How many of you carry weapons?

[konghan]

Doors and corners can be usefull to defend yourself...
Once in Payatas (Philippines) I saw two guys quarrel in the street, one draws a knives and rushes forward, the other guy runs staright away into a house, draws his own knive, hid behind the door, uses the door as a shield and slashed towards his opponent. The agressor gave up and left as he knew he would get hit if he tried to pass the door.

Anything & everything can be use as a weapon of self defense.

[VT3]

There are many things to consider when I make a choice to carry a knife. Fixed-blades are stronger and generally preferable for self-defense, but they are less likely to be legal. It is a lot easier, when confronted with law enforcement scrutiny, to justify the presence of a folding utility knife and/or tactical folder than to justify the presence of a fixed-blade knife. Most tactical folders can be seen as utility pieces, but a fixed blade on any suburbanite or city dweller will be seen as a weapon only.

Depending on how you conduct your life, you might find that the knife you've chosen to carry is easy to tote some days but more difficult on others, depending on your wardrobe and activities. A knife comes in handy for all sorts of random tasks like cutting a string, or opening a package. It can also come in handy in an emergency, which need not involve a human assailant, and emergencies are by their nature unforseen, so one should carry a knife all the time.

Obviously, if you cannot lay your hands on your weapon, it is useless. Equally important, if you cannot retain it, then it is likewise useless.

Your favorite knife may have the longest and sharpest blade available. It may have the finest lock money can buy. But if you cannot keep it in your hand, then it might as well be a spoon. Making sure you keep your wepon in your own hand is something to consider when choosing a knife that has a good grip and non slip texture. The most expensive knife money can buy is worth less than zero if it is lying on the ground 10 feet away from you.

[Tant01]

But one must ask the question; Is this more or less effective than my bare hands. So while a simple piece of standard size paper might in some exotic way be used as a weapon it is probally less effective than your bare hands.

I think there's a "reasonable" limit to his "anything"... Personally I like gravity and hard surfaces...You can almost always bank on one of them to do the most of the work for you.

[LatinoHeat]

Carry Conceal Permit.

Well when I lived in the States I had a carry conceal permit .
And I completed The Firearms Safety Course.
I was living in Texas were Firearms Laws are the way they should be.
I also agree with The Right to bear arms & The Death Penalty.
I am happy to say I never once had to use my firearm in a defense situation.
I now live in Canada were Firearms Laws are a little Different however one can still have a Firearms Permit & must also register there weapon.

[Halo]

a knife strike to the heart has a much lower chance of killing someone than a hit to the neck or head. the best way to go IF YOU USE A WEAPON is to parry whatever attack they throw at you and then hold them in a position where you COULD hit them in a fatal or severe place and just "tickle" them with a knife point that way you can get his weapon get him to stand down and maybe even hand him over to the police

PS: this is fairly hypothetical so i'll give some general advice, IF YOU ARE FIGHTING AGAINEST A KNIFE YOU WILL GET CUT in most situations therefore if your going to fight a knife-holder position yourself to get hit in an arm or leg rather than the chest, the chest (and stomach) have vital orgins behind the muscle your arms and legs while important will have a MUCH lower chance of permanent harm (i've been cut with a knife myself BADLY the blade went through my entire forearm and the knife-user cut a fairly long straight line after that)

PS2: the last part of that is irrrevelant i know but i just want to get the point across that i know what i'm talking about

[Halo]

a knife strike to the heart has a much lower chance of killing someone than a hit to the neck or head. the best way to go IF YOU USE A WEAPON is to parry whatever attack they throw at you and then hold them in a position where you COULD hit them in a fatal or severe place and just "tickle" them with a knife point that way you can get his weapon get him to stand down and maybe even hand him over to the police

PS: this is fairly hypothetical so i'll give some general advice, IF YOU ARE FIGHTING AGAINEST A KNIFE YOU WILL GET CUT in most situations therefore if your going to fight a knife-holder position yourself to get hit in an arm or leg rather than the chest, the chest (and stomach) have vital orgins behind the muscle your arms and legs while important will have a MUCH lower chance of permanent harm (i've been cut with a knife myself BADLY the blade went through my entire forearm and the knife-user cut a fairly long straight line after that)

PS2: the last part of that is irrelivant i know but i just want to get the point across that i know what i'm talking about

[Freedom]

Someone may have already posted this, but i think it is worth bearing in mind.

