Personal Weapons and Tactics – #1

Weapons for personal use is often a sore and uncomfortable subject. The public in general don’t like the thought of people around them carrying weapons of any kind, and with good reason. The only person you should really trust is yourself. Of course, your wife or partner should be included, but what if something happens to them? Who is going to save them, or help them? You are. But in order to do that, you need to be able to fend for yourself.

In this series – PWaT – we are going to look at some simple, no-permit-necessary weapons and countermeasures you should have in order to be able to dissuade attackers or unstable persons approaching, or in order to get yourself out of other unfortunate situations.

First in line is light. Light is always your friend, no exceptions. During nighttime, light is extremely effective in dissuading persons with dishonest or outright hostile intentions. The brighter the light, the more effective.
A 120-200 lumen flashlight will blind anyone looking at it, or in its direction for several seconds, and in the nighttime, it will create a very disturbing after-image that will last for minutes. SureFire has an excellent line of flashlights that are extremely powerful and still small enough to be carried unseen in a pocket anywhere you go. When hit with this kind of light, an attacker will be disoriented for some seconds, but as with any such situation, time and timing is essential. A bright, white flash of light is likely to buy you somewhere around 5 to 10 seconds, and in that time, you need to remove yourself from the threat.

I.e. flash, then run.

Next PWaT: Sound.