Ian

I mentioned in my introduction that I was looking for a way to help my girlfriend to protect herself when I go to boot camp and subsequent periods of separation. She's only 17 so a CCW is out of the question. but I looked into tasers and the kimber pepperblater. If anybody has any suggestions advice I would sincerely appreciate it. She's my world and I can't let anything happen to her.

buckeyeLCPL

Get her into a good female self defense class. Both tazers and pepper sprays can be overcome, but of the two pepper spray is the better choice IMO. But something that teaches better situational awareness and ways to create distance in order to leave the situation is probably the best bet.

__________________
Fortes Fortuna Juvat

We're mules lad. Mules that kill.

TJR

EvilMonk

17, hunh?

Well, tasers are an option, as are the whole array of OC/Pepper sprays, but...

I guess I council for knives. They can be hidden, palmed, and deployed very quickly and easily. They don't require reloads or batteries, and they are fairly widely accepted (no extra attention drawn).

I would go with a CRKT M-16 variant. They are very reliable (the one I carried in Iraq, I still carry), and they come in different sizes to fit a variety of hands/needs. Not to mention, that for the quality, you don't get soaked on price.

TOPS knives makes EXCELLENT knives if price isn't that much of an issue. My wife and step-daughter both carry one.

__________________
That which does not kill us leaves us broken and bleeding...

Convenire Volui Spectatus

limatunes

Yep..

All the tools in the world won't help someone who doesn't have the will, skill or ability to use them.

Pepper spray such as the Kimber Lifeact or a tazer is a good start however as it is a non-lethal distance-abled defensive tool.

Knives and stun guns are contact tools (if you can touch them they can also touch you) not to mention that the use of a knife is lethal force which may be something she's not ready to deal with.

__________________
Limatunes' Range Diaries

Ian

Thanks guys I appreciate it and have some ideas to go from now. If anybody else has suggestions please continue.

fernset

Yeah I'd go with pepper and situational awareness. Thats how I went about it with my GF it worked for a while but needs reenforcement, She started going out again without the pepper again.

P.S.
How the baby lima?

PastorPack

A ring!

__________________
God is love (1 John 4:8)

Grant48

Pepper spray for her purse, a 20-guage youth model shotgun for at home.

Geronimo45

Wouldn't go with a taser. Overpriced, expensive to practice with, require activation, large size, etc.
Your girlfriend would be more likely to carry around the Kimber pepper spray gadget who's name keeps on changing - a lot of young ladies in this day and age go with tiny purses. Chances are that a taser wouldn't fit, but the Kimber should.
I'd recommend the Kimber, and also a knife. A knife can function as a weapon or, more often, as a useful tool for scraping, prying, and cutting. My typical carry knife is a Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Mini-Covert. About the size of a small Swiss Army knife, has a thumbstud for quick opening. There are thousands of other knives which are just as good or better, that just happens to be mine. If daggers are a-okay in your state, the Gerber Guardian (not the Vietnam-era 7" or 8" blade, a 2.5-3" one) is great. It's got a very nice sheath that can be easily adjusted for tension, and the blade is easy to sharpen. The sheath can also clip to your pants, your belt loop, your pocket - etc.

__________________
I took instant steps. I twirled the mustache, wiggled the toes, and screamed ‘Thetan’ at the top of my lungs.

tbrenke

priceless...

__________________
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution, which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." -1792, James Madison
There are always too many Democratic, Republican and never enough U.S. congressmen.