Self Defense for Everyone

Protect Your Family While On Vacation With Self Defense Products

2011-06-07T13:09:00.000-04:00

Summer is the perfect time for a family vacation. Children are out of school and parents work hard throughout the year, saving their vacation days to use during the warm weather. When packing for vacation, self defense products should be included. The home should also be protected during the time the family is traveling.

The media is full of horror stories about families who were abducted while driving to a vacation spot. Had they had self defense products in the vehicle, they may not have met such an unfortunate fate. Pepper spray comes in many sizes and styles, including a well-disguised pen and ring. This spray may also come in handy when the vacationer is jogging or camping.

Stun guns are for those who are very serious about self defense. When activated, these deliver enough voltage to render an attacker useless long enough for a victim to escape to safety. Having a cell phone or flashlight shaped stun gun in the car will make any family feel safe without looking like vigilantes. Rechargeable models ensure that the gun is ready for action whenever needed.

Adventurous families often head to a cabin on a lake or a peaceful campground to enjoy the outdoors during summer. They are often not the only inhabitants of this environment, sharing the land with local animals. Unfortunately, some of these creatures are less happy about this than others. Bears can be quite unfriendly, especially when they are hungry, so bear pepper spray should always be on hand.

While the family is away on vacation, the home is uninhabited. Adding self defense products designed for the household, such as a dummy camera and barking dog alarm, will deter anyone from breaking into the residence. When the family arrives home safe and sound, the house will be in the same shape as it was left.

Driveway Patrol A Great Family Self Defense Product

2011-05-17T13:03:00.001-04:00

Stun guns and pepper spray are two self defense products that people can carry with them when away from home. What about when they are in the house? If they do not have a guard dog, who or what is going to alert them of impending harm? The Driveway Patrol is one product that performs this task, is low-cost, and is easy to install.

This wireless motion detector is placed near the entrance to the doorway or driveway. When something passes by the transmitter, the receiver sounds an appealing chime. Not only can it alert residents of the home about a visitor headed their way, it can serve as a child monitor. If children are not permitted to venture past the doorway or driveway when playing, this will let parents know if they do.

The maximum range between the indoor receiver and outdoor transmitter is 400 feet. The sensor on the outdoor transmitter picks up a car or person coming within 20 feet. When the receiver inside chimes, the resident can look to see whether the visitor is friend or foe. This provides homeowners with enough time to dial 911 if an intruder is approaching.

At a cost of under $30 and requiring only one nine-volt and three C batteries, self defense products like this are budget-friendly. Consumers may want to purchase a second unit for the back door, especially if the home borders on a wooded area. It can be difficult to see someone approaching from this direction, especially at night.

As wireless self defense products go, the Driveway Patrol is a popular product. Motion activation is an excellent way to identify an approaching intruder. The small size of the outdoor transmitter makes it inconspicuous. Only the person inside the home will hear the chime and can then take appropriate action.

A Sampling of Self Defense Products for Home Protection

2011-04-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

It is important that we feel safe within our own homes. Self defense products for home protection keep us secure while within our homes and keep our residences safe when we are not there. These include items like alarms, motion sensors, and dummy cameras. Installing one or more of these in our homes may be all it takes to make us feel an added level of security at all times.

One of the popular self defense products for home protection is the driveway patrol. This is a wireless motion detector installed near a doorway or driveway entrance. When something passes within the 20-foot range of the transmitter, the receiver emits a pleasant sound. In addition to serving as a security device against intruders, it is suitable for families with small children.

A door guard alarm is a portable unit that contains a shock sensor alarm. Its movable feature allows it to be used at home, work, or while traveling without any installation. The smallest vibration is detected and when the alarm is activated, a 98 decibel alert sounds for 20 to 30 seconds, then resets itself. Alarm sensitivity is adjusted with a screwdriver and the product features a flashlight.

When homeowners are away, the auto dialer security and safety alarm keeps watch. This self defense product is a passive infrared motion monitoring system. If movement in the area is detected, a 105 decibel security alarm emits and the auto dialer calls up to five preset telephone numbers selected by the user. Chime mode is suitable for a store, with a chime emitting when motion is detected.

Door braces, alarms that detect glass breakages, and a door stop alarm are other popular self defense products for home protection. In addition, individuals can find personal defense products like stun guns and self defense sprays, like pepper spray. These items can be kept by the bedside for easy access during an intruder situation.

Dummy Camera Self Defense Products

2011-03-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Businesses and families on a budget often forgo using self defense products because they assume these are unaffordable. In reality, some of the best self defense items like pepper spray and even tasers are very inexpensive. One of the latest products to hit the market is a dummy camera that sells for approximately $20 and is extremely effective.

Self defense weapons will not be needed if the home or business can deter intruders from entering. An imitation security camera is designed using the same parts present in its real counterpart. A flashing red light indicates that an individual is being observed and helps to deter criminals. The light is even motion-activated, adding to the realism. It turns on when a person comes within a nine-foot range.

Making things even more realistic is the rotational feature of the camera. The unit moves back and forth, simulating the movement of an authentic surveillance camera. This camera is mounted on a wall using an included bracket and can be used outdoors or indoors. Three AA batteries are required for operation of the light and movement, making operation costs much lower than a real security camera.

We all know the saying that the best defense is a good offense. Dummy cameras are self defense products that take an aggressive stand when it comes to security. They are inexpensive enough to fit the budget and provide a measure of security to a residence or commercial building. By placing several throughout the area, intruders will be deterred.

Self defense products like a dummy camera feature a low price tag and provide a great feeling of comfort to the user. Would-be burglars or other criminals will have no idea that the product is not actually recording their movements. They will see the flashing light and camera movement and stay far away from the home or business.

With Jogger Pepper Spray, Be Protected While Running Or Walking

2011-01-31T13:27:00.004-05:00

Pepper sprays are just one of the many effective self defense products on the market. It comes in various forms, including a pen, key-chain, and lipstick model, each of which is compact and convenient to use. Individuals desiring protection when they walk or run should consider purchasing jogger pepper spray. They will literally have self defense in the palms of their hands.

The jogger pepper spray product is designed with the outdoor athlete in mind. It features a Velcro strap that can be wrapped around the hand. Runners and walkers do not need to wear clothing with pockets because they can hold on to this device while they are out for a jog or stroll. No longer will they need to limit their outdoor jaunts to daylight hours or the safest neighborhoods in town.

Of course, it is always wise to be cautious whenever one is outside the home. Runners and walkers should not invite danger but if they buy pepper spray, they know they will be prepared if it finds them. The jogger pepper spray emits an eight to twelve foot spray of liquid that burns the eyes. With 18 grams per unit, joggers can get ten one-second bursts of spray from each container.

Since the device is so compact, an attacker will not be aware of its presence until it is too late. By that time, the victim will have sprayed the attacker in the eyes, temporarily disabling his or her vision. This will give the victim time to escape to safety and contact the authorities regarding the situation.

Self defense products like jogger pepper spray enable people to go through their normal routines without fear. Runners and walkers can hold this unit in their hands during outdoor exercise. At all times, they will be prepared to fend off an attacker with the debilitating spray, fleeing to safety and notifying police.

Self Defense Products Are Life-Savers For Many People

2010-12-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

Personal and home protection are very important no matter how safe the individual may feel. Self defense products can be a lifesaver for a person in any dangerous situation. Just because individuals have managed to stay safe until now does not mean that danger will not find them in the future.

Self defense products such as stun guns and tasers are useful against an attacker when the victim is in a parking lot. Not all parking lots have proper lighting and even those that do may allow an assailant to hide under the victim’s car. Individuals who find themselves in a confrontation with an attacker can use these products to temporarily incapacitate the person.

Home protection allows the individual to feel secure even within the confines of the residence. One product recommended for this purpose is a door brace that will keep intruders out. This item works on both sliding and hinged doors and extends to fit doors of almost any size. Many braces collapse so they can be packed in a suitcase and used during a hotel stay.

A wireless home security system is an inexpensive alternative to the commercially monitored version. When motion is detected or a door or window is opened, an alarm sounds and the system automatically dials as many as five pre-set telephone numbers. Call recipients can broadcast their own voices through the unit, listen in on what is going on, or disarm the system.

Pepper spray is one of the self defense products that can be used either at home or on the go. It comes in the form of a pen or in a holster that can be attached to a keychain. There is even a ring that emits the burning liquid into the eyes of an unknowing intruder. This and the other products mentioned above are just a small sampling of what is available.

How and Why to Purchase a C2 Taser

2010-11-03T12:00:00.001-04:00

The right of self-defense is the right for a civilian, acting on his own behalf, to engage in violence for the sake of defending their own life, or the lives of others, including the use of deadly force. There are many different items a person can employ to protect themselves in the event of an attack. The C2 Taser for sale today is rapidly gaining popularity in the world of self defense.

Tasers, or electron control devices are widely thought of as a safer option when compare to a conventional firearm. A Taser works by using compressed nitrogen to shoot two electronic probes at a speed up to 180 feet per second and a distance up to 15 feet. The probes make contact with either body or clothing, and will stay attached to the device through insulated wire. A low-amperage high-voltage electrical current is then sent through the wire and probes and into the body. This will result in an instantaneous loss of neuromuscular control.

