I’m just wondering why the OP has gone for a blade and not a gun.
Perhaps because Chicago is right up there (down there?) with the best of the Nannystates like Boston, NYC, and Washington, their firearms restrictions are quite annoying and odious, they make it as difficult as possible to own a handgun, licencing requirements, registration and such
not to keep comparing states, but it’s my only frame of reference;
Vermont; no CCW permit needed or required for concealed carry, ANY Vermont native can CCW anywhere in the state (with the restrictions of no carry on government property and schools), no restrictions, purchasing firearms (handgun or long gun) requires only filling out the Federal 4473 form and waiting about 10 to 15 minutes for approval
NH; CCW required for concealed carry, Open Carry legal, firearm purchases, like Vermont, simply involve filling out the 4473 and waiting 10-15 minutes
Maine; same as NH , permit needed for CCW, Maine is a “Shall Issue” state, as long as you have no criminal background, they have to issue you a CCW permit if you request one and go through the motions, purchasing, same as NH, fill out the 4473 and away you go
Imagine the “culture shock” if I was to move to Chicago, going from an environment where firearms are seen as mundane tools, to an environment where they’re seen as evil incarnate, rather jarring
What MacTech said. I would totally carry a gun and would have started to a long time ago if it was remotely legal. The ONLY people allowed to conceal in Chicago are retired police, and even they have to jump through hoops to do it. I’m pretty sure the repercussions of carrying a concealed gun would be a bit harsher than a knife, even if all I did with it was shoot a scumbag.
It’s why all the gangbangers are able to shoot each other and whoever’s unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. If uncounted numbers of people in Chicago could carry, the number of innocent people getting shot by numbnutses would go down proportionately, though a lot of those bangers would prolly get themeslves dead in the first few months. No loss, IMO.
The knife, I can get mailed to my house. The gun, notsomuch.
One of my aunts in Arizona used to carry a revolver on her hip. Don’t know if the laws changed since I saw her do that about 20 years ago, but I’d totally do that if I could.
First and foremost, please watch this video.
The first advice I have to give is what you don’t want to hear: first, avoid the situation in the second place, second, be aware of your surroundings, third, if you can save your life by handing it over, hand it the hell over and make change if you need to. You say you know fighting back is stupid, but the first lesson anybody interested in self defense has to learn is not to be stupid, about their surroundings or their life. You fought back when you were a teenager and you say you “know you’ll do it” again, so the first thing you have to do is lose the mindset that you are fighting. It’s not an “ego fight;” self defense is not about winning a fight. Self defense is about escaping to a place of safety with your life intact, with or without the use of violence. If you like, think of it this way: the money you’ll spend on a knife that’s useful enough to defend yourself with will probably be more than what’s in your wallet anyway, and if you use the knife you’ll probably end up losing it to an evidence locker. A more sobering way to think about it is if your assailant pulls out a knife as well, now you’re in a knife fight, except there’s no such thing as a “knife fight.” Fights have winners and losers, but “winning a knife fight” is like “winning an earthquake.” “Winners of knife fights” go to the ICU, “losers of knife fights” go to the morgue. This is life and death - don’t entrust it to behaviors you admit to be stupid.
Now, that said: the knife you’ve chosen is very illegal and probably impressively wicked looking, and illegal, wicked looking knives look bad to juries considering self defense claims. Moreover, a police officer who’s giving you a patdown after stopping you out walking at 4 in the morning may take it away and warn you, or he may arrest you. Carrying an illegal weapon is a serious misdemeanor in my state, and probably comparable in yours as well. I know what you’re thinking now, better to get arrested than killed, right? Only if those are the only two options, and carrying a legal self defense knife may be a valid third.
You’ve chosen a knuckle knife because you don’t want to have it taken away from you, but that might not be as big a consideration as you think. It’s very difficult to take a knife away from somebody that doesn’t want to have it taken away from them. Paul Vunak, the guy in the video above, does an experiment where he gives an untrained person a red marker and has several black belts attempt to take it away from them; invariably the untrained person “cuts” the black belts to shreds. It’s very difficult to disarm someone with a knife, which is why police “knife disarms” generally involve shooting the knife holder.
Secondly, the attacks you’ve read about have been assaults in which the assailant has been for the most part blindsided. How quickly can get your fingers into and deploy your knuckle knife, and how sturdy is it once you do? If you can’t get out out quickly enough and depend on it when you do, you’re probably better off with a quality assisted opener folding knife. Spend some money on it and keep it perfectly sharp; don’t use it for any utility cutting whatsoever.
If you do decide to go this route, I echo the advice the others gave above: watch your surroundings first, don’t take chances with your life, and get self defense training to teach you to effectively use whatever weapon you choose.
