Ok, so to start, I get that the article in question appeared in the New York Post, published in, of course New York City, where all things “guns” are strictly verboten, so a New Yorker is naturally going to get creative. But therein lies the problem: When trying to determine or write an article about the best self-defense tools available, there is clearly, one option that trumps all others. The others are nice, maybe even kinda cool. But none of them are a gun. A firearm in virtually any of its many designs and configurations is the best self-defense tool ever created by man and, some bumper sticker enthusiasts might argue, perfected by Samual Colt. In the game of rock, paper, scissors, if you added nuke, which would beat all the others combined, the gun plays that same role in a discussion of self-defense tools.
But, for shits and giggles, let’s play along for a minute.
So the Post article, “How to stay safe with some of the best self-defense tools on the market,” was a nice New York-safe (sort of, more on that in a minute) article by Emma Sutton-Williams. A quick look at Ms. Sutton-Williams’ bio reveals she is an ardent electric scooter rider, a proud dog mom to a designer breed of Mini Sheepadoodle (not sure what that really is though speculating it’s a super ineffective version of a tiny sheep dog mixed with some version of poodle and is likely infinitely cute and hypoallergenic) and is a Julliard-trained violinist (impressive). She is no doubt quite talented, rather smart, exceptionally cultured, fashionably attractive, a solid writer and likely has zero familiarity or knowledge of firearms.
So, she got creative and looked at the typical non-gun items that can be used to knock an attacker senseless or simply attack his (or her) senses. Here was the author’s premise:
“In a world where chaos has taken root, propelled by social media and broadcasted entertainment, we constantly feel its toll on our society. The atmosphere is charged with a fearful undertone, robbing us of tranquility, even joy, if we let it. The world has stopped listening to one another, causing a wake of public shaming, name-calling, and acts of violence.
“In an effort to make our readers feel as safe as possible, we researched the best self-defense tools and techniques to feel protected and empowered. Knowing how to shield yourself is crucial whether you’re walking alone at night or navigating crowded public spaces.”
The Post is doing a little what The Truth About Guns is doing. We want our readers to feel safer, too. We just take a more direct, reliable approach to promoting that safety.
Ms. Sutton-Williams encourages readers to “always run away or hide from threats where possible.” That’s an understandably New York approach where everyone today is taught to acquiesce to threats because their attacker has probably been harmed by some injustice that has made them that way.
And in all honesty, retreat or possibly hiding (though I really don’t like that option because that can go bad on you in an instant if found) are the smarter legal options and certainly retreating is the one that gives you the best odds of living to fight another day. But I read the comments section of this site, and I know, nobody here is going to admit to ever planning on retreating. Most of us are adherents to the Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground principles of law and we believe if someone bad wants to bring it, then we’ll give it to them. We are generous in that respect and for the most point, committed to legally and responsibly protecting ourselves when necessary.
“(B)ut if you have no choice but to face your attacker,” she writes. “We’ve provided a few self-defense tools to keep you alive.” Let’s look at these tools and what the Post has to say about the benefits of each.
Best Taser for Self-Defense – Taser Pulse 2
So, just below the firearm in the use of force continuum is the taser. With this choice, the article is close, but no cigar on top effective self-defense tool. And, it is still not clearly, any more legal than a gun is in that great Metropolis. The city had banned them (legal language that still exists) but a judge in 2019 ruled it unconstitutional for the city to ban them. So, now it appears, the city is not enforcing the rule and New Yorkers can carry them as long as they don’t engage in criminal activities. That’s legal quicksand in that area as what could be determined to be a “criminal activity” is up to the city. Outside of NYC, the Taser Pulse 2, with a price tag right at $400 is just as expensive, if not more expensive, than a number of quality handguns, and still not quite as effective at stopping a serious attack.
We will say, we do still love stun guns, too. They can actually turn a defended attack into a TikTok-worthy video clip as an attacker goes rigid and craps his pants before lying on the ground twitching in anticipation of the police’s arrival.