The C2 Taser for sale today was created with the belief that great things come in small packages. Lightweight and just 6 inches long, the Taser C2 are designed to meet any lifestyle, and all personal safety needs. Using the same technology as the proven law enforcement models, it offers amazing take down power and unparalleled protection. The instructional DVD that comes with the C2 Taser for sale today will make a person prepared and confident in their ability to protect themselves.

The Taser C2 is the only device that can consistently and immediately incapacitate an aggressive, dangerous person. Unlike the other self defense options that are available, the C2 Taser is effective when used on any area of the body. This is critical when in a high stress, dangerous situation that requires quick action.

The C2 Taser for sale today comes with a standard issue kit and was created to give peace of mind. This kit includes the Taser C2, lithium battery pack, a holster, and three cartridges. Laser integration is available on most models to allow for accurate aim, as when the cover is opened, a bright red laser illuminates the area. Often times, the red beam will be a crime-stopper by itself, usually making an attacker retreat in fear. The Taser shoots with air nitrogen, so the device will never require cleaning, and the lithium battery is good for 10 years, or 50 firings.

The C2 Taser for sale today is not considered a firearm by the U.S. Government and can be carried legally without a permit in 43 of the 50 states. Buy C2 Taser and receive a lifetime replacement guarantee. With the belief that a life is obviously worth more than the cost of a Taser C2, in the event that the device must be left behind during an attack and is not recovered, simply send a police report and receive a new one.

The C2 Taser for sale today will be a great benefit to anyone that is ever the unfortunate victim of an attack. Buy C2 Taser for a family member or friend as a gift to show them that their safety and well-being is a top priority. Worrying about personal safety is now a thing of the past.

The Best Self Defense Products for Students

2010-10-04T13:02:00.002-04:00

Going off to college is the first time many children are away from their parents and their homes. This is the time they have officially left the comfort and the familiar surroundings of their homes. Students should carry pepper spray with them when they are traveling on or around campus to protect themselves from muggings and other forms of personal attacks. Pepper spray is one of the best self defense products for students because it is legal, non-lethal, concealable, and above all effective.

The most popular self defense products for students are pepper spray and rape whistles. They are often given out by colleges during orientation week, especially in areas of high crime like big cities. This is in an effort to drive home the point to the students that personal protection is important and sometimes necessary.

Stun guns are another effective form of personal protection, but they are not as suitable for students. There is rarely an instance on campus when a stun gun is needed for an attack that cannot be handled by pepper spray. These are instruments that cause more damage to an attacker and they are generally more dangerous self defense products for students.

Students often travel alone throughout campus when they are changing classes or walking to the library to study. Often, they are walking around late at night to and from study sessions or back to their dorm room from social gatherings. Whenever a young person travels by themselves in the dark, they should consider carrying self defense products for students.

When children leave the safety bubble of their parents homes they are often unaware of the threat of crime that exists in everyday life. In order to protect themselves, they should carry self defense products for students. Hopefully they will never have to be used, but these portable and concealable tools are effective for achieving optimal personal protection.

The Best Self Defense Products and Home Invasion Protection Devices

2010-09-14T12:41:00.001-04:00

As the crime rate rises in many parts of the United States, people are looking for ways to protect themselves, their families, and their personal belongings. Self defense products and home invasion protection devices are effective ways to ward off attacks and protect against burglary and theft. These products include pepper spray, security sensors, and door braces.

Pepper spray is one of the best self defense products against personal attacks. It is easy to conceal and usually comes in a small can. It is a non-lethal yet effective way to stop a perpetrator in their tracks. Very fine grains of formula made from chilis cause a physical reaction that is debilitating to the attacker. This variation of self defense products makes them automatically close their eyes and makes it difficult for them to breathe.

Home invasion protection devices are used to defend people and their valuables against an intruder. People are hungrier than ever for affordable home security solutions. There are a few inexpensive answers to the home invasion problem. Wireless security systems with sensors are the most effective way to protect every window or door in the home.

Security systems only go off once a person has entered the home. To keep a burglar out altogether, consider using a door braces. These home invasion protection devices adjust to fit all types of doors. They are portable so people can use them to protect their valuables when traveling.

The only way to stay fully protected against personal attacks and burglaries is through the purchase and implantation of self defense products and home invasion protection devices. They are effective ways to keep harm away from people, their families, and their personal things. Now, more than ever, these products and devices should be added to the daily lives of any American who is concerned with their safety and well-being.

To Increase Safety, Purchase And Learn To Use A C2 Taser For Sale

2010-08-18T15:32:00.004-04:00

Safety should always be at the forefront of everyone’s mind and various self defense products are sold online and in stores. One of these is the C2 taser for sale on the Web sites of companies like Self Defense ATL and at home, boat, and gun shows throughout the metropolitan U.S. This product is available for private purchase and prices start at just $300.

After making the decision to buy C2 taser, an individual should understand how the product works. Though purchasing a C2 taser for sale is a wise move, improper use will not provide adequate self defense. Learning how to operate the product requires first reading the owner’s manual and instructions included with the product. A training DVD is also packaged with the item, so buyers should review that as many times as necessary to gain a comfort level with operation.

The C2 taser for sale is powered by a Lithium battery that should last for approximately 50 firings. Users begin assembly by removing the magazine cartridge, then loading the battery cartridge. After the battery cartridge is loaded, the magazine cartridge can then be reinserted. A green light appears on the device once the battery cartridge is charged. Users should then close the safety switch, point the device in a safe direction, remove the air cartridge cover, and load the air cartridge. A clicking sound indicates that the air cartridge is properly locked in place.

Using the C2 taser for sale requires holding it vertically as if it were a handgun, opening the safety switch cover, and pressing the firing button. When using one of the models with a laser sight, the laser should be aimed where the top probe is desired to land. The face, groin, neck, and head area should be avoided whenever possible. It is recommended that users remain seven to ten feet, and no more than 15 feet, from an attacker when firing this device.

After purchasing a C2 taser for sale, users should do some practice firing to get comfortable with its operation. An additional security measure provided by this device if the cartridges run out is the drive stun back up. This allows the individual to disable the attacker by directly applying the stun gun into his or her skin.

What Type of Self Defense Should You Learn?

2010-04-17T01:45:00.002-04:00

If there's one thing people in the self defense and martial arts communities like to do, it's argue! Go into five schools and you might get five different reasons why the school you're in is the best choice, and all the other ones are lousy. But if you're not there to learn to be Bruce Lee or win the UFC, what should you look for in a self defense program, including the ones offered in out instructional fighting videos? Think of five criteria:

The Techniques are Easy to Remember

Effective self defense requires split second actions under stress. Under the influence of adrenalin you'll experience tunnel vision, nausea, numbness and gross motor deficits. You won't be in any shape to remember a 20-step move to protect yourself from a specific attack. Good programs teach simple techniques that can be used in many different situations instead, and drill them until they become second nature.

The Techniques Don't Require Athletic Ability

No self defense technique should require you to kick somebody in the head . . . unless the guy is already on his knees. You won't have a chance to warm up when you're attacked. That's why every technique should work properly in your body's natural range of motion. They should also work even if you don't do them 100% perfectly, so if they tell you to kick a weapon out of a guy's hand, turn around and leave!

The School Addresses Weapons and Self Defense Products

Combat sports are great . . . but they're not total self defense. On the street, someone might attack with a gun, knife or club, or you might be prepared with self defense products such as pepper spray or a C2 Taser gun. The school should be able to teach you to defend against weapons and use self-defense products along with other physical techniques.

The School Addresses Standing Up and Grappling on the Ground

The UFC and mixed martial arts (MMA) may not be what the average person is looking for when it comes to self-defense but it does pass along a powerful lesson: You need to know how to deal with grabs, holds and chokes, both standing up and on the ground. A self-defense program should address the basics of how to fall, deal with being taken down, and escaping grabs.

You Learn to Deal With Stress, Force and Resistance

A self-defense program is only effective when you can apply what you learn in a stressful situation against someone trying to keep you from defending yourself! You don't necessarily need to get into MMA fights, but you should have an opportunity to hit full force and practice on a resisting partner. Some good schools have an instructor “suit up” in body armor and provide resistance while you respond with full power attacks. In some schools, you may even have ways to try self defense products under stress, with simulated versions or against someone armored against them.

These guidelines should lead you to a self defense program that will work for you. From there you might want to get into combat sports or fancy martial arts, but you'll start with effective self defense.

Self Defense Products and Your Surroundings

2010-03-16T03:05:00.000-04:00

Some self defense experts call it “yellow alert:” the state of being constantly aware of your surroundings and ready to use them for self defense. This might be a bit worrying for the average person though, so I like to think of it as “full experience.” What does that mean, and why do you need it to protect yourself after you buy pepper spray or purchase another self defense product?

Think of all the times you’ve walked around deep in thought, your mind on bills, relationships – everything but actually walking, where you are and what’s around you beyond the space you need for your next step. When you walk around “looking inward” you’re sharing something in common with many victims of muggings and other street attacks. They didn’t look around either.

Street criminals look for these signs of inattention. While you might visualize street violence as a face to face confrontation that’s the last thing an attacker wants. Leaving aside the kind of stupid fisticuffs you might get into at a bar over a point of pride (helping you with those isn’t really our focus as a company) your attacker isn’t doing what he’s doing for the sake of a fight. He doesn’t want to fight. He wants to win by using ambush tactics whenever possible.

