Carl Levitian
member
Karen does volunteer work with a womans group that helps out and mentors abused women. Over the course of the past year or so she's become friends with this one younger lady thats had a bit of a rough time putting her life back together. It's been an eye opener.
This woman, Kate, is in her mid 40's, but she's been kind of shelterd in one way, in that she married right out of high school, and her husband took care of everything, so she never learned to do anything. Her husband had her employed as an exotic dancer, if one wants to call it that. Her first husband of 20 years did treat her well, but died of panchratic cancer, and her second husband of 2 years was a ------ well, never mind. After having enough of him she left, with some help from a womans support group, and started to put her life back together.
The jist of all this, she had some unique outlooks on the subject of self defense that my better half Karen thought noteworthy. Since she had been employed as a nude dancer in some bad parts of Washinton D.C. she was familiar with dark parking lots with not so nice people lurking about. In light of the recent subject of boxcutters, I found it interesting that Kate carries at least one on her.
Looking at her, I found it hard to visualize her fighting with someone. If she's more than 5' 3" or so, I'd be surprised. But she surprised us. One evening, we were on the subject of defense, and she pulled this cutter out of nowhere. She'd taken needle and thread, and some velcro, and made little hidden pockets in her clothing for small items like boxcutters, a Buck Hartsook, and a Browning .25 auto.
Like I said, she and Karen have developed this relationship, and Karen has become like an adopted step mother, since Kate never knew her own mother much, her mom being killed in a car accident when Kate was a little girl.
I questioned if she could really use what she had, and we did some drills. Karen and I both at one time acted like the bad guys, while Kate had a magic marker. We both attacked her trying to gain control over her, and we both ended up with blue marker streaks all over us. I tried to get control over her "knife" hand, and got sliced for my effort. The little blond ex dancer had some moves. Later she revealed she was on her high school gymnastics team. Okay, she's agile. In theroy she sliced and diced both me and Karen.
But she made both me and Karen think about the tools we recomend to people. Overwhelmingly we recomend a Spyderco this or a Benchmade that if a knife, or a Glock this or SIG that if a handgun. But for a small female, we have to ask ourselves, where are they going to put it? One night when Kate was stayng over for the weekend, I mentioned that a .25 Browning was a bit light for the job, and she stood in front of me and said, "Look at me, where am I going to put anything bigger?" She was dressed in a little sun dress thing with sandels and aside from her purse there was no place to put anything. But yet, the little dress had hidden pockets along the seam that was invisable to a glance, and had small bladed weapons within reach. And Kate is adamint about putting a weapon in her purse. Won't do it. To make it even a little funny, she has a Virginia CCW, as she lives just over the Potomac river a few miles away, in Falls Church Virginia. She carries either her little .25 Baby Browning, or a .22 NAA revolver. Sometimes she does not carry a firearm because of where she is going. Into Washinton D.C. of course, and over here in the peoples republik of Maryland, when she visits us and goes hiking or kayaking with us. But she always has some little edged weapons stashed about her person. Dressing as she does, one would never know it.
Our friendship with Kate has been educational for both me and Karen. It's given me a different insight into the problems females face in trying to armed and protect themselves, while still dressing and acting like a woman. And when I recomend a nice pants suit to conceal a bigger gun, Kate won't do it. She made herself a promise that she was not going to wear a pants suit ever. She says she doesn't go to Balys three times a week and jog 45 minutes every morning to dress like a man.
But one thing she said that I'd never thought of. Kate said that if somebody was going to assault her, they were coming to her. She wouldn't need a weapon to reach across a room, but something she could shove right in thier gut at contact range.
Hearing a womans viewpoint was interesting.
This woman, Kate, is in her mid 40's, but she's been kind of shelterd in one way, in that she married right out of high school, and her husband took care of everything, so she never learned to do anything. Her husband had her employed as an exotic dancer, if one wants to call it that. Her first husband of 20 years did treat her well, but died of panchratic cancer, and her second husband of 2 years was a ------ well, never mind. After having enough of him she left, with some help from a womans support group, and started to put her life back together.
The jist of all this, she had some unique outlooks on the subject of self defense that my better half Karen thought noteworthy. Since she had been employed as a nude dancer in some bad parts of Washinton D.C. she was familiar with dark parking lots with not so nice people lurking about. In light of the recent subject of boxcutters, I found it interesting that Kate carries at least one on her.
Looking at her, I found it hard to visualize her fighting with someone. If she's more than 5' 3" or so, I'd be surprised. But she surprised us. One evening, we were on the subject of defense, and she pulled this cutter out of nowhere. She'd taken needle and thread, and some velcro, and made little hidden pockets in her clothing for small items like boxcutters, a Buck Hartsook, and a Browning .25 auto.
Like I said, she and Karen have developed this relationship, and Karen has become like an adopted step mother, since Kate never knew her own mother much, her mom being killed in a car accident when Kate was a little girl.
I questioned if she could really use what she had, and we did some drills. Karen and I both at one time acted like the bad guys, while Kate had a magic marker. We both attacked her trying to gain control over her, and we both ended up with blue marker streaks all over us. I tried to get control over her "knife" hand, and got sliced for my effort. The little blond ex dancer had some moves. Later she revealed she was on her high school gymnastics team. Okay, she's agile. In theroy she sliced and diced both me and Karen.
But she made both me and Karen think about the tools we recomend to people. Overwhelmingly we recomend a Spyderco this or a Benchmade that if a knife, or a Glock this or SIG that if a handgun. But for a small female, we have to ask ourselves, where are they going to put it? One night when Kate was stayng over for the weekend, I mentioned that a .25 Browning was a bit light for the job, and she stood in front of me and said, "Look at me, where am I going to put anything bigger?" She was dressed in a little sun dress thing with sandels and aside from her purse there was no place to put anything. But yet, the little dress had hidden pockets along the seam that was invisable to a glance, and had small bladed weapons within reach. And Kate is adamint about putting a weapon in her purse. Won't do it. To make it even a little funny, she has a Virginia CCW, as she lives just over the Potomac river a few miles away, in Falls Church Virginia. She carries either her little .25 Baby Browning, or a .22 NAA revolver. Sometimes she does not carry a firearm because of where she is going. Into Washinton D.C. of course, and over here in the peoples republik of Maryland, when she visits us and goes hiking or kayaking with us. But she always has some little edged weapons stashed about her person. Dressing as she does, one would never know it.
Our friendship with Kate has been educational for both me and Karen. It's given me a different insight into the problems females face in trying to armed and protect themselves, while still dressing and acting like a woman. And when I recomend a nice pants suit to conceal a bigger gun, Kate won't do it. She made herself a promise that she was not going to wear a pants suit ever. She says she doesn't go to Balys three times a week and jog 45 minutes every morning to dress like a man.
But one thing she said that I'd never thought of. Kate said that if somebody was going to assault her, they were coming to her. She wouldn't need a weapon to reach across a room, but something she could shove right in thier gut at contact range.
Hearing a womans viewpoint was interesting.
. But it is a similar problem here in FL where an overjacket is "out of place" in the summer heat. And shorts and tees are common. So that rules a lot of carry options.
