Females: Laundry List of College Defensive Items

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conw

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Hey guys,

I kind of wanted to put this in S&T but this forum seems to have a lot of good old-timer knowledge, and I already know what I need to know (for now) about S&T.

I was talking to a couple of young women today who go to college, and the conversation took a rather profound turn when they both revealed (presumably because they trust me) that they are rape survivors. This struck home pretty hard, because I just can't stand this sort of thing.

One of the young ladies had the whole inappropriate laughter thing going on, and also demonstrated in other ways that she is still in denial of her own ability or need to protect herself.

The other young lady was all ears, though, when I mentioned pepper spray and other items.

I made her a little list, along with a good deal of verbal explanation about why to prepare, how to prepare mentally and strategically, and what to get.

I referred her to corneredcat simply because I wanted to broaden her horizons a bit if possible, and that site has a wonderfully warm tone. (She revealed that a firearm was in the room when she was raped, and she has an aversion to guns - still, this is on a campus, but she has a home off-campus)

I also recommended "The Gift of Fear" by De Becker.

Here are the items I recommended, because I use them myself at times and trust them.

Spitfire keychain OC
Kimber PepperBlaster OC
27 oz Stainless Klean Kanteen water bottle
5.5" flathead screwdriver

I told her my take on "jury friendliness" as imparted by some of THR's finest to me.

Any advice of a tactical, equipment-oriented, or otherwise pertinent nature will be EXTREMELY appreciated...I don't want to get into her whole story but it was, and continues to be, extremely touching to me and I feel like this is a way of passing forward what I've learned here and maybe really doing someone right.

Conwict
 
Steel body pen. Pointy and college friendly.

Your other recommendations are great too. But how to use them is the most important thing. OC spray, and the kimber are easy enough to use. But a metal water bottle, while effective, requires more skill to use effectively.
 
There is absolutely no need for steel water bottles. A full 16 or 20 oz water bottle will withstand much more impact force than anyone I know can generate.
 
The first thing to establish is; does she have the real mindset to carry out a plan to seriously hurt an attacker?

Everyting will be wasted if this mindset is not there. She really has to mean it, when she tells you or herself "never again!"

If she does, then your in buisness. There's a whole bunch of things to use. As has been mentioned a pen. Cross makes a nice all metal body pen that is very capable of going through throat tissue.

A simple box cutter. Cheap, small and flat, and makes a very nasty slash. Ditto the slightly larger Stanley untility knife. Easy to deploy with one hand in a wink.

Pepper spray in a girls best friend. Don't bother with the tiny keychain models, get the bit larger one with a clip on the can to mount on a waistband, purse top or strap, top of jacket pocket. Stick with Fox or Saber and check the heat rating. Scorch the perp!

Use of envoronmental bonus's. What was around her when she was raped? Bottle, steam iron, hair curler, nail file, a room is full of stuff. Teach her to glance around at her imediate surroundings and guess what can be used to hurt someone if hit, shoved, stuck into the right place. Heck, a Bic pen can do some damage in a pinch. She has to be able to think outside the box. ANYTHING she grabs is better than nothing.

If she has nothing, truely, then teach her to use her thumb. Its short, rugged, and always there. Show her where the mastoid gland is behind the jaw. Also throat cartlidge is more delicate than you think. A thumb or wood pencil in the windpipe gives a rapist something to think about.

But the biggest variable is the young lady in question. Is she going to fight like a cornered wildcat, or cave into the 'Please don't hurt me, I'll do what you what." type.

It all depends on her attitude.

There was this one girl where I was a police officer for a while, in Trinidad Colorado. This guy decieded he was going to have a bit of fun. He grabs this 16 year old girl and is going to rape her. She's crying, the "please don't do this to me" routine. She even goes as far as peading for him to let her give him oral sex instead of rape. Idiot didn't know he was being played. Guy goes "Sure you can filthy slur" kind of thing. Well, the girl gets down, just starts to do the act when she brings her fist up between his legs for all she's worth. Made peanut butter, or darn near. People hear this God awefull scream and help shows up. Talk about a sucker punch.

Everything depends on the young lady. Will she, or won't she.
 
I graduated from college in '06, from a small school in Waltham MA (10 minutes outside of Boston).
Every day I carried a Cold Steel push dagger on me. legality be damned. If I couldn't have a gun, i was gonna be armed with something.

Girls get away with carrying weapons more than guys do.
 
The two best items for home, or car, for those who don't own a firearm, are a claw hammer, and 8 inch screwdriver. Innocent looking, and LEGAL, but you can stab, and smash in the best Viking tradition.
 
I think they still make those nifty plastic cat shaped keychains that become really wicked knuckle dusters.

I know for a fact they make lipstick and hair brush knives.

There really is no substitute for the desire to inflict whatever damage is required to escape the situation, though. all the feminine James Bond gadgets in the world really don't matter if the victim doesn't have that desire.
 
Carl Levitian is completely right ANYTHING can be a weapon. I work in correcions and we train all of our new recruits that detainees can and will make a weaponn out of anything they can get their hands on. She can do the same. Big water bottles, small metal lamps, 2D cell Maglite, even a nice big hard cover textbook, all of the above and more can be turned against someone if necessary.

But if she would prefer something for the specific purpose of defense and she's averse to guns I would have to say OC spray is going to be the best option. Stay away from the crap in the yellow cans at the checkout line, that stuff's just strong pepper flavoring. Stick to solid name brands Freeze +p by Aerko Int'l, Sabre, Foxlabs, Mace. Check the SHU rating, don't use anything below 2 million. At the same time you want to avoid anything over 8 to 10 million (yes they do exist, Vexor is 15.2 million) because OC at that strength can cause chemical burns to the eyeball itself. Besides, once you get past 5 million SHU you really can't feel the extra heat.