Getting paranoid about this won’t help you. Instead of looking around, you’ll picture possible dangers, and this is just another way of “looking inward” instead of being aware of your surroundings. Instead, you need to actively take in your surroundings. Use the following guidelines:

Four Senses: Don’t just look. Listen, and try to identify what you hear. Notice the ground beneath your feed through touch to avoid unpleasant slips. Even a smell can be a hint that there might be trouble – booze, stale sweat and other scents belong to people you want to avoid. (We can’t think of how taste will help – sorry!)

People: You see people all the time, but do you really notice them? Why are they in a particular spot? What are they talking about? Are they watching you? What do they look like? Don’t stare, but don’t look at your feet (a sign of submission) either. You have a better chance of noticing potential troublemakers and identifying them for police.

Light and Shadow: Stick to brightly lit spaces and notice dark spaces, particularly if people can get into them easily.

Places to Go: Don’t narrow your idea of where people can move to streets. Look at trails, short retaining walls and alleys. You should be aware of them in case you need to use them to escape and as a way to detect ambush spots.

Even though you’ll apply these steps with a self defense orientation, don’t fixate on it. Develop an eye for detail ad a genuine appreciation for your surroundings and you’ll know when to walk, when to run and when to use a stun gun or other self defense tool to effectively protect yourself.

After You Buy Pepper Spray, What Comes Next?

2010-02-05T02:26:00.000-05:00

You’ve taken a serious look at your community and priorities and have decided to buy pepper spray. What should you do next? The answer spells the difference between using pepper spray as a prop to build your self confidence and being able to apply it as am effective self defense tool. Don’t just drop it in your pocket and purse; think about how to use it effectively, practice and develop the attitude to prevail.

Where is Your Pepper Spray?

Even if you buy pepper spray, it won’t do you much good unless you can deploy it in an emergency. Fortunately, many types of pepper spray come with holsters or are designed to be attached to your keychain. If your pepper spray doesn’t come with these conveniences you’ll have to rig a solution of your own. You might use a snug pocket in your handbag or use your pants’ change pocket, where it’s easy to get the top of the pepper spray.

Practice

Now that you have picked a location to draw your pepper spray from it’s time to actually practice drawing the pepper spray. Remember that pepper spray comes with a safety to prevent an accidental discharge, so you’ll have to practice switching it off. We recommend that you get multiple refills so that you can practice at least once. If you do, loose the pepper spray outdoors, with the wind blowing in the direction you want to spray, on a target you will place in plastic bags and discard before cleaning the area, wearing gloves. Discard the gloves afterward and wash yourself thoroughly, taking care to keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. Keep the target area away from heat, and keep humans and animals away.

If you don’t want to go through all of these safety steps, perform everything except discharging the pepper spray. Move your hand as if you’re spray paining a tight circle on the target. In any case, many of the rules of firearms safety apply to pepper spray. Never point it at anything you don’t intend to spray! Pepper spray is agonizing, and can provoke serious reactions in some targets.

Think of Scenarios

You’ve bought, placed and practiced with pepper spray. Now it’s time to think about the situations where you might use it. One of the most important things to consider is how to use pepper spray to stop a successful attack in progress. Many assaults take place by surprise, so expect to be hit, pushed or even knocked down before you get a chance to get your spray out. It’s vitally important that you imagine overcoming the shock of an assault and still do everything you can to survive and escape. Beyond that, imagine situations where you’d use pepper spray to protect yourself and the people you care about, check the laws in your area, and commit to using it as a self defense tool when it’s legal and you think it’s the right thing to do.

Fitness for Self Defense

2010-01-29T02:21:00.003-05:00

Whether you buy pepper spray or just rely on your own body to survive a dangerous situation, a healthy, fit physique will help you survive and escape. It’s easy to get discouraged by the challenges of a fitness program, but you can prevail with self-discipline and a realistic look at your personality, lifestyle and goals.

If you’ve been burned by unsuccessful attempts to get fit in the past your first question might be, “If I buy stun guns or other self-defense products, doesn’t that take the place of the muscles I’d need to punch, kick and wrestle with an attacker?” No! A self defense product enhances your physical and mental attributes and can be an “equalizer” when you’re faces with a strong, aggressive attacker, but it doesn’t take the place of your personal attributes. The situation may call for direct body to body contact before you can apply something like a C2 Taser effectively.

Nevertheless, it’s easy to develop unrealistic expectations when it comes to physical fitness. Some of these come from martial arts myths, and others have to do with seeing ripped, powerful mixed martial arts fighters in the media. The worst thing you can do is try a fitness program for a month and give up because you don’t look like a UFC fighter, or you can’t do some fancy jumping kick. Your goal isn’t to be like some guy in the movies, or a professional fighter. It’s to simply improve your physical attributes so that you get a bit more fit every day, and to get used to physical discomfort and develop the mentality to prevail. Any improvement is good, and the healthy discomfort of a proper fitness program helps you develop mental toughness that applies in self-defense situations.

Let’s finish off with five tips for fitness and self-defense:

See a Doctor Before Starting an Exercise Program: Check with your physician before starting a new fitness regimen. Your specific medical condition influences how you should exercise.

Use Something You’ll Stick With as Your Fitness Backbone: Zero in on a physical activity you enjoy doing and can do regularly. For example, I love hiking and it’s a rare week where I don’t get out for a long walk. Even if other fitness programs don’t work out for you, your “backbone” is always there.

Don’t Believe That Strength Doesn’t Matter: One of the worst martial arts myths is that strength doesn’t matter if you know good self defense techniques. Whether you learn from a self defense instructor or buy a stun gun, self defense preparations make the most efficient, effective use of your strength – they don’t make strength irrelevant.

Concentrate on the Three Big Fitness Attributes: That’s physical strength, cardiovascular health and joint health. You need all three for best quality of life. Self defense encounters are usually brief and intense, so explosive, short term physical strength is probably the most important attribute, followed by enough cardio to breathe properly in an emergency and run away. Healthy, flexible joints prevent injury and keep you mobile.

Listen to Your Body: If you feel sharp pain or any “funny” feeling, ease off what you’re doing and talk to your doctor to avoid injury.

Get to Know a C2 Taser

2009-12-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

The C2 Taser represents a step forward in personal protection technology. Tasers are well known law enforcement tools and some civilians have purchased police models for personal defense, but the C2 is the first model that is specifically designed as a civilian self defense product.

The C2 is useful because it adjusts well-known Taser capabilities for civilian use and adds additional features to make it an ideal piece of personal protection gear. Let’s break these down:

Probe Mode: Like other Tasers, a C2 will shoot a probe that, when it strikes its target, delivers an incapacitating charge. C2 Tasers maintain the shock for a longer period that police models because their intent is to allow the user to flee while the attacker is incapacitated. Once used in this mode, the C2 releases paper strips containing the Taser’s serial number so that police can easily trace the weapon and understand the chain of events.

Drive Stun: C2 Tasers also feature a Drive Stun mode for close range use. In Drive Stun, the Taser doesn’t incapacitate but it does dissuade attackers by inflicting pain and shock on par with many other stun gun models. Keep in mind that the Taser is larger than many of these, so if you’d like an easier to carry solution it’s a better idea to buy stun guns that are smaller – but remember that you need the Taser for ranged personal defense.

Ergonomic Form Factor: Police Tasers are modeled on firearms because police have extensive training in their use, making it easy to transfer the same accuracy and reflexive response to a less lethal alternative. The civilian model doesn’t require this kind of experience, and is modeled on the basic form of a number of household objects – remote controls, hand vacuums and other objects people handle every day – to make it easy to use. The ergonomic handle also allows for use by people with a variety of hand sizes. Furthermore, as the C2 Taser is designed to be dropped so allow escape, the handle design supports this without requiring further disengagement from a handle or guard.

Free Replacement: If you ever lose a C2 Taser in the course of using it to protect yourself, Taser International will replace the weapon for free as long as you submit a copy of the applicable police report. This policy supports the strategy behind the C2 Taser’s use: Activate it, abandon it, escape and report!

These features are designed to ensure that you’ll have no hesitation about using your C2 Taser in situations for which it’s intended. Used as intended, it can not only be very effective, but work hand in hand with law enforcement efforts. Visit us to find out more or purchase your own.

Five Tips for Self Defense on the Road

2009-11-06T14:38:00.001-05:00

As Thanksgiving, Christmas and other seasonal holidays approach, many of you will be on the road to visit your family. Unfortunately, carjacking has become a real crime problem and there are always some dangers in less familiar places – even places you think you know, but don’t live in any more. Here are five suggestions that can help keep you and your family safe on a journey.

Don’t Stop in Isolated Places: Few places in the continental US are so distant from a mall, grocery store or other well-lit, populated location that you can’t go to these instead of stopping at the side of the road. Whenever possible, push on instead of stopping at a place you might not trust. This includes isolated urban areas such as nearly-deserted parking lots. Carjacking attempts often take place when you’re entering or leaving a vehicle some distance from help. In many cases, back country roads are not nearly as isolated as you think. Watch for signs warning you not to stop due to a prison being in close proximity.

