Lights for self-defense

[Lightraven]

I was reading a new magazine and saw one of Surefire's ads. This is the one that shows three comic book panels with a thug holding a baseball bat in the first, our hero deploying a Surefire in the second, and the thug recoiling from the "pure concentrated [what are they selling? Orange juice?] light" in the third. End of story.

Oh wait, what happens after that? Our hero goes to the emergency room with broken bones from getting creamed with a bat. The thug walks away with a new flashlight.

 

[beezaur]

I was reading a new magazine and saw one of Surefire's ads. This is the one that shows three comic book panels with a thug holding a baseball bat in the first, our hero deploying a Surefire in the second, and the thug recoiling from the "pure concentrated [what are they selling? Orange juice?] light" in the third. End of story.

Oh wait, what happens after that? Our hero goes to the emergency room with broken bones from getting creamed with a bat. The thug walks away with a new flashlight.

The hero must take advantage of the situation and either 1) fight, or 2) flee.

The critical thing is, where would the hero be had he not used his light? There would be no opportunity to exploit.

So, his choices are either guaranteed broken bones, or maybe broken bones. I'll take the maybe and try to make the best of it any day.

Scott

 

[greenLED]

There is at least one CPFer I am aware of who has hit someone with a Mag lite in self defense. My coworker hit someone with a Stinger in self defense.

I watched my supervisor hit someone with a Mag lite. I have not done it myself because I prefer my issued tools in the rare instances where force was necessary.

...and my wife's coworker ended in the hospital with severe head injuries after he thought the Maglite he had in his hand would "help" him when he tried to quiet down some loud neighbors... :shakehead:

It's one thing to be a LEO or trained in these matters, and quite another to thing you're a mall ninja and that a Maglite will protect you... somehow.

But, of course,

 

[dyyys1]

I agree with beezaur. The chief use for a flashlight in self-defense is that critical moment when a bad guy squints and looks away from his victim. A fraction of a second is probably all you need to run away or, if fleeing is not an option, to smash their face in. I see greenLED's point about a weapon being pulled away and used against you, but I've had a little weapons training (at least enough to make the light more dangerous to the bad guy than to me). On a side note, basic self-defense training is beneficial to anybody, even if it's only some 2-hour seminar at the YMCA. If you don't spend a little time educating yourself on how to defend yourself, you're just asking to become a statistic.

 

[Icebreak]

It's one thing to be a LEO or trained in these matters, and quite another to thing you're a mall ninja and that a Maglite will protect you... somehow.

That's a description of people that are not quite but close to the opposite ends of the skill spectrum. A ten year old child or a ninety year old adult would be opposite of a trained, skilled and experienced warrior. The majority of humans fit into a range of skill levels in between the two.

It's good to remind folks reading these threads of things that may seem obvious to most of us. We wouldn't want someone that was incapable of using a torch defensively as a bat/baton to try it. Training is incredibly valuable. Capability is also important. For an individual untrained in cane or baton fighting but has other training, a good grip and reasonably strong physicality; use of a baton is intuitive and is a good option for stepped progression escalation.

I believe most would agree that the mind is the most effective defensive weapon.

In regard to the unfortunate fellow that got beaten up badly with his big Mag; I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened. I don't think it is wise to approach a rowdy group with a small bat. It's possible this guy was somewhat lacking in threat assessment and good cognitive reasoning. Hopefully he wasn't permanently injured.

 

[tm3]

A lady friend works as a prison guard and attended a week long training course on using the MiniMag as a Kubotan.

I was sceptical that a MiniMag could be an effective weapon. She responded, "here I'll show you" and had me on my knees in a fraction of a second.
BTW, she is about 5'6" and 150#, I'm 6'2" and 200#.

what exactly did she do with it?

 

[beezaur]

greenLED is right about the guy with the Mag trying to quiet down the neighbors.

If you go thinking a flashlight is going to take the place of a more appropriate weapon, you are asking for a beating.

On a little different note, I don't know if I would choose a Mag-sized light as a defensive weapon. They are heavy, slow, and of little use in close. You have to be able to swing them to be effective, and that takes some time.

Take the baseball bat scenario as an example. The guy has the bat half raised, then gets briefly dazzled by your light. Say you decide to fight back.

I am no expert, but how about this: you move in to contact before he has the opportunity to "coil and strike" with that big bat. Now it is almost impossible for him to damage you with it. While he struggles to interpret your actions, you are leaving bezel indents on every weak part you can get to.

Obviously you need some training to make the most of that situation, but closing a gap and beating someone with a hard, fist-zized object is not that unnatural an act. I would not try any of that with a Mag though.

Scott

 

[Ironhog81]

Any small light that extends past your palm can be used for both offence and defence.

http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/kubartical.htm

This gives you basic info on what you can do with a little training.
You mind and attitude are the most important thing in any altercation.
A strong light WILL blind and dis-orient a person but you have to be ready to follow up immediately. You learn to just EXPLODE into action.

A large Maglight can be used a a baton and "poked" like a spear or short stroked to pressure points, not a wind up and swing like a bat. Police learn a "loaded" position that makes you ready.

 

[beezaur]

How would a SureFire L2 work as a Kubaton?

Scott

 

[Icebreak]

A large Maglight can be used a a baton and "poked" like a spear or short stroked to pressure points, not a wind up and swing like a bat. Police learn a "loaded" position that makes you ready.

Yes.

