When you think of weapons you may immediately think swords, guns, knives, machetes, baseball bats, etc. Sadly, unless you’re in Texas, you cannot legally wield a sword in public everyday life, and there are many other restrictions regarding legal carrying of weapons. Each state has its own respective laws on pocketknives, concealed carry, and tools such as brass knuckles. Plus, most of the weapons we train with in martial arts aren’t convenient for carrying around; imagine trying to conceal an eskrima stick or bo staff!
If you just feel safer carrying around something that would aid you in protecting yourself, have no fear because there are plenty of practical weapons that you can carry with you anywhere! Remember, in escalated self-defense your goal is to stun the attacker enough so you can run away and get help.
You might have a great tool on you already: a flexible weapon such as a scarf, lanyard, even a belt if you can manage to take it off in time and keep your pants up. These are great for not only distraction and keeping distance, but with a little imagination you can think of various joint manipulation, strikes, even simple wrapping strategies that can be done with a flexible weapon.
One of the best tools is a pen or pencil, any sort of small stick-like object. These are inconspicuous enough, almost essential for everyday life in the office, but can also do real damage to anybody in a pinch. Anyone who went to elementary school can attest to the fact that piercing someone with a pencil hurts, so once you add the adrenaline of self-defense, your writing utensil will be your best friend.
If you have one of those cheap, flimsy combs lying around from an airport or random bank, you could utilize it for self-defense in a variety of ways. This can get very messy (think raking skills); with some speed it almost serves as a dull knife, especially if there’s a couple teeth missing from the comb.
There are plenty more everyday items you can use to protect yourself, in fact improvisation is an important aspect in self-defense. You have to be able to adapt to your situation and use what’s available to your advantage. In the instance of an escalated attacker, stun and run!
