[bane]

OK, so my wife and I just completed our CC class on Saturday (I filed my app. in-person this morning), and during the course our instructor recommended always having a less-lethal or non-lethal tool to utilize in situation where full deadly-force may not be warranted or also in order to aid the deployment of your firearm if it IS needed.

In that vein we chose to buy a small tac-light for the house to help us in night-time situations and we also chose to buy 2 of the smallest OC canisters the shop sold. The ones we purchased came with a key ring and another clip-detachable key-ring.

My question is this... which of you carry OC on at least a semi-regular basis and when you do carry it how do you usually carry it? Right now I'm carrying it attached to my key-ring but it feels a bit clunky that way and I think it will have a tendency to get left behind whenever I'm not the one driving.

For those who don't carry OC but choose to carry some other non-firearm supplement, what do you carry and how?

For those who are going to answer "I just carry my fists" or something similar... yeah, I' already familiar with that response! :lol:

 

[Cinhil]

I carry either an expandable baton, solid aluminum head & body sword cane, or a good folding knife or hunting knife.

 

[bane]

I carry either an expandable baton, solid aluminum head & body sword cane

Holy crap, now that's serious business!!!! YIKES!!! :wink:

 

[tapehoser]

I carry a knife with at least a 3" blade in the pouch meant for my extra magazine.

 

[Cinhil]

I carry either an expandable baton, solid aluminum head & body sword cane

Holy crap, now that's serious business!!!! YIKES!!! :wink:

I know. That's what happens when you've been assaulted before--you go prepared! (and I am a large man, 275 & 6'2")

 

[Guest]

I carry a pocket knife with me EVERYWHERE because it's too useful to not.

I'm considering getting a longer blade and trying to figure out a concealing method for it.

 

[Ruger Collector]

Whatever you feel comfortable with, just remember to get training and practice frequently with any weapon you carry just as you would a firearm.

With the OC spray a determined attacker will try to grab at it before you can deploy it, possibly getting the chemicals on the hands that seconds later might be on you or your wife. Not to mention the fact that you'll be at the mercy of the wind in an outdoor situation.

Besides having a gun on me constantly I usually carry 3" or larger folding knife. But the possibilities for LL defense tools are endless. For the home I highly recommend one or two big dogs.

 

[bane]

Whatever you feel comfortable with, just remember to get training and practice frequently with any weapon you carry just as you would a firearm.

Great point!

With the OC spray a determined attacker will try to grab at it before you can deploy it, possibly getting the chemicals on the hands that seconds later might be on you or your wife. Not to mention the fact that you'll be at the mercy of the wind in an outdoor situation.

I've heard these arguments against OC before. However, in my experience I don't think it's likely that they are valid arguments. In the military I had to go through some introductory OC training in order to be certified to carry it. Part of that training included standing on the bow of our ship (outside, for you land-locked lubbers!) while it was underway (not full cruising speed, for safety so we wouldn't accidentally stumble overboard... but I recall a pretty decent wind) at a distance of more than 20 feet (in my estimate, though I never measured it... however the width of our ship at the point we were standing I know to be about 50 feet and from my recollection the distance covered between me and my "assailant" covered at least half that width) and being sprayed directly above the eyes as I advanced rapidly (though not running, again for safety) towards him with a baton. I can tell you from my experience the pain that kicked in within about 1 second was so immediate and intense that it caused me to suddenly and momentarily involuntarily close my eyes. In that time-period, sure, I might have some on my hands and GROPING for the assailant but he can easily side-step me in my blindness and assault me from the rear (which my trainer did).

I doubt any reasonably quick-thinking person that deployed OC would actually get some rubbed on their face by their assailant.

We also had a handful of other guys surrounding us to provide safety and help ensure neither of us got too close to the edge and toppled overboard... I don't recall any reports that any of them were hit with wind-driven overspray. And I recall that it was fairly windy at the time b/c after each trainee went through that ordeal they flushed their head in 2 buckets of water and went up to the very tip of the bow where we hung over the railing for an hour or more allowing the cool strong wind to relieve us of some of the pain (everytime we tried to leave the windy bow the pain was too great, forcing us to return to the bow).

So, in theory those reasons sound pretty plausible... however, in practice, I doubt they'd be any more likely to occur than an assailant taking your knife or firearm from you and turning them on you... and yet we carry those too!

Personally, I'm a fan of OC b/c I know (unless you are that 1% of the population who is immune or extremely hopped up) how debilitating it can be and yet how fairly simple it is to deploy. Even if a guy struggles to "fight through it", which you can do, the few seconds for him to realize what's happened and overcome the pain buys me time to distance myself and draw my firearm.

For the home I highly recommend one or two big dogs.

Haha... it's sad that my HOA doesn't allow big dogs... what about a 10# Rat Terrier??? She *THINKS* she's big and mean and would NOT hesitate to take on either one of your big dogs... do you think she counts???? :lol:

 

[Ruger Collector]

Do you expect the small canisters to perform as well as the GI versions? I've seen the cans of bear spray lose range in a good breeze. But as long as you practice with it and know how it's going to perform, it's another great tool for you.