Best Pepper Spray for Self-Defense – Sabre Pepper Spray, Quick Release Keychain
Pepper spray is also a worthwhile, nonlethal defense tool that can certainly work in a pinch, doesn’t require much training to deploy and isn’t as wrapped up in the legal pitfalls firearm use may be when discharged in a defensive action. It can leave your attacker writhing in absolute agony if he’s not overly hyped on PCP or meth, and unless he has some bizarre allergic reaction, he gets the chance to live until his court date, where in NYC, he may then be seen as the victim and released only to be pepper sprayed again at a later date.
Just watch the winds on those city streets. They can cut through those buildings like canyons and blow back if spraying the wrong direction, which can render you incapacitated instead of your attacker and make you easier pickings than you were when you simply woke up this morning looking to catch the 4 train over to 51st and Lex.
It’s here where the author’s creativity kicked in and things got, well, interesting:
Best Self-Defense Keychain – She’s Birdie
Assuming a piercingly loud noise will be enough to dissuade your attacker, I guess a keychain alarm is better than simply screaming. But my money is on it will just make it easier for them to find your unconscious body after the attacker has finished up. But hey, as the article points out, it does at least come “in stylish, fun shades.” But then so does an SKS Guns Santa Muerte, a tricked-out Colt 1911 in .38 Super that commemorates Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” and can even inspire some felonious attacker to join the celebration as a vaunted honoree if he decides your keychain alarm isn’t enough to change his plans.
Best Concealed Self-Defense Article – CRKT Williams Defense Key
Here’s a name many EDC folks might recognize as CRKT makes cool knives, tools and apparently defensive keys. The Williams Defense Key is like a house key but has a wider grip that fits nicely in your fist and extends between the fingers with a more jagged edge than a standard key. It’s perfect for punching a fresh sucking wound into the esophagus of an attacker or shredding a cornea so eye juice oozes where sight once flowed. Drive it hard enough into the eye with the force of a Katie Taylor headbutt in a Tyson-Paul prelim bout and it’s long enough you might even scrape frontal brain lobe.
It’s a nifty tool, but still forces me to get closer to my attacker than I care to. I want to avoid hands on with my mugger (actually keep him from going hands on) at all costs and keep the distance at least a car length between us and bridgeable by only 600 ft-lbs of launched energy from Grand pap’s Nam-era .45.
More Self-Defense Tools
Additional tools listed in the affiliate-intended article include items from the intriguing to the “hmmm, okay.”
Defender Rings were the intriguing. The company offering rings that would rival a fistful of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl Rings worn at the same time. Made of stainless steel and available in a variety of gold plating, the rings have features that allow you to dig into skin like a short ice pick and potentially fracture nose and cheek bones when the proper force is applied. Again, too hands on.
The article also mentioned a self-defense cane, the use of which has been taught in executive security and defensive classes; a tire thumper, which looks more like a vintage police night stick carried by the late, great Sean Connery in The Untouchables and an odd item to tote around the city unless you want to look like the attacker; an old-school Heavy-Duty 3 D-Cell Maglite that used to be carried by police until they realized more lumens and compact size were a better benefit than a model that served as a secondary baton (Though I do know one retired officer who once used one to successfully subdue a drugged out naked dude. He said it worked quite well putting a crease into a skull like a dry cleaner working on a pair of khakis.); and lastly, with the younger generation’s penchant for hydrating ad nauseam, a BruMate Era 30-ounce tumbler with a handle and straw was recommended as an everyday tool that could be used in a last-ditch effort to bash an attacker in the head. Sure, if you must.
What About a Gun?
So, lots of nifty little self-defense items, but what about the most effective, purpose-built, superiorly designed, reliably performing firearm. When it comes to self-defense, there really is only one choice. It does indeed come with the need for more responsibility and judiciousness in its possible use, but when defending your life or protecting the life of someone you love really matters, there is one item that makes every person alive equal in lethality, is easy for anyone to physically use and can most dependably stop an attacker in his tracks, and that my friends, is the good old basic gun—defending Americans since, well, before we were even called Americans.
More like chaos propelled by the mainstream media. She blamed social media
Media ain’t much of a propellant, I prefer Unique or Bullseye.
Well played sir
When attacked the religious momma skunk told her kits “Let us spray.”
That’s shocking” said the Eel.
OMG I’m outta here” said the Pronghorn.
“dass raysis,” said the debdub.
jr…you are raysis…that’s chiseled.
character counts, something you are sorely lacking.
