The Best Self-Defense Tools to Carry

The Self-Initiative Project, Podcast 18, The Best Self-Defense Tools to Carry

Guns, knives, OC (pepper) spray, personal alarms, finger grips for house keys, hard plastic shaped like cat heads with pointy ears, rape whistles, kubatons, brass 'paper weights,' and others...

Whatever it is, we have likely heard of or seen many of these self-defense tools. It seems they will try to sell anything as a viable self-defense option to be your go-to choice for protecting yourself. They may even try, directly or indirectly, to convince you their product is the best to have for self-defense purposes.

Maybe you will not get to that firearm in time. Maybe that sharp-eared cat object will get you in more legal trouble than you realized if you use it. Maybe that alarm noise is just going to agitate an attacker while everyone else ignores it. Maybe that pepper spray does not work so well because you spray yourself by mistake or miss your target entirely.

I am going to suggest and try to convince you of something different. Awareness (situational) and avoidance...  We have all heard about them before, so this will not be the first time these topics have been discussed. However, I am here to tell you there are a lot of things that have gone wrong before having to use any one of the tools listed above becomes an option.

Knowing where the exits are, noticing persons out of place, not walking down that dark alleyway even though it is a short-cut, listening to your intuition, or not vacationing in questionable areas are all examples of things that can keep or get you out of trouble before trouble even gets started.

Situational awareness and avoidance are probably 2 of if not the best 2 'tools' you have or should put into your self-defense arsenal. With a little practice and effort, you can easily incorporate them into your plan.

The best things about practicing situational awareness and avoidance is that while they both take some effort, they cost nothing; and both can save you a lot of hassle by keeping you out of situations where the other tools may need to come into play.

While they cannot solve or prevent every issue, situational awareness and avoidance should always be your primary, carry 'tools.'

Stay frosty.

Thanks for listening.