'Its better to be tried by twelve, than carried by six'

[DVSJ]

I was just curious has to how many of you actually carry weapons. I know I'm posting this in the Filipino MA forum so I'm going to get a biased answer, but I wanted to know everyone's opinions on this.

I've trained in Pambuan Arnis for about the last year, but I've never carried a blade and I don't plan to. The only weapon I actually carry is a yawarra attached to my key chain and that's my weapon of last resort.

Why no blade, you ask? Because I personally feel that carrying a blade, I would be tempted to use it. If a guy pulls a knife on me, there's a good chance he's just trying to intimidate and I should be able to see it coming. Hopefully I'll be able to talk the person down and if not, a quick eye whip from my keys should give me enough time to run. If he's too close and we're in the heat of combat and he pulls it and sticks me, it's probably going to happen to fast for me to draw a weapon anyway.

Alternately, if he pulls a knife, and I pull one, my opponent now realizes his life is in danger and whereas, before, he may not have planned on using that knife, he's now pretty sure that he has to. Its the same reason why cops tell many convenience store owners to not carry guns. If a guy comes into rob you, 99% of the time, he'll take the money and leave. But the moment he sees the weapon it becomes a fight for his life and he's alot more inclined to use that weapon.

There's also a very large concern about going to jail. I'm a law student and a martial artist so when I was taught how to do legal research and I went and investigated my local assault laws. In my state, you can only use as much force as is necessary to end the situation, nothing more, and brandishing a weapon is enough to constitute assault.. I feel that if I have a knife and a guy comes at me, I may be tempted to pull it and rather than my attacker assaulting me, it now becomes me committing aggravated assault and looking at a felony arrest.

Anyway, just looking for a nice friendly debate. I'm not trying to push my views on anyway, I was just curious.

This is a good post.No I don't carry a concealed weapon.Just about anything can be used as a weapon...the mind being the most dangerous.If one ever gets into a situation where theres no where to go but stand his/her ground while the attacker has a weapon and gives you enough time to pull one out yourself(AH,but you don't have one)you'll wish you did.On the other hand,"If he's too close and we're in the heat of combat and he pulls it and sticks me, it's probably going to happen to fast for me to draw a weapon anyway."

[little bad boy]

i bring my expandable baton everywhere i go. it also doubles as a flashlight, so its cool.

what it looks like? check out www.littlebadboy.net

[RapidAssault16]

I love to collect weapons of all shapes and sizes, but for personal carry I'm a bit more practical.

I used to carry a medium Cold Steel Voyager, with a blade of 4 inches on my person at all times. It was a half serrated blade. However, I screwed up sharpening the blade and I just really messed up the knife. The plain edge is still pretty damn sharp but the serrated edge aint what it used to be. I also carried a 6 inch pocket stick made out of wood dowel and a clear-colored Comtech Stinger on my keychain. If I had the cash, I'd probably buy another knife, but at a certain price. I live most of the year out of South Orange, NJ...right next to Ironbound Newark. Muggings are commonplace around there and as much as I try to avoid trouble (and I do), I'd rather have a weapon and not need it...than need a weapon, and not have one.

Looking at it from a legal perspective, carrying a tactical folder and actually using it on another human being in self-defense is still very risky here in NJ, especially if you do have a Kali/Escrima/Arnis background with blade training (the court system would just eat that up).

Nowadays, I still carry my 6 inch homemade wooden pocket stick in my pocket. It's very innocuous and most people don't give it a second thought. I still carry my clear-colored Comtech Stinger around everywhere I go. Why clear-colored? Well, it's the most innocuous and non-threatening looking color, which...on a psychological level, doesn't bring too much attention to those who see it. However, since I am driving a lot nowadays, I keep a 20 inch rattan stick in my car. It serves two purposes: 1) The obvious self-protection element of keeping a weapon on you at all times 2) It's short size allows me to practice Arnis techniques in a very confined space (like a car). I like to work my twirling and deflection techniques in my car during a traffic jam. It catches a few eyes (even a cop saw me once), but it has never gotten me into any trouble. They just see some weird guy twirling a bamboo stick in his car lol.