Debdubs gonna debdub.
wth… possum, is that you?
I fear possum might be in a better place these days.
He’s still here, just like enuf.
Why are these people always so narcissistic and believe what everyone else needs in every situation?
I see all kinds of problems, both practical and legal, with the suggestions. Some were pointed out in this article, such as pepper spray. For some people, such as myself, it has no effect. Tazers don’t work like in the movies. They hurt and can cause a nasty cramp, but that’s about it unless it’s the projectile style, which you can keep zapping them with. Knives are still lethal weapons and can land you in legal hot water. But my biggest issue legally is hitting your attacker in the head with anything; that’s legal hot water because it falls into lethal/significant harm actions.
Lastly, as noted by this author, hands-on is your LAST line of defense and should be avoided whenever possible. Using a firearm in defense of your person does NOT require the discharge of that firearm; simply displaying it may be enough.
At the end of the day, no one, and I do mean no one, has the right to tell another person how they should or should not defend themselves. Have at it if you want to run away or pee your pants. Me? I’m drawing my firearm if I feel the situation requires it.
+1
Damn! Beat me to it!!
“ Why are these people always so narcissistic and believe what everyone else needs in every situation?”
I have been asking myself that question for twenty years.
You see, “displaying MAYBE enough”, just might get you good and dead. It boils down to having the will to defend yourself against someone using deadly physical force against you. Bottom line. With some people that Taser doesn’t work. Most Tasers do have connectors to the gun which can give a second or thrid shock if necessary. Problem is that they do not work well on people who are “high” on drugs or the mentally ill. Pepper Spray has the same problem. I remember on instructor I had in the NYS DOCS who said he could eat the stuff. But the choice of what to use and when is up to the person being attacked. For myself, I carry all three, Taser, pepper spray and my GLOCK Mod 22.
This was a fun read! Of course no mention was made of the ‘non-lethal’ tools commonly available (and often carried) in fly-over country. Things like chainsaws, axes, etc. in addition to various firearms that would make Ms. Sutton-Williams crap her panties at the mere mention of such destructive power in the hands of Randy Redneck and his family. 🙂
Chainsaw? I’ve been looking for a chainsaw holster. Know any good ones?
Attach it to the ubderside of your AR barrel.
The antis seem to think that is a common modification.
ok, her first mistake was this…”In an effort to make our readers feel as safe as possible…”
there is no ‘feel safe’ when it comes to self defense…there is only ‘having the best chance of making you or your loved ones actually safe when the threat shows up.
for example, one can barricade their self in a room and ‘feel safe’ until they start to consider the average room door in a home can be breeched by an attacker brute force in less than 10 seconds.
and all of her ‘selections’ while maybe making one ‘feel’ safe, and rarely in some very isolated incidents might possibly deter an attacker, they do not actually ‘make’ one safer.
Although part of her reasoning may have been somewhat a genuine ‘trying to help’ rather than completly a sales pitch advertisement from which she probably got ‘paid’…. her main audience is gullible people like her who substitute ‘i feelz’ … research shows us that over 89% of people not armed with a firearm and using it for defense, and even if using other things like this author outlines, when subjected to violent attack will suffer serious injury and possibly death.
research also shows us that persons armed with a firearm and using it for defense are ~97% likely to escape any injury or death if violently attacked.
there is a big difference between ‘feel safe’ and actually being safe.
ignore this author, not to slam her but she has no idea about which she writes.
correction for: “research shows us that over 89% of people not armed with a firearm and using it for defense,”
should have been…
research shows us that over 89% of people not armed with a firearm for defense,
paracord padlok.
Remarkably effective for how unassuming it is. Bike locks have been used similarly but will always have a preference for the old mag lights. In the end NYC effective self defense starts with move and get a new job. The ones that can afford security are not effected and the ones that can afford a gun often can’t afford the inevitable lawsuit. There are other cities like this of course but NYC is particularly nasty about it.
“In the end NYC effective self defense starts with move and get a new job.”
Wisdom.
Only slightly better outside of NYC for the rest of NY so not that much wisdom to be found here.
Well then a move out of state.