Don’t Pick Up Hitchhikers: This is one of those common sense rules that many people still break. Some hitchhikers really are penniless free spirits, but many have their thumbs out because they have significant problems that keep them from owning a car, such as a criminal record that prevents them from getting a loan or drug problems that siphon their money. In some cases, hitchhiking is a tactic used in a carjacking, robbery or other assault.

Drive Awake and Alert: Be realistic about your ability to drive for long distances while fully awake. Don’t rely on coffee or energy drinks to get you through it; you need to be well rested. This doesn’t just help you drive safely, but keeps your judgment from being impaired in the face of a potential assault. Criminals look for fatigue and other impairments when the choose victims. If you buy pepper spray or a C2 Taser you’ll have more success actually using it when you’re alert and energetic.

Keep a Working Emergency Kit: Don’t just rely on your cell phone. Include blankets, warm clothes, blinkers, a flashlight, a first aid kit, food and water, along with a sign that says CALL POLICE to mount on your rear window if your car dies. The sign removes excuses for troublemakers to stop. In a violent confrontation, many of these items will be useful for you after the assault to administer first aid and other assistance. We have a useful 4 in 1 emergency tool that makes a great addition to your kit.

Plan Your Route Ahead of Time: In this age of cheap GPS devices it’s easy to just set out in a general direction and rely on your system to provide directions, but the reality is that not all GPS maps are accurate or complete, and they don’t always find you the safest route. If you’re trapped in a maze of one way streets the system may not let you get lost, but you’ll look lost ambling around and trying to reconcile landmarks with your map. This apparent disorientation makes you more vulnerable both because your attention is occupied and because attackers look for this kind of disorientation.

Self Defense Products and Tips for College Students

2009-10-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

For many freshmen, college is their first taste of independence, where they’re living on their own, some distance from home and with significant new responsibilities. It can be more than intimidating – it can be dangerous. Let’s talk about the self-defense issues around college life and some of the self defense products and tips students can use to make their lives safer. Remember to check the laws in your area and your college’s policies.

Drinking and Fighting: Alcohol is far and away the most common source of violence on campus, leading to fights in and around bars between students, and students and locals. In many cases this resembles good old fashioned schoolyard bullying and the best thing to do is to resist being provoked. Travel in a group so that you’re less likely to be attacked on the way home and don’t let your friends provoke fights. You don’t have anything to prove, and it just takes a slip on concrete or a weapon to turn posturing into something life-threatening.

If you’d like extra protection, consider buying pepper spray. It’s easy to carry and can be used against a number of attackers at once, giving you a chance to escape. Just remember that no self defense product can compensate for poor judgment. If you escalate with insults and threats in kind, using any self defense product may look like assault.

Sexual Assault: Unfortunately, sexual assault is a persistent threat on college campuses despite improvements in policy, awareness and activism. Traveling in groups is always smart, but be aware that most perpetrators are known to their victims – they’re partners and acquaintances. Keep a close watch over your drinks – never leave them unattended – because you must account for the danger of date rape drugs – and limit your alcohol consumption. Women have a lower physiological tolerance for alcohol, so they may become unexpectedly and rapidly intoxicated when drinking in a mixed group. Finally, make sure there is always someone to “check in” with, who expects to see you by a certain time unless you specifically call in. (This is actually a great tip for general safety, not just the threat of rape.)

Do yourself a favor and take a self-defense course where they cover the specific issues around sexual assault, including use of force on people known to you. For self-defense purposes, a stun gun can be useful, particularly if you keep it on your person – not just in your purse, which might be some distance away if you find yourself in your dorm or apartment.

Theft: Students often underestimate the danger of on-campus theft. Colleges are heavily trafficked, poorly secured and contain the residences of largely upper and middle-class students, making them ideal for professional thieves. It’s also a sad fact that addiction, alcoholism and mental health issues often strike during college years, leading to students stealing to either support a drug habit or due to impaired impulse control. Personal danger comes into play when you interrupt a burglary in progress or have been targeted for mugging.

Integrating Self Defense with Your Quality of Life

2009-10-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

Once you start to seriously consider owning a self defense product or otherwise preparing yourself for self protection it’s easy to get caught by fear. It’s a dangerous world out there, especially in economic times that have left so many people desperate. But the worst thing you can do is be paranoid. I run Self Defense ATL a little differently from other self defense product retailers because I believe self defense should be about improving an average person’s quality of life. According to that philosophy preparedness should help you feel happier, not more fearful. Let’s look at two common pitfalls in self defense attitudes and how you can turn them around into positive opportunities.

Alertness, Not Fear

Awareness of your surroundings and the people near you is a key part of successful self-defense, but many people explore alertness as a kind of constant, low-level fear. That’s not good for your mental health. In fact, getting caught up in asking yourself whether someone you see is a potential mugger or other threat can actually blind you, because you get absorbed in that one person.

Approach alertness with a positive attitude: one where you want to experience more of what surrounds you. When I go hiking I like to look at each sight as it comes, appreciate it and move on, stopping only for something that sets off my interest. You can take the same attitude toward being aware of your surroundings in everyday life. Focus on things which set off alarm bells and don’t look quite right when you see them, but for the most part, just note the things and people around you and move on.

Preparedness, Not Tension

You might respond with this: “I can be aware of my surroundings without being paranoid, but why would you carry a TASER or stun gun without feeling that way?” That’s a good question. The answer? Preparedness is about prudence, not being tensely afraid that something bad will happen to you. You already exercise prudence in your daily life, in a thousand different ways that don’t make you frightened of anything. You lock your car and home; look both ways before crossing the street and keep a flashlight on your keychain in case you have to look for anything in the dark. You carry an umbrella if it looks like it’s going to rain.

Treat your C2 TASER, cell phone stun gun or other self defense product like that umbrella, flashlight or car key: just another precaution you take to reduce your worries, not increase them. Carrying a stun gun may make you feel self-conscious and tense at first. This is only natural, because carrying a TASER, pepper spray or stun gun requires a certain amount of maturity. The secret is to become familiar with your self defense products. Read manuals thoroughly. Practice with them. Learn techniques that help you use them effectively. Once handling them becomes routine, they’ll become normal parts of your daily gear, ready when you need them, but never a burden.

Learn About TASERs on Youtube

2009-09-04T10:19:00.001-04:00

We’ve been steadily adding new content to our Self Defense Products Youtube Account. Right now our primary focus is on the TASERs and Stun Guns we sell through our site. Our CEO David Brackman regularly attends gun shows to tell people about how TASERs work, how to use them, the law, and TASER International’s consumer policies.

We’ve combined several of Dave’s segments into a TASER Guide playlist. All of this material is culled from conversations Dave has with ordinary, interested Americans. That’s our core clientele. Dave does talk to security professionals and other people with a career-driven, above average interest in self-protection, but at Self Defense ATL we work hard to cater to regular folks.

We’re not alone, either. That’s why TASER International created the C2 TASER to cater to this growing niche. More and more Americans want less-lethal options for self defense. This need bridges the gap between popular opinions on self-protection and is common to both those who don’t feel comfortable owning a firearm and people who enthusiastically exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Dave’s talks on the C2 emphasize the features that are specifically designed for civilian use – the product isn’t just about style. For example, the unit releases paper with its serial number to ensure easy tracking by police and even uses a different electrical cycle designed to help users escape instead of closing and arresting in the way a police TASER supports.

Dave’s ability to communicate with people from all walks of life is what we think separates him from other presenters and salespeople, particularly online. So come visit!

Do Stun Guns Work? Watch and Learn

2009-07-08T07:42:00.003-04:00

I regularly appear at trade shows to demonstrate how Tasers and stun guns work. Back in March a nice young man allowed himself to get a “taste” of what a small civilian model stun gun does. See for yourself via our Youtube channel.

That was just a little jolt to the hand but it was enough to get a healthy looking guy to double over. Aside from proving that stun guns are effective, this video includes a couple of insights about how they work, and how to best apply them.

First of all, notice how I pressed into his hand? You want to do the same whenever you’re called on to defend yourself. A stun gun is an amazing self defense product but it isn’t a ray gun. You want the electrical discharge to penetrate as deeply as possible, through skin and clothing. Thick clothing may impede the discharge but it won’t necessarily stop it. Nevertheless, press hard and aim for exposed areas.

Second, I went for this gentleman’s hand because the extremities are the least serious body parts to target – but the stun gun still works pretty well. In a self-defense situation you might aim for the neck, upper leg or the spot where the hip meets the torso, but if you’re being grabbed you can attack the arms and work your way in to the torso until you’re free to escape. This makes stun guns excellent for smaller individuals who have been grabbed, since an effective shock to the arm can persuade an attacker to let go.

If you want to buy stun guns and have any questions, contact us. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Case Study: Woman Uses Her Stun Gun to Protect Atlanta Area Officer

2009-06-17T16:10:00.000-04:00

In January, Tanisha Cross of Lithona, GA did a very brave thing (link to news story): She used her stun gun (what the media have called a “taser gun,” though it was a different model, not a C2 Taser Gun) to help a police officer subdue an attacker. I want to highlight this incident because it represents the very best practices when it comes to using self defense products and highlights the specific advantages you have when you buy a Taser gun instead of a more lethal alternative.

