Unless you’re being pursued along a corridor, scattering ball bearings behind you might not be very effective, especially if you’re deploying them in a hurry - they will quickly disperse in a radial spread and your pursuer may not slip on any of them.
In any case, if you’re being pursued over soil, gravel or rough concrete, they won’t work either.
It’s a lot of weight to be carrying around all the time, just on the offchance that someone is going to chase you down a smooth-floored hallway.
I agree with the people saying the marbles would disperse too rapidly to be effective.
Have you considered carrying a barrel of oil?
If it works, I’ll probably find plastic balls, maybe beads. And it seems it’ll work in an alleyway, which is the most likely situation you’ll need it. At least it seems more useful than a tactical pen to me.
Wouldn’t it be far easier just to avoid alleys?
Yeah, wtf - constitutional right to bear arms, but not monkey fists? Whoever is in charge of game balance really needs to work on the whole PVP section…
I wonder if small D6’s would solve the scattering problem, yet would remain sufficiently slippery for someone running. You’d just have to make sure you get the squared-off ones rather than the ones with rounded sides, or they’ll roll as well. That’s why I picked D6es instead of larger numbers which also roll far (and D4s would be mini-caltrops even if rounded off.)
But a more practical problem is, not only do you have to worry about outrunning a pursuer, you have to worry about outrunning them while simultaneously fiddling with the bag of dice/caltrops/ball bearings. So to run this down, this may be a viable strategy if:
– You have a head start
– You are on flat, firm ground
– You can sprint faster than the opponent (long enough to open the bag)
– You cannot run faster than the opponent
Then of course there’s the scattering issue, but the D6 idea may solve that.
The nylon balls from roll-on deodorants might work, but still, it seems like a really weird precaution to be taking - carrying around a sizable sack of plastic balls in order to guard against a very specific scenario.
[QUOTE=Ludovic;16042170But a more practical problem is, not only do you have to worry about outrunning a pursuer, you have to worry about outrunning them while simultaneously fiddling with the bag of dice/caltrops/ball bearings.[/QUOTE]
I thought I’d put them in an upside down bag clipped to my waist and closed with a slip knot or something, just pull the string to dispense.
You also have to have a clear avenue of escape. If you’re surrounded by kung fu fighters, each bouncing on their heels waiting to take their turn attacking you, you’ve got nowhere to pour the marbles.
Xenophon and his guys used metal balls with slings.
Interestingly, this was the original purpose of the Fanny Pack. Though, instead of marbles, one used Pogs, which were more popular, but spectacularly ineffective.
Use particularly pretty marbles, so your assailant will stop to admire them. It’s about as likely as him slipping over them, like a bad guy from a Home Alone movie.
If you have the right connections: black ice. And you can even use some reverse black ice for yourself, so your shoes (or feet) are super sticky. (DARPA proposal and white paper for polymer ice.)
If you have to go off-the-shelf, quickly lay down synthetic ice (Cite has complete tech specs; Wiki has an entry also).
Exactly. Everyone knows that you don’t paint holes–you buy Portable Holes 
from the Acme Company and then drop them on the ground where needed.
Forgot about this one, but US government has dibs also:
This or another similar one has been produced. But if you get one, be sure to point it backward and keep running away. I saw a report decades ago (no cite) about a test run where it was determined that in use for riot control (its original intention), it was ineffective, because officers moving in we’re equally incapacitated, and a fine farce was had by all.
It’s all ball bearings nowadays.
A long sleeve filled with ball bearings would most definitely be classed as an offensive weapon if matters ever came to court (at least in the UK it would).
The preferred option is to have the sleeve filled with coins , 50p coins will work but the new £2.00 GBP coin is even better.
“This is a purse, officer …”
I am assuming of course that the purpose of the bag is to smack the lowlife over the head rather than to decant the contents as part of a rearguard action …
I have several motorcyclist friends who regularly travel long distance, most often on the Interstate system. All have stories of being harassed, even driven off the road by other non-two-wheeled drivers. Their answer to the harassment is to get ahead of the offending driver, reaching into the bag of ball bearings and toss a handful over their shoulder.
Hamster style myself.