limatunes

This is what I get for being away for a day. Thanks for all the great responses.

And for those who admitted that they'd never thought about it before or determined to do better with protecting their weak sides. GREAT! This thread has served its purpose then!

I agree with what QK said about speaking for yourself here. I would hate to stab anyone. I carry a knife for the same reason I carry a gun, not because I want to use it but because if I have to use it I'd rather have it than not.

But as for the rest of what you said about justifiable force, that's true. The more force you use the more you have to justify it, but I don't think that would be hard for someone like me.

I think full grown men tend to look around at one another more as equals and think, "Well, I don't need to use a defensive tool because one good clock on the side of the head is all it would take from me."

That very well may be true, but I don't see full grown men as my equals when it comes to disparity of force. I don't fear them, but I respect the fact that they are bigger and stronger than me. One good left hook from me MAY NOT be all it takes and I might be in worse shape than I was before because instead of helping my situation I've just made my attacker more angry. No, I'm not taking any chances (especially not with this little one growing in my tummy). I'm going to end the situation as quickly and effectively as possible. I may hate what needs to be done, but I'd hate it worse if I lost my life or the life of my child because I didn't fight hard enough or mean enough.

I also don't think I'd have too hard of a time justifying that to a jury.

This is kind of what I was talking about before. You are probably perfectly able to defend yourself hand-to-hand if need be. In fact, you, like my husband, could probably kick some serious butt if all that happened was someone just grabbed your arm.

I've seen my husband fight once and it wasn't even a "real" fight, but he had his opponent on the ground so fast and in a choke-hold so secure the kid's legs were flopping around like a dying fish.

I don't think I'd have QUITE that easy of a time of it. When JD and I "grapple" for training purposes he sometimes has to stifle laughs because I'm really trying my hardest and he's barely fazed. That is why when we "fight" he emphasizes using angles, pressure points and blows to weak points instead of brute strength. I'm no match for any tough guy when it comes to physical strength, but his groin is no match for my knee either (or his eyes to my thumb and so on).

I think it could be both. Certainly training should be used to prepare you for such an incident should you be unarmed, but the hardware can really give you an edge you may never have had and may never get if you didn't have it.

For instance, let's say you sprained your shoulder playing sports and while it's not a permanent disability it certainly hinders your ability to use its full capacity against your opponent. Suddenly, a tool, could REALLY help you out in that situation.

Or like me. Three and a half months pregnant, sick, weak, off-balance, adapting to a changing body and scared to death for my baby's well-being (especially if some creep grabs me). The little life within me is very fragile and so am I right now. In normal circumstances I very well may be able to use a trained move or technique to break his hold and run away, but yesterday I could barely walk across an airport with JD supporting me and helping me I was in so much pain and discomfort much less run away from a determined attacker.

Sometimes a piece of hardware can really help you out! I'd certainly do all I could without the hardware, but it's nice to have.

Yes, we do. Not every couple gets to do force-on-force in their living room willingly. I, for one, am so grateful to have a knowledgeable and skilled husband who will take the time to answer my questions and guide me through what I need to fight back if I have to.

He's also my scenario/idea dummy. Poor guy is getting way to used to me walking out of the bedroom with a blue gun, handing it to him and saying, "Okay, I want to see if this will work. Point this at me from about three feet away and let's see if I can get it away from you," or "Alright, pin me down. I want to try to fight you off."

We haven't done any of the really cool stuff since I got pregnant but we had quite a few interesting sessions of gun retention that left us rolling around on the floor, wrestling, all sorts of cool stuff.

You can speculate all you want but until you try to do it you don't really see JUST how good (or bad) your idea is.

I'm about to find out about all of this first hand. And I'm sure it's going to be every bit of a challenge as you say.

This is why I did specifically practice with my husband, JD, to get some hand-to-hand practice in for those times when I just can't carry a weak-sided tool.

I would love to carry one 24/7, but the fact of the matter is that's just not possible. I hope I can find a way to do it when I have children, but we'll certainly have to see how that will work out.

I agree with you on this. Far better to use what you can, quickly and get away clean than risk the possibility of getting chased, recaptured, and this time by a more aggressive attacker who's not going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

However, I don't necessarily agree with this.

If she had the mindset to survive she very well may have found something. And even if she fought and was STILL killed at least she would have gone down fighting.

When I was little (around nine or ten) my sister and I got into an argument about whether or not we would fight if someone tried to kidnap us.

My sister said, "Someone can grab your arm and threaten to break it if you scream."

I don't remember what the outcome of our discussion was but for some reason that sentence has stuck with me and today I think, "SO WHAT?!?! Let him break my arm. That's still not going to keep me from doing all I can to survive. Broken bones heal, death doesn't."

Like it says in my signature, "even death is a poor excuse for not fighting back."

One thing Carlie did have was a purse! It was slung cross body and looked to be a decent size. If all else failed I would have taken that thing, swung it as hard as I could directly at his face. When I was in school I had lots of books in my bags, it would have hurt and if it stunned him enough I could keep hitting, maybe even enough to get someone else's attention or to shock him enough so I could get away.

One thing I rely on for weak-sided defense is my car keys. If I'm walking to and from a store I hold my car keys in my left hand by a hefty hook.

I was once hit by a swinging key and it hurt so bad I have a lot of respect for how much damage a car key can do.

My plan is to swing and hit, not once, but repeatedly and with the fury of a small crazed animal until my attacker has defensive cuts on his hands from covering his face I've plummeted him so many times with those keys.

I will use anything I can, even if it's just my fingernails and teeth if it means survival and even if I end up dead, I'll have so much DNA from my attacker under my fingernails and between my teeth, and he'll have so many scratches and bites and bruises that it would be hard for the police not to catch him.

I think there's something Carlie could have done if only she even knew to try. She was probably never told, just like I was never told, that she was a precious little girl who should fight with every ounce of life she has.

Soon, JD and I will have a little boy or little girl who won't be able to carry a gun or a knife or even pepper spray to school. He or she won't have any designated tools of defense and may find him or herself walking home from school or even just walking down the aisle in between classes or to the bus stop and find him or herself in a situation where he or she needs to defend him or herself.

We can't be there, he can't have tools of defense other than what God gave him and the school allows him, but I hope we train him well enough to where he'll put a #2 pencil through his attacker's eye before he'll let himself be led away to a waiting car or certain death.

My biggest fear, as a mother-to-be, is not that my child will ever be attacked or preyed upon, but that he'll be attacked or preyed upon and I'll watch a video like this of his attack and I'll see that I failed to protect him by not teaching him to fight.

My goal is to teach my child that while I will always try to be there for him, his first line of defense will always start with himself. I want to teach him (or her) to fight.

We actually live in a really good area. We just like to be thoroughly prepared for whatever may come.

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Limatunes' Range Diaries

On a shooting hiatus until our son is born...