Ms. Cross was on her way to Wal-Mart with her mother when she noticed a man attacking a DeKalb County police officer. The assailant had already stolen the officer’s radio and rubbed pepper spray in his eyes. She grabbed her stun gun, used it against the attacker, and protected the officer until he regained is composure. Eventually, the officer and a nearby security guard were able to effectively fight back.

That’s the story. Now read it at the link, and let’s look at what Tanisha Cross did right:

She asked to intervene: She got the officer’s okay before jumping in. This is important. Situations with police can escalate into life and death struggles, and the officer doesn’t necessarily know who you are. Furthermore, his duty to protect you may outweigh any benefit you can provide. Ms. Cross asked to help, making it absolutely clear whose side she was on, and ensuring that the officer really needed help.

Multiple strikes: Tanisha Cross didn’t treat the stun gun like a “magic wand.” She struck the attacker’s limbs multiple times to keep him from closing in, hitting or grappling with either herself or the officer. This highlights one of the main assets of a stun gun: its ability to prevent a stronger person from taking hold of you.

Weapon retention: Weapon retention was a major element in this altercation. At the time of the attack, the officer was trying to keep the perpetrator from grabbing his gun after losing his radio and in all likelihood (reports aren’t clear) having his own pepper spray used against him. Ms. Cross attacked the limbs, keeping the attacker from grappling for the stun gun while protecting the officer’s firearm: the most dangerous element in the conflict.

If you carry any sort of weapon you must always think of the consequences if somebody else gets it. Police need to carry firearms and you might choose to do so yourself, but having the option of a worst case scenario where someone shocks you with your own weapon instead of shooting you is a welcome option when you exercise your rights.

In short, we salute Tanisha Cross for her bravery, but more than that, we congratulate her form being smart. Applied intelligence is the most important self defense tool in anyone’s arsenal.

Four Self Defense Products No Hiker Should Be Without

2009-06-10T16:00:00.000-04:00

I love hiking. It’s one of my main hobbies and what I use to keep active. Hiking is pretty safe as long as you’re prepared. That means taking adequate food and water, bringing your cell phone if there’s coverage, planning your route (and taking a compass to navigate if it’s rough terrain) and most important, letting other people know where you’re going. Make sure you always have a “trip buddy” in town who knows where you are and when to expect you back, who can make emergency calls if you don’t return.

Beyond that, it’s a sad fact that you should think of self defense as well. Crime isn’t just an urban phenomenon. Drug dealers pick up shipments in nature areas; addicts go there to use drugs out of sight. Beyond that, there are also human predators that look for unprepared hikers. And leaving aside human threats, don’t underestimate wild animals. During strange weather, many shy predators will come closer to people than normal because their normal prey species have gone elsewhere. Other animals have grown overly accustomed to people. This commonly happens with bears. While wolves almost never target humans, feral dogs might.

Don’t get paranoid – these are only possible threats. Nevertheless, it’s better to be prepared. Here are four essential self defense products to help you protect yourself on a hike.

Bear or Dog Pepper Spray: Keep bear pepper spray and dog pepper spray to repel members of these species when they get too close. Remember that when you encounter a strange animal, the best policy is to calmly leave the area without yelling or making sudden movements. Running may spark an animal’s predator instincts and besides, dangerous animals can run faster than you. And of course, humans don’t particularly like animal repellent either.

Boots: We don’t sell boots, but a proper pair really is an essential self defense product. Many people hike in casual footwear. That’s a big mistake. If you get lost or have to run from a threatening individual, twisting your ankle can be enough to kill you, either through exposure or when an attacker catches up. Ignore style; get a pair that fit you and suit the terrain.

Flashlight: A safety light (scroll down to see one that attaches to your cell phone) is not only important at night to avoid obstacles but in any situation where you might encounter variable lighting conditions, such as heavy foliage and overcast days. Any flashlight can serve as an impact weapon. The best ones for this are steel shot security models, but on a hike they may add extra weight. Pick one you can comfortably use in one hand and store without outing it in your pack – you don’t want to rummage through your gear in an emergency. Nowadays small LED models pack a punch

Knife: A self defense knife can be used to protect yourself when you feel the need to employ potentially lethal force. Besides that, the merits of a knife on the woods are too numerous to mention. You can cut a walking stick or can to help you walk, chop firewood into manageable sizes, cut rope – the potential is only limited by your needs and creativity.

Five Self Defense Tips for Drivers

2009-05-19T10:58:00.000-04:00

Self defense is something you should not just imagine happening in a proverbial dark alley. Not all assaults are premeditated. It just takes a moment of desperation or anger to turn your daily routine into a dangerous situation. Cars are often silent witnesses to assaults as drivers enter and leave, or tempers get heated on the road. Here are five tips to help you effectively protect yourself in or near your car.

1) Drive Safely: This one seems like a real no-brainer, but a substantial number of assaults happen as the result of a fender bender, close call or other instance of dangerous driving. The other driver gets angry enough to attack or worse yet, is a criminal who has something to hide from the police. He doesn’t want to stick around – and he doesn’t want witnesses either. Drive safely, keep your distance from other vehicles and never drive to harass someone, no matter how angry you are – or how bad a driver the other guy is.

2) Call the Police First: If you get into any accident, call the police before you talk to the other driver and tell him you’ve done it. This takes any convoluted talk about keeping insurance out of it (a popular trick for fraudsters and the source of violent arguments) off the table right away. If the other guy has something to hide he might just get in his vehicle and take off. Fine – let him. Explain what happened as soon as the police arrive.

3) Don’t Leave Your Car to Confront an Angry Driver: If someone gets out of his car looking for a fight do not get out to try to calm them down or confront them. It’s not worth it. If you feel more threatened and your car works, drive away. Call the police, even if you’ve already called them before. In this case, the second call informs them of the angry driver and in the even of an accident, tells them that you’re not abandoning the scene.

4) Keep Pepper Spray or Other Self Defense Products in Arm’s Reach: If you own a cell phone stun gun, pepper spray or a similar self defense product you should be able to use it from your driver’s seat at a second’s notice. Your weapon should be securely attached to your person so it won’t fall anywhere it isn’t supposed to, and should not be in your glove compartment, where you’ll waste time grabbing it. If you go this route, make sure you have all the paperwork required by law in your jurisdiction, are legally entitled to carry the weapon, and when the police arrive, inform them that you are legally armed and wish to follow their instructions.

5) Never Let Anyone Force You Into a Car or Force You to Go Anywhere: Carjackings and attempts to force you into a car are always extremely dangerous situations, and you should consider them life threatening events to resist with any amount of force. Crimes where the perpetrator takes the victim to another location generally rank among the most dangerous, so you should consider escape your top priority, and even be willing to take risks you wouldn’t consider in other self defense scenarios.

Three Tips to Use a Taser Gun Safely

2009-05-12T10:44:00.002-04:00

On Friday May 1^st, Cobb County decided to arm its officers with Tasers, reopening a longstanding debate about how they fit into the police’s use of force continuum, and how good an idea they are – period. There are a broad range of opinions about them, ranging from strong, unconditional support to serious concerns about their safety. Now you can buy Taser guns from us so obviously, you know that we approve of them – but we support proper Taser use. Here are three guiding principles to pay attention if you choose to purchase a C2 Taser.

Appropriate Use: Most controversies involving Tasers ultimately boil down to inappropriate use. In law enforcement this happens because of a combination of officer stress and poor training, explaining why there are so many differences between Taser statistics in different jurisdictions. For example in Phoenix, AZ, police shooting incidents declined by a third while Taser use increased between 2001 and 2003 – an indication that proper training helped these officers save lives. In Houston however, the introduction of Tasers didn’t reduce shooting deaths at all. (Source: Wikipedia)

A Taser is one of the best nonlethal alternatives to injurious or deadly force out there – but it is an alternative to those situations, instead of something to use when you’re angry or frustrated. Just like a firearm, they’re dangerous based on what the user does. Tasers are serious self-defense tools to be employed in extreme situations – you’re not just “setting phasers on stun.” But in that role, they’re one of the very best options available.

Avoid Multiple Shocks: One characteristic of high profile Taser incidents is the use of multiple shocks over a brief period of time. A Taser is one of the safest self defense products for what it does . . . once. Evidence for Tasers contributing to serious injury and death is often controversial, but rest assured that these situations are also very, very rare and in many of them, the target was hit with multiple consecutive bursts.

Fortunately, the C2 Taser and other civilian models are designed to take this into account by automatically limiting the operating cycle to a maximum of 30 seconds. (Law enforcement models provide unlimited consecutive 5 second bursts for as long as the operator pulls the trigger). The C2 is programmed so that you will use it properly by default, giving you a chance to escape. So in most cases, this concern is not even an issue for civilian users.

One Solution Among Many: Like any self defense product a Taser has an appropriate time and place – in this case, it should be used when you feel someone represents a serious threat to your well-being. Don’t buy one for the same reason you’d buy pepper spray, for example. Pepper spray can be reasonably used when you want to deescalate a threat before it reaches its peak; Tasers fill the role of putting someone down when they need to go down right now. It won’t just scare them off, and you must be prepared for the responsibilities that come with all of a Taser’s possible consequences. Ultimately, it’s a powerful self defense asset when it’s used as part of a total strategy that includes personal awareness, health and a focus on avoidance and escape. A Taser will help you prevail in the most extreme situations.

