After taking my concealed carry course a month or so ago, I started getting a lot more interested in additional classes on shooting and self-defense. And since I’m in the neighborhood of the classroom/range six nights a week, I signed up for another one of their courses last week, called Flashlight and less lethal weapons. The (sort of) funny thing is I actually meant to sign up for a different class, and didn’t realize my oopsie until I got on site. And it was interesting to be the only dude in a room full of ladies but I was and am 100% fine with that.
Overall, I enjoyed the course quite a bit. It was a good balance of practical “here are some less lethal ways to defend/escape a dangerous confrontation” advice, as well as “how and why you should be ready to tell your side of a story to authorities.” The instructor said it is best, in a confrontational situation, for the authorities to hear from you first – because you will have first-hand perspective of the events that transpired, and because the authorities are more likely to believe the first account they hear.
We also talked a lot about why people are targets for muggings, carjackings, etc. Some reasons you could be targeted:
- You appear very “tourist-y”
- Your face is buried in your phone – you’re distracted!
- You’re just standing at your vehicle, and thus vulnerable because your attention is on getting keys out of your pocket/purse
- You were in a store paying for something with a wad of cash, and someone “marked” you for further attention once you are outside of the store and alone
- You are wearing an expensive watch (expensive watch = you probably have a lot of money)
The instructor then focused on ways to not be a victim when you’re out and about:
- Keep your chin up, and shoulders back
- Do “head on a swivel” constantly – often looking to your left, right and behind you
- Get your face out of your phone! Put it in your pocket!
- Take out headphones/earbuds
Next, we covered common non-lethal weapons and why they are popular but probably not super effective:
- Handful of keys – in a confrontation it will be hard to get them out of your pocket, line them up in your fingers like brass knuckles, and use them with enough accuracy and force to do damage
- Pepper spray – many police forces don’t use them anymore because it’s so easy to miss your target and/or hit yourself in windy conditions
Then we talked about non-lethal weapons that are effective:
- Kimber Pepper Blaster 2 – it doesn’t fire with compressed air like pepper spray, but similar to how a bullet exits a gun. It has a 13-ft range (leaving the chamber at 112MPH / 163 feet per second). It holds two successive shots. You aim for the center of your attacker’s chest. Fire a second time if they keep coming at you.
- Flashlight – we talked about how a flashlight is a great way to walk yourself to your car in the dark, and how it should be used to walk the perimeter of your car before you get in to make sure nobody’s waiting to pounce
The instructor gave us some effective flashlight handling tips:
- Get a flashlight like this one which has 1000 lumens or more (very bright!)
- Walk like a victor – again, keeping your head/chin up, shoulders back, constantly scanning your environment
- Carry flashlight in non-dominant hand
- If you see someone approaching or standing nearby that looks out of the norm, do a quick flash of your flashlight in front of them on the ground (that lets them know that they see you and you have your eyes on them)
- If the person approaches, call them out in a loud voice while holding the light in their eyes
- If someone approaches in friendly conversation but the situation doesn’t feel right, keep a few steps back, keep them talking, and watch their shoulders – if one shoulder raises, the person may be reaching for a weapon
Lastly, we talked about ways to escape from arm/throat holds, and practiced the “hammer fist” in which you aim to break an assailant’s nose so you can escape a confrontation. I guess it only takes 2.5 pounds of pressure via hammer fist to break a nose. Ouchie!
Overall, a very informative class, and I’m glad I went. I would normally close a post with something optimistic, like “I can’t wait to deliver some hammer fists and pepper blasts to people!” but of course I don’t hope to ever have to use any of the skills I learned tonight. Still, better safe than sorry!