I also like the 20 inch stick because it is also very innocuous in nature. In addition to being a martial artist, I am also a musician and most people who see the stick often think its a drumstick. On the most practical, combative level...the 20 inch stick is very easy to carry (especially in my backpack), it's very light for everyday carry, and it moves a lot faster than a larger stick. Of course, I lose a bit of distance with it, but in those up-close situations, it works wonders.

The best part about these types of impact weapons is that they are very vesatile. While you can obviously whack and smash with these weapons, you can also use the stick to lock, takedown, and restrain an opponent without complete lethal force.

[LatinoHeat]

The best method of Self Defense = Becoming trained in Firearms here are some Links

Canada Firearms Training Schools Links:

http://www.wssclub.com/links.htm

http://www.handgunsmegasite.com/shooting/

http://valleyfinder.com/ovpl/OVPL_Teams.htm

http://www.recreation-finder.info/Guns/Competition_Shooting/Clubs/

http://www.valleyfinder.com/ovpl/events.htm

http://huntershooter.acornhosting.com/old/links/shootingclubs.htm

http://www.shootmagazine.com/links/clubs_intl.htm

Firearms Training USA Links:

http://gunsinfo.org/training.html

http://www.gunsgunsguns.com/gunhoo/o.clubs.htm

http://www.usashooting.com/usashooting.cfm

http://www.wheretoshoot.org/

http://www.ipsc.org/

http://hunting.about.com/

http://hunting.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=Gun%20Clubs&SUName=hunting&TopNode=3412&type=1

http://www.nesportsman.com/nh/nhclubs.shtml

http://www.nra.org/

Firearms Training UK Links:

http://www.trymysport.co.uk/shooting.htm

http://www.lincolnshireshootingground.co.uk/lincolnshireshootingground/clay-pigeon-shooting-clubs.html

http://www.where2shoot.info/

http://www.marksmen.co.uk/rifle.shtml

http://recreation.allfind.us/c/596b1

http://www.minsterleyranges.com/

http://www.recreation-finder.info/Guns/Organizations_and_Clubs/United_Kingdom/

[BoarSpear]

Wtf

( a.) Knife fight better than your opponent) I believe the whole point of training is A
( b.) Not have the weapon taken away from you) once again see A.
( c.) Not accidently stab yourself.) do you use a spoon in place of a fork? if you honestly fear this for gods sake dont buy a gun! maybe a stick on a string is a good idea for you. If more people were trained and armed 9/11 could have been different it was legal at that time to carry your knife on board..you know what they say use it or lose it? well we wernt ready as a people and were are still not ready. Train for the worst but hope for the best. If you leave your fate in the hands of the defect who has pulled a weapon on you because you trust his morales and ethics to only take your money you go right ahead.

[HtTKar]

If more people were trained and armed 9/11 could have been different it was legal at that time to carry your knife on board

I understand your point. I too believe that all americans should be trained in martial arts. For men that are not trained, in a tragic situation, will flee and trample each other. However, this statement is a little touchy. I believe the reason the terrorists were not attacked on the plane was due to the threat of explosives on that plane. It was not just the box-cutters, but the threat of something graver. If only they knew. Beleive me, New Yorkers are not a bunch of sissies. You hold a box-cutter up to most New Yorkers and your going to be fighting.

[BoarSpear]

TRUST IN THE GOODNESS OF MANKIND or prayer?

SoOO..you believe in trusting the bad guy to actually be a good guy on the inside and not really hurt you with the box cutters and possible explosives. The day was no doubt a bad one and there were humans from across the globe on those planes that day not just New yorkers. The point was though instead of being armed so we could protect ouselves somehow we seem to have been dis-armed. Somehow when i may be attacked and killed it seems somepeople believe we are safer unarmed. We all have the right and obligation to learn to defend ourselves. This is still a free country. Perhaps thought should be put into defending against more that drunks, muggers and bjj vs mt vs cma and more on victim vs armed bad guy with ill intention. whats the best tool for that job in a Mall or school or your job when the nut starts shooting, stabbin, etc? I prefer the FMAs and a really sharp carry. TRAIN FOR THE WORST, HOPE FOR THE BEST.

[Batleth]

I always have something with me, wether its a small knife like a Spyderco Delica or Ken Onion Scallion, or something a little bigger like a Cold Steel Land and Sea Rescue knife. I also carry either an aluminum kubotan on my keychain or my Ti-Bop in a pocket. I've got a Keen Edge Kerambit trainer on order and am considering using it as keyring/kubotan type device.