How to Use Pepper Spray: Five Steps

2009-04-16T12:45:00.000-04:00

If you’re going buy pepper spray you might hesitate with the simple question: “How do I use it?” Fortunately, pepper spray is extremely simple to use. Nevertheless, you should practice and visualize how to use pepper spray in an emergency. (Make sure that when you practice, it’s with a substitute object the same size as the canister to avoid accidents.)

Proper pepper spray techniques can be boiled down into five easy steps. All of the above also apply when you buy mace spray, since “Mace” is actually a brand name – modern Mace is pepper spray.

Draw Easily: Make sure you can quickly and easily draw the pepper spray from wherever you keep it, but that when you put it away, it’s in a secure spot where it isn’t likely to fall out by accident. You may have to try out several locations and practice a bit to ensure a quick, smooth draw. Many pepper spray brands come with a carrying case. Consider using it. If it has a snap release or other two step process to draw, practice doing this quickly, but if you feel threatened, release the snap ahead of time.

Safety Release: The other aspect to consider is the safety. Become familiar with any safety mechanism on the pepper spray. When you practice, mentally note when you would release the safety and practice the movement with a substitute. (We do not recommend that you actually release the safety in practice in case of an accident.) This should be a smooth motion and part of the drawing process.

Aim and Posture: Pepper spray is designed to cause facial irritation above all else, so that’s your target. However, you should never just hold it in front of you. Using the spray should be part of an overall self defense posture. Keep in mind that the attacker may be striking or grabbing at you while you draw the spray. To defend against being struck, grabbed or jostled, take a step back so that your knees are bent and your feet are more than shoulder width apart. Taking a step back creates distance, and reduces your profile, making it harder for the assailant to hit you. Keep both hands up, protecting your face and body. Do not push the hand holding the spray out so far that your ram is fully extended.

Center and Fan the Spray: One handy tip for properly aiming pepper spray is to look at the attacker’s face while bringing the spray in line with your eyes. Move them in one unit. When people feel threatened they often close their eyes, but don’t do this! It won’t protect you from any spray that comes your way and blinds you to any movement from your attacker. Once you release the spray, fan it back and forth to account for poor aim, the attacker’s movements and other factors.

Yell, Fight and Escape: Yell. YELL! Yell throughout the entire incident! “Stop it!” is a good catch all. You should actually practice this, because in many cases, surprise over an assault may otherwise render you speechless. And once you’ve used the spray enough to create an opportunity, get away as fast as you can. Pepper spray takes some time to work, so you have to shove, hit and run fast in addition to using the spray. You should also be prepared for the risk of being hit by some of the spray, since it scatters and can be affected by wind.

Situational Awareness: The First Step to Using Any Self Defense Product

2009-04-08T16:17:00.002-04:00

You need one critical thing to use a Taser gun, pepper spray or any other self defense product. That’s situational awareness: the ability to properly observe your surroundings, identify danger and understand your options for overcoming it. Without it, you won’t have an opportunity to protect yourself. You may not even see the danger coming.

Criminals rely on surprise; the kinds of duels you see in the movies almost never happen. Attackers don’t waste time threatening you first. They attack first, then threaten to exert more psychological leverage. The only exceptions are some bar fights and school fights, and in those cases, you can often get away simply by refusing to participate and removing yourself from the situation.

Situational awareness is one of the core concepts taught in policing and the military. You can notice things, but are you paying attention? Do you immediately think about your relationship with events around you? There are many ways of modeling this, including the OODA Loop in military aviation and SWOT Analysis in business and combat strategy. The average person can develop situational awareness by using a few simple principles.

Active Seeing and Listening: Many people walk down the street paying more attention to their inner monologues than the world around them. Instead, treat looking and listening as an active process. Look around you as you walk and think about what you see. Try to identify sounds. Don’t fixate on any one thing. As an avid hiker, I try to bring the sense of observation and exploration I feel on the trail with me around Atlanta, as it’s a very similar attitude.

Sense of Self and Others: You should develop a mental “landscape” where you pay attention to your place in the surrounding environment as well as where other people are. This includes paying attention to being observed. Are you being followed, or is someone just walking your way? How far away is from the nearest brightly lit location? Note that this is not paranoia or fear. Be cautious, but you should notice the positive as well as the negative. There are a lot of happy families and fun things out there. Notice them as well as potential sources of trouble.

Mental Rehearsal: You should mentally rehearse what you will do in case of danger. Do this as you’re out in the world. Where can you run? Would yelling for help do anything? How would you draw your pepper spray or a cell phone stun gun? Remember that you should assume a sudden attack without warning. If you do notice it coming, that’s a blessing. Visualize yourself resisting and surviving as soon as you make contact, and prevailing despite the assault. Again, if you do better that’s great, but be prepared for the worst.

Post-Situation Assessment: After the emergency, go through the previous three concepts. Look around to see if there’s more trouble. Assess yourself. After an assault you may have injuries you didn’t notice. Get away from other hazards and locate the nearest source of help. Even if you feel fine, do your civic duty and report the incident to the police. Even if they didn’t help you, your information helps them record and understand local crime trends.

Self Defense Products and Techniques for Aggressive Dogs

2009-03-12T09:19:00.000-04:00

An aggressive dog is a really frightening thing to face. Dogs don’t follow human social rules, and stronger, pound for pound and are hard to predict. As social animals, dogs are deeply affected by how their owners treat them. That means that an innocent gesture can set a dog off because it’s reading signals into your behavior that it interprets as a threat or territorial challenge.

Don’t Approach Without Permission: Don’t go near a dog unless you have permission from its owner. Even then, you should approach slowly and calmly, without making eye contact. If you must touch the dog, be gentle and stay away from its face

Respect the Bark: Dogs bark for all kinds of reasons, but in most cases a dog you don’t know is barking to make you go away. The answer is simple: Go away! Don’t run, but calmly move away from the dog and the person, place or thing you feel the dog is defending.

Remain Calm: If you think a dog is considering an attack, the key is to avoid acting in a way that the dog can interpret as aggressive. Don’t make eye contact and keep your hands at your sides. Once the dog begins to lose interest, slowly back away and move on.

Don’t Run: Unless you’re an Olympic-level sprinter, any large dog can run faster than you. Worse, dogs are natural predators, so running arouses their hunting instincts, increasing their aggression level. Many larger breeds will instinctively attack your legs while you run, bringing you down. This is also a good reason not to try an kick an aggressive dog from a standing position.

Protect Your Face and Throat: Dogs tend to latch on and shake whatever they can grab. In the event of an attack use your arms to cover your face and throat, which are the vital areas most in danger from its teeth. Some experts counsel that you not try to release your arm from the dog’s grip, to avoid the dog from attacking more intensely or moving on to a more dangerous target. If you have a choice, let the dog get your non-dominant arm.

Get a Barrier: A big dog can cause serious lacerations and puncture wounds, so heavy clothing, a stick or a bag can help mitigate the damage. Don’t try to retrieve these objects.

About Fighting Back: If you’re concerned about encountering aggressive dogs it might be a good idea to buy pepper spray or a chemically similar dog spray. These are effective tools to ward off even large dogs, which are no more resistant to it than human beings. Aim for the eyes, not and mouth. If a dog latches on to you, many authorities advise you to remain calm, curl up and stay still until the dog loses interest. If the dog doesn’t calm down, however, you may have to hit back. Aim for sensitive parts of the face but always remember that your first priority is to protect your head and neck.

Self Defense and Property Crime: A Hot Issue in Atlanta

2009-03-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

Atlantans have become particularly worried about crime in recent months, due to a reported rise in property crimes and a number of brutal murders, including the February 10^th killing of cancer researcher Dr. Eugenia Calle. While anecdotes from citizens give them impression that violent crime is on the rise, too, this is disputed by police statistics. Who’s right? For the purposes of this article the answer isn’t important, but one fact is indisputable: property crime and violent crime go hand in hand. In Dr. Calle’s case, it appears that her killer’s motive was money, as he took cash, jewelry and credit cards that he later used in a spending spree.

Preventing and protecting yourself from property crime is one of the fundamentals of self defense. Where do you start? The key is to understand how burglars, muggers and thieves pick their targets, and why they steal in the first place. Here are two landmarks that apply to a great many criminals:

Addiction: Drug addiction is one of the most common motives for serious property crimes. Addicts have trouble keeping jobs, have impaired decision making skills and have a regular need for substantial amounts of money to keep up their habits.

Impulsiveness: Despite movies that show us meticulous criminal capers, most thefts are decided on the spot when an opportunity arises, or out of a sudden impulse, combined with a memory of a likely target.

As a result, you can’t be sure that simply not resisting a theft will ensure your safety. Even though we associate the term “career criminal” with a cool, street-smart professional, the average example is a desperate drug addict who isn’t thinking things through rationally. I’m not saying this to get you to sympathize with him – I’m saying it because this is what makes him dangerous. If he decided he’s going to hit you with a hammer and take your wallet, that’s what he will do, even if you would have given it to him in the first place. That’s the mental “script” he’s thrown together to commit the crime.