 

[Ruger Collector]

Haha... it's sad that my HOA doesn't allow big dogs... what about a 10# Rat Terrier??? She *THINKS* she's big and mean and would NOT hesitate to take on either one of your big dogs... do you think she counts???? :lol:

Better than a cat! :lol:

 

[bane]

Do you expect the small canisters to perform as well as the GI versions?

Good point, I hadn't thought about that... guess I should consider testing one, huh??? Thanks for bringing that up, I didn't realize the civ. versions might be inferior...

 

[Mr. Magnum]

I carry a Damascus steel butterfly knife. It resides in my pocket next to my wallet.

I'm also a firm believer in being trained if your going to carry a knife for defense. If done properly, disabling & crippling can happen quickly after a properly made attack, but rendering someone no longer a threat or dead is rarely done quickly. A knife fight is almost always a very messy & painful affair that should never be be attempted without some knowledge on the subject.

 

[leppardlady79]

Hi all, the new girl on the block here, I carry a 3 inch five blade pocket knife, small leatherman, a six inch lock blade and a police pepper spray, (hubby in military brother in law enforcement can't say how I ended up with it :wink: ) The exception to this is of course when I travel by air. Since we all have times when we go unarmed we need to get training. Any given situation offers a raft of available weapons just in the area around us, if you doubt me watch Jacki Chan, funny but cool use of whats in a room. I hope you all encourage your wives/girlfriends/daughters to take some kind of self defense course. I work late night in our family gas station, in my reach at any time are keys, scissors, baton, heavy computer screen (and just for kicks an AK47) but the real issue is my ability to overcome the natural aversion to harming others and fight back. We are trained to be too nice and so women in particular become victims; instead of being able to bite off body parts and gouge out eyes. The ultimate weapon I carry is my brain and conditioned reflexs.

 

[apollosmith]

HI work late night in our family gas station, in my reach at any time are keys, scissors, baton, heavy computer screen (and just for kicks an AK47)

That there's funny! From someone that shoots a .500, I guess the AK is really just for plinking, right?

 

[leppardlady79]

Yeah the AK is just a Little gun :lol: I notice some comments about pepper spray. The military spray is capcicum/mace/cs and is POWERFUL. Took my hubby 4 days to get over his certification test spray. None of the civilian sprays that I know of have that combo plus they do not spray as far. Most are just the capsicum (pepper oil) A guy who is high or angry can overcome the capsicum alone spray but it can buy you seconds so still worth having.

 

[bane]

Yeah the AK is just a Little gun :lol: I notice some comments about pepper spray. The military spray is capcicum/mace/cs and is POWERFUL. Took my hubby 4 days to get over his certification test spray. None of the civilian sprays that I know of have that combo plus they do not spray as far. Most are just the capsicum (pepper oil) A guy who is high or angry can overcome the capsicum alone spray but it can buy you seconds so still worth having.

Thanks for the clarification LL... though I recall my trainers saying the version we were using was just pepper oil, I don't always trust the level of knowledge of military Gunner's Mates... some are EXCELLENT, but plenty of them just go off of hear-say.

You are right about overcoming the spray... we were forced to do so and fight with batons to demonstrate we could still defend ourselves... but it was extremely hard and had the other guy have had a gun, I'd have been done in for sure!

Like your husband, it took me a while to recover also. After several hours outside I went inside and propped myself under an A/C vent and passed out for about 2-3 hours. Afterwards I felt pretty good so I left the room to go back to my watchstation and less than 1 minute later my entire face was burning again and my eyes were tearing up so much I had to hold one eye open with my fingers while I kept walking... it was aweful! And it kept coming back every time I showered, washed my face for at least 24 hours. Not fun.

 

[Hunter]

I carry OC and a folding knife. Whatever you carry, get familiar with how to use it and where you would carry it. Spend a little time practicing and deploying them from where you would carry them. I have my OC and knife on my "off" side so I can keep my weapon hand free.

 

[bane]

I carry OC and a folding knife.

Hunter, this is exactly what I'm doing. Although they are currently on my strong-side b/c I don't yet have my permit.

*HOW* do *YOU* carry these??? Currently I carry my OC "dongle" key-ring attached to a hole in the handle of my knife to make grabbing them to leave the house less problematic. The OC I have has a clip that allows me to fairly simply unclip it from the rest of the "dongle". I carry the two in one of my pants pockets. The problem is, if I need to deploy either of them extremely fast the other one is left swinging below and if one were to be grabbed or knocked away from me, well there goes the other one. So it's not the perfect setup. How do *YOU* do it???

 

[Hunter]

My knife has a pocket clip on it, I clip it in my front left pocket on the left side. I also carry the key ring size OC in the same pocket. The OC doesn't have a clip on it, I just lay it down in my pocket so the top is to the right. I can grab it with my left hand and use my thumb to activate it.

 

[Tarzan1888]

One knife in my left front pocket and one in a lether holster on my right hip.

Tarzan