In progress….. slowly. Getting property out of state then reconsidering career options but will likely finish up with NYS for retirement as that really doesn’t transfer elsewhere. Just a matter of minimizing risks and maximizing options.
Thanks a lot…all the big city crowd who don’t feel safe are moving to safer states but bringing their preconceived big city “wisdom” with them. Seems to me some states who bear the brunt of the fleeers should have classes on how to live with your neighbors in a free state. Break thru their former indoctrination.
Good luck with that. I would ignore it and continue with my libertarian end of conservative either way just as commies would ignore it and continue to be commies. Either way the region would almost always welcome the increase in home values and tax revenue. Sucks but have seen it play out enough to realize only violence would change the pattern.
…. ” bridgeable only by 600 ft-lbs launched from granpappy’s ‘Nam era .45″
Maybe if stoked with 45Supers, as the average “Nam’ era” 45 ACP runs about 350 ft lbs or less. Or, maybe he meant granpappy’s ‘Nam era 1911 with a new 10mm top end on it.
Maybe Howlett is thinking a double tap? (two shots, not the ammo)
Putting .45 Supers in a “Nam era” M1911A1 sounds like a good way to blow it up, and there is no such thing as “Nam era” anyway unless he meant a true Series 70 or a 1960s pre-S70, since M1911A1 production ended in 1945. .45 Super (and .460 Rowland) conversions are supposed to be done only on guns that have been checked out by a gunsmith or are on an approved list from the conversion manufacturer. I wouldn’t try to converting an old 1911 to 10mm either, as 10mm uses different feed ramp dimensions and also tends to crack original-style 1911 frames.
Anyway, this was probably just hyperbole on Doug’s part.
That’s a very nice looking 1911. Why It’d be just a pleasure to be shot with that.
Purdy.
Yes, that one would be all ut guaranteed to disappear out of evidence lockup.
oops – “all but” guaranteed
The only viable method of self-defense available to New Yorkers is to move out of the city. I was born and raised in a blue state hellhole. That is your only alternative if you want to stay out of jail.
“…nobody here is going to admit to ever planning on retreating.”
I had to run from a small crowd near downtown one summer night. I was able to outrun them. I was 12 btw and in good shape. I didn’t recognize any of them. They were much older. They spoke to me as I was entering a convenience store, asking to see my skateboard. They came after me as I left.
From the article:
“While many people rely on pepper spray, keys, knives, or phone apps for defense…”
Phone apps? Lol what?
wrong turn into a cul de sac in cabrini green ’79. got everyone’s attention on the pickleball court. rode over the curb and straight across the broken glass turfed polo field.
not the first time i skeedaddled.
At least she did not mention that POS thing that Sean Hannity promotes with such (well paid, I assume) vigor.
It called the Byrna and for most New Yorkers it’s an easy option. Hannity is cring when he talks about anything gun related. You are right about him being a shill, anything for a buck.
Barley and I were at the Army-Navy store yesterday. We noticed ‘hollow point shotgun slugs’. What? Because getting hit with a regular slug does not make a sufficiently large hole?
Barley speculated that it might be designed for the apocalypse. “Who knows what fearsome creatures will emerge from that spectral wormhole? Tyranosnails, Bananasaurus, Octozombies? We’ll need ammo that can do massive damage.”
So we purchased the entire inventory.
There’s all kinds of fun things you can do with shotgun shells. Including explosive slugs. Videos at the usual url. 😉
gunnygene,
Opportunities for more fun at the range!
Will take a closer look a shotgun ammo variety.
And here you thought 45 slugs were flying ashtrays…
Those stores are pretty cool. We (Dad, 3 sons, and first grandson who was maybe 3 or 4) went to Glen’s Surplus in Shelby many years ago. Grandson polished every garden tractor seat he could find, crawled into every tent and sleeping bag, and put his fingerprints on every tool or part that he could reach. When we got to cutting tools and similar dangerous things, I set him on my shoulders so he wouldn’t grab something and hurt himself. He got fussy after about 10 minutes, so I put him down and asked him if he was going to keep touching things. He hung his head and sobbed “yes.” Well, what can you do with that, so we cut him loose again but kept a tighter rein on him.
