindhari
 
Well thanks for the view of cool stainless vessels and that battle mug.
I collect stainless coffee mugs and water bottles.....not as weapons just good long lasting drinking utensils.
Don't know why....? But I admire them...
 
How about the Sigg water bottles? http://mysigg.com/store/bottles/1-0l-34oz.html . All different sizes, solid aluminum, and Swiss quality. I have a couple I bought at Goodwill for a buck apiece. All kinds of "girly" designs, too, if you want it to look nonthreatening, and easy to put a paracord tether on. I wouldn't put a finger through that hole in a squabble- too easy to break a finger if the bottle gets twisted the wrong way- but very handy none the less.
 
The references to a Thermos reminded me of this:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/03/06/1098220/surgeon-gets-jail-time-community.html

Basically this road rager chases a guy who cut him off and confronts him, guy tries to apologize w/o result, road rager tries to pull him out of the car, guy tries to defend himself with a Thermos and ends up getting smacked in the head with it.

Of course, the fact that the road rager was an Army neurosurgeon (and had been a varsity boxer at West Point) made it all the more odd. Even so, the Thermos didn't do the job for the guy who pulled it out.
 
Good ole Thermos full of "nuclear" vegetable soup for lunch!

Who of us hasnt got the begeezus burnt out of us on late lunch with the vegetable soup! Man them things keep the heat in!

:evil:
 
here is one
http://www.ospreyinnovations.com/
bezel1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I carry a 1L stainless steel water bottle to work with me in the summer. Full of water, there is enough mass to break your toe if dropped from the height of your waist. I know this from experience... :( ouch man, ouch...

I could see how it could dang near knock someones head clean off if used a a bludgeon or swung on a lanyard.
 
Back in the 70's there was a guy who worked for the phone company and he had this huge-diameter cable that had several hundred smaller color-coded wires all sticking out one end, all with the insulation partially spliced off. He had apparently cut it off a large communications cable that he was working on on his lineman job. This thing was about the diameter of a baseball bat handle and was about 14" long. He kept it stuffed just to the left of his driver seat, kind of toward the back floor of the car.

He was stopped for something and when the police officer noticed that, he wrote him up for having a weapon in his motor vehicle! The guy tried to explain that he is a lineman and this is a piece of main trunk telephone cable.

I don't remember just how it all ended up, but I do remember him showing it to us. The end was nasty-looking, hundreds of wires puffed out about 6" long from the main cable!:uhoh:
 
You'll probably throw it away by accident when the bottle is empty. Waste of time.

Looks like the ol' BSA canteens are still the best. Be prepared! (lol)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top