I guess this is a new issue for me, but it has come up lately a couple of times when guys have tried to get very friendly. Of course, I can't return the favor. I am worried one might become angry or even violent. I've been looking at pepper sprays and stun guns. I guess the only other alternative is to just stay home, which I'm not going to do.
Do any of you girls carry anything for protection? If so what? Have you ever had to use it? What about the applicable laws in carrying something that might be considered a concealed weapon?
Thanks for the help.
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I carry a mace. Here in Utopia, they passed several laws concerning the use of tear gas maces; hence most people had to switch to hot pepper sprays (which IMO aren't effective if a 180 pound guy is trying to force you into his van)
I know someone who works for the police force and he obtained a tear gas mace for me with a missing serial number ;). I know it is not quite legal to carry it but hey my safety is more important than anything else really, and I have to be prepared just in case.
tink :icon_chick:
Another thought:
Always travel with someone else; Perhaps not very practical but very functional nonetheless.
Pull out your katana and sli-
Err...okay. Non-deadly.
Theres always Tazors. Those frickin rock. Shock that mofro.
I carry a gun >:D. I'm joking. I don't carry anything but I'm a black belt in Judo. I've never had to defend myself from anyone. Frankfurt is one of the safest cities in the world, but when I travel abroad, peeps don't know they can get in trouble if they try to rob me.
I don't carry anything. I've not had any problems either and I second Kimberly's advice make sure that you go with someone else. When I go out I make sure that I keep my wits about me and I make sure that I don't get drunk, or leave a drink unattended.
Steph
I recently purchased a boxcutter for use at work, since I occasionally need to open things and there typically isn't one laying around.
The other end of it is a one hand open, partially serrated knife blade. I really don't intend to open anything but cardboard or plastic with it, but I suppose if a situation turns serious enough it'd be better than nothing. If only it were left handed. And the boxcutter and knife could both be out at the same time... it'd be like some sort of Klingon death dagger.
I had an ex that carried a pair of knives bigger than mine for defense.
The thought of security is funny. The only time I want to be seen as a guy is when I have a bad feeling about a place. I haven't been out to pass, but there are definitely times when there's a huge discomfort that wouldn't be there in a wifebeater and khakis. Kind of sad that half the world's populace has to deal with that kind of shadow. It makes me very uncomfortable, since men like that would probably be even more malicious towards a cd/ts than a woman.
Nothing. I live in the safest city in the world, Zurich. Sorry Yvonne. ;)
I do not carry anything. In england your not allowed to carry anything for protection other then a panic alarm which sucks.
You used to be able to have a small swiss army knife but even they are not allowed unless you use it as a tool of your trade.
I have had problems with people in the past and once someone attacked me about 10 months ago so now i am looking in to self defense classes.
I think martial arts is a good thing to learn as it can keep you safe. I wish i knew martial arts 10 months ago.
I am thinking of taking up wing-chun or jujitsu.
i carry pepper spray & a blade. hopefully i'll never use them. :-\
The mace they use on grizzly bears and a 9mm pistol with Remington Golden Sabre ammunition. From past experience, once they see the gun they go away and usually do not come back. I have also been in the martial arts. Not tournament oriented styles, more towards street fighting, survival. Only carry a sidearm if you will use it. Check local laws as well.
I cannot carry at clubs but then I have a number of weapons on me that I use while doing the Domme thing. If I am doing something not fetish oriented, I arrive early so I can park my car as close to the door as possible and make friends with the bartenders. When in straight spaces I do not accept drinks from anyone I do not know nor do I carry much of a conversation.
Geez girls all I have are my fingernails.
No really I do carry mace!
Deb
The only thing I have with me is a knife (and some good martial arts training), but it usually ends up at the bottom of my purse. I also have non-weapons that I can use as weapons like an umbrella and my purse. I probably should get some pepper-spray or something. I've also heard that on some people mace is ineffective, where pepper spray works. Here's a web page that also says this: http://www.pepper-spray-store.com/relatedinfo/mace-vs-pepperspray.shtml
Quote from: tammygirl2 on August 24, 2007, 08:44:44 AM
I do not carry anything. In england your not allowed to carry anything for protection other then a panic alarm which sucks.
Unfortunately. :( Someone once mentioned a roll of American nickles here. It can help in an emergency. ;)
I refuse to carry anything that someone else could turn on myself. I figure that my weapon could very well become theirs.