And a two handed hold using a long C cell is also good for close quarters punching or choking. A one or two handed grab defence can be used by the opponent. If successful, other techniques can be used to regain control of the baton or not. Likely other retaliatory techniques might be used at that point. But you knew that. I'm just agreeing with you.

Good to see your knowledgable post on the subject in this thread.

 

[Icebreak]

Great, I'll have to bring this with me the next time I go watermelon picking. I can finally fend off the savage beasts!

It's been a while since I've wrestled with a savage watermelon but I remember the technique.

First they must be identified. As you know they may appear to be breathing. Sometimes they just have some warping in the skin pattern that seems a little angry. Never extract a savage watermelon from his clan in the morning and certainly not at night. It's best to do this in the afternoon when they rest.

If you are using a car, you'll need to have at least one normal watermelon waiting on the floorboard. Even better is a pick-up truck with several normal watermelons in the bed of the truck.

Quietly stroll into the patch. Avoid actually looking directly at the watermelon if possible. With a sharp blade cut its vine. Gently lift it into your arms. Stand up and walk to the car or truck rocking the melon as you go. Place it next to a normal watermelon. He may wake up but if he sees a normal watermelon he'll go back to sleep.

Once home, and this important, don't put him in your garage. Take him to the kitchen and place him on the cool floor against a wall. With fast and confident movement use a big cutting knife to bore a deep hole 2" in diameter into the beast. Pop out the resulting plug and very quickly shove an open bottle of vodka into the hole. With both knees hold the savage watermelon down. Within just a minute or so he will become compliant.

The following night arrange for friends to come over to help you. Yank that bottle of vodka out, turn it upright then replace the cap. Lift the now confused watermelon onto the kitchen table. Cut it up into large pieces shaped in any way you wish. Let your friends devour these pieces. They may become talkative and abnormally manic. This is to be expected and that's fine. End result is that the malicious watermelon will be no longer a threat.

The above technique is the best I know of for dealing with savage watermelons.

I'm not as concerned with savage watermelons as I am with insane pumpkins. Once a year many of them become quite dangerous. They develop glowing faces with crazy expressions and migrate to your neighbors' porches, decks and balconies. You may find one or two on your own porch. That time of year is only two months away. I know of some methods for dealing with them. More on that later. For now begin stocking up on pie crust and Cool Whip.

 

[roguesw]

if you think pumpkins and watermellon are angry
wait till you come up against a ripe durian,
theres no defense for that one

 

[snowleopard]

if you think pumpkins and watermellon are angry
wait till you come up against a ripe durian,
theres no defense for that one

My Thai cookbook recounts the time a ripe durian was smuggled onto a Thai airline by a fellow terrorist. For those unfamiliar:
http://www.ghouse.com/daniel/durian/

 

[dudemar]

I've never physically hit someone with my Surefire A2, but I broke up a few bad situations. One night about a year ago I heard someone yelling outside of my house and it was followed by sounds of something being hit. I ran outside and saw some 15 yr old was kicking my Audi's window. He was accompanied by 2 other teens. Understandably I was pissed, so I flashed my light towards them and yelled "hey what are you doing? Stop kicking my car!". A few kicks later he stopped, but to say the least the other two were dazed and confused. Luckily there was no damage to my Audi, and he must've kicked it at least 15 times! It's a good quality car, but that's a whole different story... they ended up walking off as I yelled at them "WTF ARE YOU DOING? YOU DON'T JUST KICK SOMEONE'S CAR LIKE THAT!"

A few months ago at around 2:30AM I heard a guy really roughing up a lady (wife/gf maybe?) against the gate outside of my house. He was saying something along the lines of "you'd better listen to me or I'll make you". I got spooked so I grabbed the trusty 'ol A2 and went outside to see what's what. Sure enough he was pushing her up against my gate and I asked if everything is ok (didn't want to come off as being aggresive, just wanted to diffuse the situation), to which the man replied "NO, EVERYTHING'S FINE". All this was happening while he let go of the lady and kicked his backpack that was next to him. The lady walked away from saying "NO IT'S NOT OK", but the guy just followed her and was staring at me the whole time, just a really angry dead stare. To make a long story short they walked off and I called the cops on them just to make sure.

It was scary to say the least because I didn't know if these people posessed any weapons or anything, but sometimes you just gotta take a stand...:rock:

the Dude

 

[Vinnie]

I'd flash his eyes and kick his mellons than run. I think it would be hard for him to catch me, he would be blinded and in pain.

 

[dudemar]

I'd flash his eyes and kick his mellons than run. I think it would be hard for him to catch me, he would be blinded and in pain.

lol I like your choice of icon!:laughing: Great combo tactic for self defense.

 

[Illum]

I have collected quite a few stories about using flashlights, for self-defense, personal comfort, and safety. I seem to recall a story where a mountain lion chose to take an M3T instead of a guy's arm.

Take a look. It's in my sigline.

With all due respect...carrot, as you have known as a cat lover...cats likes shiny objects

 

[TigerhawkT3]

At the hike last night, I saw one of these:

http://www.eliteled.com/products/gadgets/lightning-pen.html

It's a stun pen with 800kv. It makes a fantastic crackling sound when activated in the air, and the LED is quite nice, too. I might get one just for the "wow" factor.

 

[deuce dodge]

think about everything on and around you as tools........in self defense you reach for the most practical tool ..........that you know how to use........and get the job done.

deuce

 

[stitch_paradox]

think about everything on and around you as tools........in self defense you reach for the most practical tool ..........that you know how to use........and get the job done.

deuce

That is if you know how to use that " tool" ... and this don't just happen overnight by watching some self defense guru on video.