In essence, there are two ways to protect yourself from property crimes, or at least keep them from escalating into a threat to your safety: prevention and response.

Prevention: These measures make it less likely you’ll be hit in the first place. Make sure your home’s exterior is brightly lit and you stick to a routine of locking your doors – and you have sturdy deadbolts. In terms of self defense products, home protection tools that send a message that your home is more trouble than it’s worth are highly recommended. These include alarms and door braces. Some thieves will give openings a test kick or shove; if your doors and windows don’t budge, or it looks like an alarm will go off, they may move on to easier pickings.

Response: If the crime proceeds despite your best efforts you need to keep it from transforming into a violent attack on you and your family. Obviously, escape if you can. Gun ownership is a personal choice with pros and cons; exercise your rights at your discretion, but do your research, and take an accredited safety course. As an alternative, you can buy a Taser Gun. The C-2 model is designed for personal protection. If you get a Taser or buy stun guns make sure you get familiar with drawing them quickly and store them safely.

How to Use a Stun Gun

2009-02-12T14:45:00.000-05:00

If you buy stun guns from us we hope you never have to use them, but if you do, we hope you do a good job. This time around we’ll go over the basics of using a stun gun properly.

To make a stun gun work you need to understand the principles behind its operation. Contrary to what the name might suggest, a stun gun (or stun baton) doesn’t shoot anything or operate at a distance (get a C2 Taser for those capabilities). It’s a close range electroshock weapon. Current passes through two contact points. When pressed against a target, the current passes through it. This causes pain, muscle contractions and disorientation, though the exact effects depend on the area you hit on an attacker as ell as his clothing and specific physiology.

One you buy a stun gun your first job is to get familiar with the weapon. First of all, never touch the contact points, and don’t let the touch anyone or anything you don’t want to hurt. Second, practice testing the stun gun (a visible current will pass between the contacts) to ensure that it’s working properly. Third, learn how to rapidly disengage the safety. Finally, become comfortable carrying it in your hand with the safety engaged. Our cell phone stun guns let you do this without drawing unwelcome attention to yourself. It also gives you the element of surprise so that an attacker won’t pre-emptively disarm you.

When you need to use the stun gun, disengage the safety and press it against the attacker for one to five second – longer if there’s no reaction. Clothing can interfere with a stun gun’s operation and the current needs to pass between points on the attacker’s body, so don’t just lightly touch – push! Don’t “punch” with the stun gun, since it requires some time in contact with the target. A split second impact will have little to no effect.

The most effective targets for a stun gun are nerve clusters on the attacker’s torso. Many people recommend around the upper hip and below the rib cage. Used correctly, a stun gun will have some effect on almost any target area, however, and you can use it on an arm to persuade an attacker to let you go. Some authorities recommend working from the outside in, by using the stun gun to clear a grab before targeting the torso. The attacker may double up in pain, but remember that a stun gun doesn’t cause full paralysis or incapacitation. It gives you time to escape – that’s it. Use it to get away. If anything more severe happens to the attacker, consider that a lucky margin of safety. Count your blessings from a safe location.

The last importance piece of advice is to remember that a stun gun is not a shield! It’s usually not a great idea to wave it around to try and scare away an attacker. This just prepares them to defend themselves against the weapon and may inspire them to escalate the attack with their own weapon. If you feel threatened enough to let your attacker know you have it, you should actually use it.

Running Away for Self Defense: Five Tips

2009-02-04T13:54:00.002-05:00

There are many situations where you can’t run away from an attacker in an emergency but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the option of fleeing as seriously as learning a technique from a course or self defense DVD, or by carrying mace, pepper spray or a Taser gun. But this aspect of self-protection is often overlooked. Let’s go over five quick tips on running away effectively.

Survive the Attack

The most important part of self defense is to resist the initial assault. If you don’t think you can get away immediately, put all of your energy into responding to the attack until an opportunity opens. This should be the central goal of any self-defense plan. People talk about “fight or flight” as if you must choose between one and the other, but drop that attitude. Self protection is your goal. This is something we can’t give you specific advice for. Every situation is different. If you manage to free yourself and get a second or two of lead time, it’s time to go.

Be Ready to Run

If you’re going to run, make sure you can run. This tip has two components. First of all, even though you shouldn’t be a slave to your fear of attack, consider wearing comfortable clothing you can run in whenever it’s convenient to do so. Secondly, this is one of the many reasons you should try to stay in shape. Short range running is an anaerobic activity, meaning the action if brief and intense enough to not use oxygen. Longer running is aerobic. This site isn’t devoted to fitness advice but to be brief, make sure you stay physically active at something you enjoy, and consider taking a fitness class so that you can keep going when you need to.

Don’t Corner Yourself

TV and movies have brought us some terrible examples of how to get away. It may be dramatic to run for a rooftop, but think about it; you’re just cornering yourself. It’s smarter to seek the ground level. Unless you have a building with a safe room, hiding in a confined space probably isn’t a good idea unless you really have no other choice.

Make a Scene – Get Attention

Muggers and other street attackers don’t want to be caught, so you want to draw as much attention to your situation as possible. Dignity be damned; run to crowds and bright areas and yell for help! Once again, running though back alleys like you see on TV is usually a bad idea.

Decide When You Won’t Run – and What the Law Has to Say

Remember: If you have a clear plan you’re more likely to succeed. That means you should decide when you aren’t willing to run away. We think deciding to run should be your default choice, but everyone has situations where they’d rather stay put and resist. What if you have to protect a family member? Are you willing to flee your home? These are very personal choices, so don’t make them in haste. You should also become familiar with laws in your state that say whether or not you’re obligated to retreat. The Atlanta region falls under the jurisdiction of Georgia’s “stand your ground” law, so your legal duty to retreat is limited, but don’t let the law be your only guideline. In our opinion, your safety is more important than your dignity. After that, the choice is up to you.

Three Home Self Defense Tips

2009-01-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

Let's get back to basics today. I'd like to talk about three tips that apply to practically everyone who's ever thought of what they might do if somebody invaded their home. When you read these you may just protest: "Well, that's just common sense!" Unfortunately, the news is full of people who didn't think of a particular bit of common sense at a critical moment. They panicked.

Think about that for a second. Your ability to make rational decisions is one of the first things that stops working properly in a crisis. This is why police and other emergency workers don't just improvise logical plans on the spot. Even experienced members of these professions need to account for the way the human mind reacts to extreme stress, so they train to do certain things instinctively after they and their trainers consider the kinds of problems they might encounter. You may not be training for law enforcement, but you can still use that principle by thinking, preparing and practicing. Apply that to the following:

1) Start With a Safe Home

If you run down the stairs, fall when a handrail collapses and break your neck, no training or tool will help you. If your own home is a danger fending off an attacker becomes much harder. Think about how your home would stand up to running and falling. Prepare by fixing that wobbly step or replacing the broken light fixture. On a related note, never unsafely store a firearm or other self defense tool in your home. You might think getting to it faster will give you an advantage, but in fact, you should be practicing to get to a safely stored weapon. The last thing you want is for a family member to injure themselves with your weapon - or for a criminal to injure you with it.

2) Make Your Home a Burglar's Last Choice

Think: The average crook is closer to what you see on COPS than CSI: not too bright, impulsive (many steal with little planning beforehand - they just run into an open door) and often motivated by drug addiction. They need to find a simple, fast entrance into a home where they won't be seen. Prepare: Make sure your home is well-lit and obviously has multiple locks, including a high-quality deadbolt. These guys are more likely to be using a boot than a lock pick to get in. B&E criminals also hate dogs, so if you love them, it might be in your best interest to get a big, lovable, crime-preventing mutt. Alarms and cameras can also serve as deterrents. These precautions aren't just safe for you, either. They prevent accidental entrance by someone who thinks your home is someplace else, such as a neighbor's home or party. In several cases, people have been shot when they walked into the wrong house and the owners assumed they were thieves.

3) Learn How to Break In and Out

Think: Do you know how to break in to your house? Many people do. The time and noise it takes to do this can be a useful indication of how secure your home is, assuming you pick the most vulnerable point to enter. Aside from the fact that it can be handy when you lose your keys, breaking in can help you understand how a criminal might look at your home. That's not all, though: Can you get out safely without using the main doors? You should already have some idea of this when planning what to do in case of a fire, but this can also help you and your family avoid contact with home invaders. Prepare and Practice: Walk through the route and think about situations where you'd get out that way.

Once you've gone over these three tips you'll have a much better idea of the self defense products you need. We offer an array of personal and home alarms in addition to safety flashlights and self-defense weapons. Remember: Self protection is more than you and an attacker. It's about the whole environment around you. The better you know it, the better prepared you'll be.

Cell Phone Stun Gun Demonstration

2009-01-07T10:25:00.004-05:00

You may or may not know this, but Self Defense ATL is on Youtube! Check out our Self Defense Youtube Channel, where we continuously add new product demonstrations and ads.

Today I'd like to show you two videos that demonstrate the Pretender Cell Phone Stun Gun. This is one of our favorite products because it fits our self-defense philosophy to a "T." It's designed for average people to carry around in daily life and use when they need to protect themselves. It's for when it's time to go - not just for show.

Here's an ad of ours with a dramatization of the Pretender being used.

