by Bryce Eddy

I’ve written about the self-defense continuum and the foundational rules that include situational awareness and how we project our presence. I’ve also written in previous articles or discussed on podcasts, that a gun may be at the top of the self defense food chain but just like owning a massive strong-willed police dog, it comes with practical and moral responsibilities that may make it wrong for many people. So, If you aren’t committed to the seriousness and training responsibilities of a firearm, what can you carry and what should you carry?

How about a knife? How about a bedside baseball bat? A crossbow? Or, my personal daydream favorite a spear? Some of this list is obvious comedy, but a baseball bat is a common under the bed decoration, and a knife is useful every day carry tool (I never leave home without mine). Both of these, however, have a near martial arts requirement of proficiency as a self-defense tool.  A knife can easily be dangerous to an inexperienced user and requires an up close and personal scenario and is a deadly threat. A baseball bat is a bludgeoning tool and requires a fair amount of strength to wield and can be fairly easy to defeat due to it’s unwieldiness in tight spaces and its commitment upon your wind up, swing and miss moments.

Okay, so what are effective options that can level a playing field for women, the elderly or those that don’t want the commitment of a firearm? I’m going to suggest a couple of options.

Consider Pepper Spray. It is a natural product that is a concentrated burst of capsaicin derived from peppers and is available in both a spray and a gel. I recommend the gel which is a better in downwind conditions. If you have ever walked into a cloud of pepper spray or live in the Windy City, you’ll understand. The effects of pepper spray are miserable and yet temporary. It can be effective on aggressive creatures of both the animal and human kind. It can temporarily incapacitate a threat for a few minutes or an hour based on your accuracy and the tolerance of your target.  As a part of our tactical training college we spray all of our students.  Fun anecdote, using my own highly scientific method, which consists of the question, “Do you like spicy food?”, the students who find a jalapeño crippling don’t do well.  Those students who eat ghosts peppers and love spicy food don’t enjoy the experience but get over it a little quicker and cry a lot less.  That being said, it can take a minute or two to set in and a determined attacker can still fight and batter their victim. It is a deterrent and can stop a threat but it isn’t an instant solution, so beware.

I personally recommend Sabre for my pepper spray products.  They’re an excellent company and they offer the most consistent product for both the professional and for civilian applications. You can buy the product in compact versions that are easily carried in a pocket, a purse or attached to a backpack. Visit www.Sabrered.com if you’re interested.

This moves me to the TASER. I think everyone should consider one and I recommend it for both men and women as an effective “less lethal” option. First, it’s not a “stun gun’. A stun gun requires an up close and personal interaction and can be easily defeated by a bad guy and in my experience it mostly serves to irritate.

A Taser, however uses neuromuscular interruption and if both darts make solid contact it can incapacitate your attacker for up to 30 very miserable seconds. It is designed to be fired within a ideal range of 7-10 feet and it turns your attackers body into one giant muscle spasm.

Legal in 49 states, (what’s wrong with you Rhode Island), the Taser fires the darts using compressed nitrogen and is not considered a firearm. The darts stay attached to the device by conductive filament that delivers its electrical charge.  Most attackers will immediately pancake to the ground screaming (It is not a fun experience).  The more powerfully built and muscular the more intense the muscle contractions.

If you are interested in a Taser, it requires no special licensing or training, but I highly recommend you take a course and get familiar with it.  Do this before you’re in a situation that requires you to fire it in self-defense.

I recommend the Taser Bolt 2 which looks more like a Star Trek phaser than a gun. It can be shoved in a pocket or purse and is easily concealable and ready to deploy quickly. Using the connected Axon Protect App, it can alert emergency services, if you fire the device.  Additionally, Taser replaces it’s product, if you fire it in self-defense, so that you can feel free to drop it and make your escape.

In a weird psychological way, a hardened criminal can be more afraid of a civilian wielding a taser than a gun simply due to the fact that a gun takes a massive level of commitment to pull that trigger where they KNOW that the soccer mom is going to be more likely to tase them and they’ve been tased before. Not fun.

In the civilian versions, the cartridge contains a pair of electrodes and propellant for a single shot and is replaced after each use. The darts are propelled with enough force to penetrate most clothing and can penetrate into plywood.  They are barbed so they do not easily come out of your intended target. After you fire the cartridge, the Taser can still be used as “stun gun”, so, if you miss you are still in the fight and with one good connection you can still complete the circuit.

Safety Considerations

A taser is considered “less-lethal” rather than “non-lethal”.  In more than 99% of all cases, the tased subject experiences no injury or only minor cuts or scrapes from his meeting with the ground. However, there is a risk for those with major underlying conditions and a taser can affect your cardiac system.  I would argue that if you decide to attack or threaten someone, the risk in on you.

Because of their patents and lock on the market, there is only Taser and their products can be purchased from their site directly or from our store here. We have been so blessed to have lived for so long without an expectation of danger but unfortunately times are changing, so make sure to walk through these days with situational awareness and the appropriate tools to defend yourself.