Hawkeye,
Story brought a big smile!
i needed a big ass combo wrench. took kiddo (’bout 3yrs old at the time) to the big box. standing in front of the display he grabbed a 1 15/ 16″, the one i needed. squatting down the aisle was an 8yr oldish kid so i asked my boy, “is that the one you want? ok, let’s go.” other kids eyes got big.
“I’m an engineer, I solve problems.” “What if some big, mean mother Hubbard wants to tear my a structurally superfluous new behind? Answer, use a gun. And if that don’t work? Use more gun.”
I’ve seen pepper spray, tasers and firearms fail. However, a Mag Lite to the noggin worked every time I saw it applied.
I usually have a knife & Sabre Red pepper GEL thing on me unless perusing a COP station. I did carry both on election day. In a po-lice station.I mostly pocket a gat carry a gat especially in Indiana(God’s country!)
Gadsden Flag,
Interesting observation on the Mag Lite situation. By happenstance the other day, I went out to my front yard to pick up dog doodoo in the dark and brought a Mag Lite with me. For whatever reasons, that Mag Lite always starts out bright and then goes dim after about two seconds. I had reached my limit with that thing which was useless at that point. In a fit of frustration and bad form, I threw it down onto my paved driveway as hard as I could. That light hit hard and went flying into my landscaping. To my surprise and delight, it was now working at full brightness!
I was amazed that slamming that thing onto my pavement as hard as I could did not damage it. That tells me that they would hold up very well against a human attacker.
I’ve seen the opposite. Drunk guy in college tried to take on two security guys. One security guy swings his maglite, drunk guy tries to duck it and gets crowned. End cap, D cells, spring, and spare bulb go flying. It did take the fight out of the drunk.
GF – I’ll neither confirm nor deny that a cranial application ‘can’ be effective but will add that early on (’74) in my career I was taught that such application can also fail AND tends to lacerate the scalp – LOTS of blood which looks much worse than it really is, especially when the cell phone video shows up on the evening news. I ‘suspect’ that you know of several other sensitive areas where such strikes do (usually) work.
One of my previous organizations now limits flashlights to either 2 D or 3 C cell models to minimize head strikes.
My uncle worked for St Louis MPD during the 60s and 70s, and he always said the Kell Light was the best thing ever.
those are designed as clubs that happen to contain a bulb.
tsb – I’ll neither confirm nor deny that the bulb in a Kelite has been known to break when performing a brachial plexus strike (or so I’ve been told ;-)). The newer lites with LED bulbs seem to be a bit more durable.
More than one attorney has gotten a sustained judgement against an officer charged with ‘police brutality’ by taking apart a metal flash light in front of a jury and equating it to a ‘lead pipe’.
I kept an old car expandable radio antenna in my truck. It does not look out of place and if you ever got a whipping with a car antenna, well you will have some serious welts. That was before I was 21. Since then, I have been carrying concealed every day for the last 44 years.
In locations where it is impossible to possess a firearm for self-defense, my second choice is a cane which is incredibly sturdy and optimized for self-defense. Being optimized for self-defense, it has some serious weight to it and appears to be unbreakable. I am having a very hard time imagining anyone shrugging off blows from that thing, which would be almost guaranteed to break bones, especially in the arms.
Using a cane for self-defense also increases (ever so slightly) the distance at which you can strike your attacker, compared to knives and other hand-held items.
A cane yes.
But how about an umbrella?
A Penguin umbrella, with purple nerve gas coming out the end.
Henh henh henh.
Holy broiled batwings Batman.
Or the Eastern Bloc assassination umbrella that fired a metal pellet containing ricin into the victim.
susan smith denied parole, perp who kidnapped and murdered Laken Riley found guilty…Both should face a firing squad. Meanwhile the perp who butchered three citizens in NYC receives three hots and a cot. Plenty more out there…guaranteed.
Anything that a man wears for his defense, or takes in his hands, or uses in his anger, to cast at or strike at another.
-or-
like the picture shows:
a 1911
Does she know that some of those rings might be deemed ‘Metal knuckles’ under the law and thus might be illegal ?
In some states/cities, of course YMMV according to your geographic location.
Wait- the sheepadoodle is a Julliard trained violinist?
Those violin bows could be dangerous.
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