When I travel I take my dog. She is a loving little Queensland Heeler with an iron jaw and a protective stance that will make your blood curl. The breed was developed with Dingo Dogs from down under from what I understand. She takes care of the coyote problem around the house here.
I don't have too many opportunities to walk a "city street" out where I live. So... she's always with me wherever I go.
Cindi
Cindi,
Great for you! A loyal dog is about as effective a weapon as there is.
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Yup, I figure that when she or the other dog passes on, I will find another Queensland Heeler. She is an amazing companion.
cindi
I don't carry anything. I do have a self defense military and law enforcement background though. Also Pepper spray and mace is not always effective. though they are beter then nothing and do make sure not to spray yourself.
Rashelle
Quote from: Blanche on August 24, 2007, 07:41:31 AM
Nothing. I live in the safest city in the world, Zurich. Sorry Yvonne. ;)
QuoteThe world's top cities offering the best quality of life
2007 Rank, City, Country, Points
1 1 Zurich Switzerland 108.1
2 2 Geneva Switzerland 108.0
=3 3 Vancouver Canada 107.7
=3 4 Vienna Austria 107.7
=5 5 Auckland New Zealand 107.3
=5 6 Düsseldorf Germany 107.3
7 7 Frankfurt Germany 107.1
8 8 Munich Germany 106.9
=9 9 Bern Switzerland 106.5
=9 9 Sydney Australia 106.5
11 11 Copenhagen Denmark 106.2
12 12 Wellington New Zealand 105.8
13 13 Amsterdam Netherlands 105.7
14 14 Brussels Belgium 105.6
15 15 Toronto Canada 105.4
16 16 Berlin Germany 105.2
17 17 Melbourne Australia 105.0
=18 18 Luxembourg Luxembourg 104.8
=18 21 Ottawa Canada 104.8
20 20 Stockholm Sweden 104.7
21 21 Perth Australia 104.5
22 22 Montreal Canada 104.3
23 23 Nürnberg Germany 104.2
=24 25 Calgary Canada 103.6
=24 25 Hamburg Germany 103.6
26 31 Oslo Norway 103.5
=27 24 Dublin Ireland 103.3
=27 27 Honolulu USA 103.3
29 28 San Francisco USA 103.2
=30 29 Adelaide Australia 103.1
=30 29 Helsinki Finland 103.1
32 31 Brisbane Australia 102.8
33 33 Paris France 102.7
34 34 Singapore Singapore 102.5
35 35 Tokyo Japan 102.3
=36 37 Lyon France 101.9
=36 36 Boston USA 101.9
38 37 Yokohama Japan 101.7
39 39 London UK 101.2
40 40 Kobe Japan 101.0
41 44 Barcelona Spain 100.6
=42 45 Madrid Spain 100.5
=42 51 Osaka Japan 100.5
=44 41 Washington DC USA 100.4
=44 41 Chicago USA 100.4
46 43 Portland USA 100.3
47 53 Lisbon Portugal 100.1
48 46 New York City USA 100.0
=49 51 Milan Italy 99.9
=49 47 Seattle USA 99.9
Very true. At least I'm happy to live in one of the safest cities in the world. ;)
tink :icon_chick:
Or perhaps more to the point regarding weapons; If you are not willing to use it, do not carry it. Besides, know thyself, the human body is quite lethal and vulnerable both. But, all things considered it certainly is easier and more agreeable to never find oneself in such a disagreeable situation in the first place, as such I feel that stressing keeping yourself safe, aware and not doing foolish things should never be underestimated. Granted I probably take the thought to the extreme but I have never been able to justify going into a bar for instance, or any other place where incidents have happened or have reputed to have happened in the past.
Perhaps it is telling that I have only had problems when in situations I did not want to be in in the first place? (I.e. school, actually but *shrug*)
Anyway, just a few thoughts in the wind.
You'll have to call local law enforcement and ask about concealed weapons, mace-sprays and all that.
The idea about somebody turning your own weapon against you is a valid one.
A roll of nickles or quarters, a battery, or a short peice of iron rebar will not be considered a weapon anywhere. Close your hand around it and the fist you've got then is an amazing cudgel, you can really break somebody's face without breaking your fingers.
In your car, you probably want to keep a length of pipe. If you have to change a tire you slip this pipe over the end of your 'spider' lug-wrench thing, making it effectively longer so you have more leverage -- that allows a physically weaker person to untighten lug-nuts that your friendly mechanic put on immovably tight with his pneumatic wrench. It's called a 'cheater bar' and is a good cheat in a fight, too.