You need to take a self defence class and really learn to use those items. Mace has blowback and the knife will be taken off you or your hand will be used against you.
Mace isn’t like TV, where one shot and the guy goes down. Chances are if you’re close enough to spray him, you’ll get some on you or worse he’s close enough to grab you and the mace will enrage him just all the more.
If the guy is wacked out on drugs neither mace or a knife is much help 'cause the guy won’t care.
Go to a self defence course, there are many free classes. They aren’t so much about martial arts as learning what to look for and how to avoid the situation BEFORE you get tot he point where you’d need mace
One of the victims that got away pretty much unscathed did so not only because he fought the attackers off with a bike lock, but also because he dropped his money and tried to get away. If he just tried to fight them, I suspect things would have gone poorly for him.
I saw mace up close once: a woman was aiming at a man while running! and caught me in the eyes as I was walking with my 4-year old. That hurt like hell and I doubt it helped her any.
Yeah, and seconding every word that pravnik wrote.
I love the kitchenware story, even more so because I recently read that if a person breaks into your home, most women will grab a knife, but grabbing a heavy pan is much more effective. You have to be a lot closer to use a knife and a lot more precise.
I like the suggestion of the strong umbrella much more than the knife. You can hit from farther away, meaning you’re less likely to get hurt, and you can be less precise.
And do keep in mind that a person on drugs can be much less affected. My father was a police officer, he told me stories of people on angel dust ripping their own hands off. In my serial murder class as an undergrad, we saw pictures of a guy who got screwed up on something and cut his face off. Drugs that can do that aren’t going to respond to mace or a knife (but maybe knocked unconscious by heavy weapon? Not sure).
The illegality isn’t such a big deal to me: in high school I worked nights and my sister hooked me up with a box cutter, and I know there were other girls at school who carried razor blades/ box cutters/ etc. I don’t know much about fighting beyond ghetto fighting, and I kept the damn thing in my purse, so it wasn’t exactly close to hand, so in retrospect, it was fairly useless.
For the OP, I would suggest that attitude, and how you carry yourself may have some effect on the likelihood of being attacked. In general I’ve heard that muggers tend to go for victims who look easy, so don’t look easy (although if you’ve got the confidence to carry around a friggin’ knuckle knife, you’ve probably got the confidence angle covered).
Also, a lot of people here are recommending self-defense classes. I know that the Chicago Park Districts offer/used to offer free self-defense classes. A friend of mine did one at Washington Park a couple years ago. I dunno if they still do that, but your local park may have a class.
IMS, Le Creuset comes in a boxes.
And to the jury, you’re the person who injured the mugger with an umbrella, not the guy who maimed the mugger with an ugly weapon designed and carried for maximum damage.
I looked at this one long and hard. I really considered it, but based on the just 2 blasts that may or may not hit the mark I ended up choosing the two Mace products instead. The gel really intrigues me; it pretty much pastes the guy’s eyes shut, not just the pepper irritation. And the take-down doesn’t spray as far, but gives 20 hard streaming squirts. Like a squirt gun stream, not like hair spray.
My intention really is to spray, dodge, and run. I’m not sticking around, but I’m not the fastest runner, so I want to be prepared in case of a pursuit which I hope will be unlikely.
As far as I can find, the earliest self-defense class isn’t until the middle of September, or even October at this point, so I plan to watch a bunch of videos and hope for the best in the meantime.
Are you used to being hit on the face or body with high levels of force? If not the shock of being struck physically can often destroy whatever plans you’ve formulated for an effective self defense with a weapon. Some martial arts training would probably be helpful in this respect. Regardless of whatever “fists of fury” or “knives of fury” defenses you’re contemplating getting smacked is often a show stopper for many people, especially those not used to it.
I’m really looking into the self-defense classes to get started, I’ve signed up for one that starts Sep. 12.
Now that you mention being used to body impact, I hadn’t thought about it, because I was thinking in terms of human attacker, but I am a veterinary technician at an emergency room. I’ve dealt with my share of big, aggressive dogs that really want me dead. So, in a way, I have gotten used to aggressive body-to-body contact on that level. I’ve been whacked in the face by quite a few struggling dogs, I’m no longer fazed by that. Not to mention the wrestling. Not that it will help in a street confrontation much, but maybe give me some help in self-defense classes, and in turn on the street.
You know, thinking about it even more, I have found myself being a little more eye-to-eye with the crazies on the sidewalks and buses and such around the city. It’s been since I started wrastlin with junkyard Rottweilers! I will say merely some eye contact with the crazies and not showing fear or impassiveness has made a difference in whether they stick around or move along.
If I were looking for a self-defense weapon, I’d probably go with a cane. A big, heavy cane made of hickory, or oak, or some such. Ideally, I’d be able to carry my sword bayonet or my machete, but the law frowns upon such things.