Another option would be a Taser or a pocket stunner. Personally, I recommend Taser Int'l products. Having used them in real situations and had them used on me in training I can whole heartedly vouch for their effectiveness. Now with the release of the C2 last year they are more affordable and more conducive to civilian carry. A C2 with a laser sight can be had for $350, without the laser they can be found as low as $280- $300.

I'll agree with the steel body pen as well, Benchmade actually makes a pen for this specific purpose. It's high grade steel with a nice point on one end.
 
http://www.zebrapen.com/ball-f402.html

This is what I have almost, got it ~$7 at walmart. Mine doesn't have the rubber grip. The pen body is around 2mm thick. I could MAYBE break it if I used it to pry a car door open. If I really tried.

Clip it in a pocket, it's almost as bad as any knife at close range.
 
...or the young lady could come and attend school in Utah and carry a firearm!!!

I wish these clueless legislators and school admins would wake up and realize that students have a right to defend themselves just like everyone else!
 
I didn't know the Benchmade was that ridiculously priced. I just saw an ad for one in a mag I have and it was billed as being steel and did not have a price listed. I dam sure never figured it would be that high, but then again this is the same company that sells folding knives for $300 plus so I guess I should not be surprised. Given this info the Walmart pen sounds like a much better deal.
 
My favorite pocket stick, a simple AA Mini Maglite.

At about 10 bucks even a college kid can afford one.And it doubles a flashlight too.
 
Funny you should mention Mag-Lites.

I was thinking awhile ago the a 4-C cell Mag-Lite would make a fine thing for a collage girl to have in her hand when Chester the Molester made his move!

http://www.maglite.com/product.asp?psc=4CCELL

One whack to the face with the end-cap end of one of those things, and he would be needing to get his nose put back on straight!

rcmodel
 
Yeah, Mag-lites are the cool evil black-assault items of the flashlight world. Entirely campus friendly yet discreetly double as effective skullcrackers. Funny they are made in Cali.
 
She was really young when she was raped. She walked into the wrong room without looking at the room number somewhere and got sexually assaulted.

She is very interested in this whole thing and I think she is taking it seriously. She is not from the US (don't want to give too many details) and doesn't have the whole "I'm so feminine I could never defend myself" thing going on.

Oh, and she is not even into guys. Just thought I'd mention that; I'm not doing this to be a weaselly dude who tries to impress girls by "helping" them and expects something in return.

JShirley, you are right, but you are a guy who weighs at least 150 pounds (it looks like) and has martial arts training. This girl is 105-110 pounds and has minimal training. Additionally, I think it's kind of silly for her to want to carry a full water bottle around all the time. It loses effectiveness as you drink it, and besides - even a full plastic water bottle will impart less force than a full steel waterbottle.

In other words, weight and distance being equal, a rational person would rather have a plastic water bottle dropped on their head than a steel water bottle. Why shouldn't she want every advantage she can get - especially when you can put a lanyard on these, and use them full, half-full, or empty?

Carl, quite a story. I don't really feel comfortable sharing that as a tactic since we are recent acquaintances. But, I think that I can explain the "don't give up" mindset pretty well to her.

Thanks everyone.
 
Bodyguard LE10 pepperspray

I use Bodyguard LE10 from Federal (deftec) 2 million shu...cone pattern, easier for missy to hit with... our local PD uses stream pattern to keep officers from hitting each other. I sprayed a tree from 10 feet away...huge cloud of spray, we had to back off as it was burning our noses and throats !
I think i bought the 1.5 ounce from copquest.com or copsplus.com, cant remember....anything over 1.5oz is limited to LE officers with ID on file, on that website...i also carry the kimber guardian angel in an old nylon/ velcro nokia phone holster, everyone thinks its a blackberry and doesnt give me a second look !!! A side note, i know a young guy who was sprayed with LE10 (stream model) in the police academy, and made to run an obstacle course...he said he was miserable for hours after, i bought this spray based on his experience.
 
we had to back off as it was burning our noses and throats !
Click to expand...

Therein lies the biggest problem with the cone spray pattern. If it's incapactitating you at 10 ft how bad is going to be at 2 feet or less? And let's not forget that if used outdoors anything over a 5 mph wind will scatter that cone before it gets 10 feet. The point of OC is to incapactitate the attacker and facilitate your escape from the danger zone. If you're too busy coughing and hacking and your eyes are blindingly filled with tears from your own chemical, it's pretty much worthless.

Avoid cones for the above stated reason, avoid foam because it's not instantly effective, it can be wiped off. Liquid stream and the new gel stream are the best spray patterns out there. That is why they are most commonly carreid by LAWE/CORR.
 
Fill it. An empty Al or steel bottle isn't going to do you nearly as much good as a full one, whether steel or plastic. It's the mass of the thing that makes it useful. If you don't have the presence of mind to keep the thing full you're going to have lots of problems keeping track of the "tools" you're carrying.

I'm an advocate of the metal bottle over the plastic. It's not that the plastic isn't effective when full, it is. It is because the steel is more effective than the plastic when full.
 
as poster #15 suggested there are some mighty sturdy built tubular flashlights made that could be used for 'punching batons' the Uzi is one such. there are a couple different brands made that have scalloped lens flanges that are fairly sharp and could be filed even sharper but they are fairly pricey - can't recollect the brand names, seems I saw one in CTD catalog or maybe Delta. that would be my suggestion along w/pepper spray
 
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