A dog is not really a weapon, but it is a great deterrent. Any dog, even a tiny one, helps in this -- bad guys don't want to deal with a dog. A bigger dog is more effective, of course. You don't want a mean dog, get a friendly and calm one. Mean-seeming ones are often shy and real scary situations can tip their balance from threatening to running. People may joke that their friendly dog would lick an attacker to death, but a dog knows when you are in real distress and almost every friendly dog will throw down for you when you need it, no training required. I know a jolly fat little miniature poodle who ripped the hell out of a man's ankle and hand for his lady. Since a dog is only effective when it's there, a friendly one is much better because it can come with you places and not be a problem. Socialize the dog well, so it is calm and friendly with all kinds of people (women, men, children, people in wheelchairs, people wearing weird hats, etc) and with other dogs. You want a companion who will be there with you and for you, not a dog you have to constantly struggle with to keep out of trouble.
Quote from: Katia on August 24, 2007, 10:12:31 AM
i carry pepper spray & a blade. hopefully i'll never use them. :-\
somehow, I've always suspected the blade. :P
Posted on: August 26, 2007, 12:42:00 AM
Quote from: Doc on August 25, 2007, 08:45:33 PM
Socialize the dog well, so it is calm and friendly with all kinds of people (women, men, children, people in wheelchairs, people wearing weird hats, etc) and with other dogs. You want a companion who will be there with you and for you, not a dog you have to constantly struggle with to keep out of trouble.
speaking from experience are we?
My home town was the last time I checked one of the safest cities <Top 3> to live in in the U.S.
Ive never really had any troubble, and its safe to walk alone at night... Unless youve gone to a bar... then your just asking for troubble...
For my own personal protection, I know some basic self defence, I carry a pair of aluminum drumsticks <I can actualy hit hard enough to shatter a wooden one on any hard surface> and the same pepperspray the cops carry..... If Im going to a bar or club though I never go alone...
LMAO... Doc..
Your post is too informative... scarily, personally, too informative. *giggling*
Rebis: Experience about the weird hats? Yeah. Actually, my hat isn't
very weird, but it is not a ball-cap, so it's weird enough. Some dogs are utterly mortified by it. Most of 'em will calm down if I take it off and show it to them, let them sniff it and say, "Oh, c'mon, check it out, it's not alive, it's not eating my head." Though I know one who will have none of this. I have to hide my hat. If she sees it, she'll bark and snarl and bark and bark. If she sees me hide it she'll bark and snarl and bark at the place where it's hidden. It's pretty common for dogs to hate and fear hats. But never ball-caps, which most dogs see all the time. Along the same vein, some dogs have a horror of people in uniforms. One lady who asked me for doggy behavior advice had the hideously embarrassing problem of her dog being afraid of black people. She was in a tizzy about it, feeling like the dog's behavior would make people think
she was a bigot, a legitimate fear. Really, it's just that the dog had been raised in some whitebread townlet.
One of my favourite dogs would have been an absolutely perfect companion and protection dog -- Powerful, mid-sized, kinda scary to look at, wonderfully calm and obedient, happy to stay at heel all the time and lie under my table at cafes and whatever, alert to everything yet focused on me and my moods. She could have gone anywhere and been welcome but for the fact that she was terrified of children. So taking her out could be scary -- little kids might run up at any time, wanting to pet the dog. Some situations, that dog didn't leave me feeling safer, I just spent the whole time on constant alert to run interference between her and over-friendly kids. No fun. A lot of dogs are afraid of kids, by the way. They often need experience to understand that the rapid movements and unpredictable behavior of kids isn't a threat.
Quote from: Candi Nahasapeemapetilon on August 26, 2007, 01:02:36 AM
LMAO... Doc..
Your post is too informative... scarily, personally, too informative. *giggling*
Really? I've never been attacked by anyone, except when I was a teen and tended to get into fights, and then it was me doing the attacking. I've never hit anybody with a roll of quarters in my fist, but if you hit a heavy-bag with one, you can feel and see how much more powerful that makes your strike. I do have a cheater-bar in my car. I deal with something near twenty different dogs a day and am always talking to people about their dogs. Undesirable behaviors are utimately the #1 cause of death for dogs and cats -- if owners can't get their pets to act right, the pets end up at shelters and get killed. Along with all the physical-health stuff your vet will ask you about your pet, an up-to-speed vet will also ask about how it's acting and if that's creating problems for you, and be able to offer training-solutions and refer you to a behaviorist if the advice they offer doesn't work.