Note that the woman in the dramatization doesn't need to employ much strength and uses the stun gun intelligently - she gets away as quickly as possible. (The next step is to call the police. Remember that even if they don't get the assailant right away, the description and data can help your community down the road.)

The next video is a practical information session with Self Defense ATL's David Brackman.

Here, he talks about its application at close range as well as the integral LED light. This also brings home an often confusing point: Even though "stun gun" is the common name for electroshock weapons, most of them are designed for close range use. Fortunately, their effectiveness doesn't rely on physical strength, so movements that normally wouldn't work with an impact weapon like a baton (such as a pressing motion with no "windup") still delivers the weapon's effect.

The Pretender isn't the only cell phone stun gun model we carry. Our Cell Phone Stun Gun Review page compares the models in our catalog.

Want to buy Mace? Here's what you need to know.

2008-12-05T11:25:00.006-05:00

Before pepper spray, there was Mace: a chemical self defense product that people referred to by name. They didn't really think about what was in it, assumed that it was some formula called "Mace," or that it was an acronym for some special combination of chemicals. Now that people buy pepper spray as a standard chemical self defense tool, some people ask: "What happened to good old Mace?"

In fact, Mace is a brand name owned by Mace Security International, and has attached its name to an evolving line of self defense and animal repellent products. The old Mace was 1% CN tear gas dissolved in a mix of chemicals. CN gas is . . . not fun. It was originally developed during the First and Second World Wars and used in Vietnam. It's a lachrymatory agent (meaning that it causes tears) and irritant prone to inflicting toxic effects on susceptible individuals.

Most modern Mace is actually pepper spray: a substance that, when used properly, has more stable, predictable effects while maintaining excellent "stopping power" against most aggressors. We sell it as a separate category because the Mace brand is synonymous with quality. The company has excellent manufacturing standards and excels at making pepper spray (and its sticky cousin, pepper gel) that's easy to use. The company leads the way in designing ergonomic delivery systems - that means their sprays are easy to hold and aim. You can also buy dog repellent under the Mace brand that has the same great characteristics. And if you want a bit more "punch," Mace Triple Action Spray combines pepper spray, the old-style CN gas and dye to mark an assailant, making later pickup by the police much easier.

Like all sprays and other self defense products, you should check on local laws to make sure you buy products permissible under state law. Don't go looking for laws about "mace," since this can be misleading - it might refer to CN and other tear gasses. The laws surrounding pepper sprays are the same laws that affect Mace pepper spray products, so buy mace under the same advice you would use to buy pepper spray. Check out our page on pepper spray laws for a quick guide. If you still have questions, contact local law enforcement - they'd rather refer you to an answer than arrest you for making an ill-informed choice.

What’s In Your Go Bag?

2008-11-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

In prior articles we’ve emphasized the importance of preparedness when it comes to effective self defense. Protecting yourself from a hostile human being is just one aspect of self defense. It’s at least as important to think of other kinds of emergencies that arise from extreme weather, getting lost and other incidents that don’t involve a violent individual but can affect you just as adversely.

One handy concept is the go bag (or “bug out bag”): a gym back or backpack filled with everything you need for short term survival. The go bag has become a more prevalent idea since the rise of regular, extreme weather in the southern US. Hurricane Katrina made it obvious that it pays to have the necessities of life on hand, and the ability to take them with you to a safe place.

Here’s a set of guidelines for an effective go bag:

Food and Water: Prepare enough food and water to last for 72 hours. For water, one gallon per person per day is a good guideline. For food, goods that won’t spoil and don’t require heat or water to prepare are the best choice. In addition, pack water purification tablets, cutlery and cooking equipment. Camping supplies are a good source for these.

Medical Gear: Pack a first aid kit along with a supply of any medications you regularly take.

Radio and Lights: Get a radio and light with a fresh, ready supply of power. Our safety light is one compact option. In any emergency where you have to retreat from your home, you need access to the radio for important announcements, and enough light to get you through power interruptions.

Bedding and Clothing: Carry enough bedding for your family and three sets of clothes per person. Clothes and bedding should be appropriate for the worst weather the region has to offer.

Money: Store cash, because in an emergency, ATM and debit may be unavailable.

Tools: Your go bag should include a compact set of tools, including a knife. This category also includes self defense products. This isn’t just to deal with people; you may encounter wild or feral animals in a severe emergency. A can of bear spray is not out of the question. Finally, make sure you have a way to easily make fire. We recommend strike-anywhere matches and a set of lighters. Each of these excels in different situations.

Once you’ve gathered the required materials, pack them neatly and make sure it’s light enough that you can lug it around for a few hours without any trouble. If necessary, split an overly heavy bag into two, or more, but make sure that each one includes every item, so that if you lose a bag, you don’t lose an entire category of necessary items. Check your go bag for expired components (such as food or medicine) every few months. If you never need to use it, that’s great! Take it camping in the summer, restock it when you get home and remember that preparedness is never a waste.

C3: Get the Best Out of Self Defense Products with Command, Control and Communications

2008-11-07T08:52:00.009-05:00

Modern militaries use a doctrine called C3 to effectively direct entire armies. C3 is short for Command, Control and Communications. This concept may seem rather lofty for the average person but if we view it as an allegory for managing personal protection, you’ll see how it can help you get the most out of your self defense tools.

Command

In the military, command refers to the ability to issue clear orders to your troops. In basic self defense you only have one soldier: yourself. Nevertheless, you should make sure that you have some “standing orders” to prevent and handle dangerous situations. First off, whenever you go to an unfamiliar place, make sure you have a clear plan. When I go hiking, for example, I always plan my route and a timetable for visiting various spots. I give myself enough flexibility to have fun, of course, but I don’t wander off into unfamiliar places impulsively. My friends and family know when to expect me, and where to look if they need me.

I also have some “standing orders” about the equipment I take with me, including self defense tools. When I go on a hike, I carry an animal repellent like bear spray or dog spray, along with a knife. The knife isn’t necessarily for a fight, but it’s an extremely handy outdoor tool. Self defense isn’t always about people or animals. Sometimes, it’s about being ready for simple accidents.

Control

Military control is the power to act effectively. It grows out of command, because you only get practical results from workable orders. For the individual, control is the power to successfully protect yourself in an emergency. This extends from having the proper tools and training to get the job done. If you’ve commanded yourself properly, you have the right tools. These might include pepper spray, a stun gun or a knife. Training means you have a regular physical fitness regimen, you’ve practiced drawing and using your tools and you’ve given serious thought to what you will and won’t do in an emergency. Self defense DVDs can help guide your personal training. Finding a fitness regimen that works for you, getting familiar with your tools and knowing your limits is 90% or preparedness.

Communications

This is straightforward: the ability to talk to who you need, when you need it. For the individual, this means that you have a charged cell phone and whenever you have a choice, you stay close to populated, public areas. If you can call 911 in an instant it means that no matter what happens, trained people will go to your location. If you stick near public areas, it dissuades potential attackers. They don’t want to be seen.

Think about these ideas when you order self defense products and you’ll have a clear idea of what you need, and when you’ll need it.

Do You Know Karate? Instructional Fighting DVDs and You

2008-10-14T16:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, I admit it: The ad copy for our Instructional Fighting DVDs can be a bit . . . extreme. That's why we use the phrase "more fun than Jackie Chan movies" to add a bit of levity. We know that the average, sane guy doesn't want to "slaughter" or "destroy" anyone, but the truth is that a little attention getting never hurt anyone. That's a fact, because this post is a response to the level of traffic our instructional DVD pages get.

That's why I want to take a moment to talk about self-defense training in straightforward language, without the, shall we say, "excitement" of the ad copy. How will you get the most out of an instructional video?

Exercise before Karate!

Lots of people buy self-defense DVDs because let's face it: There are big, strong guys out there that make us all kind of nervous. That's a bit of a clue - to be more confident, think about getting stronger! Work on your cardio. Go outside. Not everybody wants to be Mr. Universe, but an active lifestyle with fitness goals is one of the foundations of personal self-defense. Training won't make that go away.

No Secret Moves - Just Practice, Practice, Practice

Yeah, the ad copy talks about "lethal moves," and secret techniques, but if you ever watch these things the actual techniques are usually applied, refined common sense. For example, Paul Vunak's videos often talk about the "straight blast." What is that? Well, you punch someone and move forward, then you do it again, and again, and again, to overwhelm your opponent. There are lots of little details but that's basically it!

The "secret" is to do a good job of it, by getting the details right and practicing over and over again, with equipment and if you can manage it, a partner. DVDs provide the right visual reference, allowing you to perfect your technique.

It's One Part of Self-Defense

Remember to put all of this stuff in its place. Hand to hand combat is a very small part of self defense. 90% of safety is situational awareness and determination, along with the other elements we covered in our last self-defense article.

Knives: Dangerous Personal Protection Gear

2008-10-02T14:11:00.006-04:00

We sell knives. They're one of the most popular self defense products, and also among those most rarely used by their purchasers - and thank God for that. Knives are dangerous!

Our catalog features two different kinds of knives: self defense pen knives and what knife enthusiasts call tactical folders. These knives can be used as tools but they're primarily designed to cut somebody who poses a serious threat to your well being. They're pretty, too. There are plenty of knife enthusiasts out there who appreciate a good blade's craftsmanship and aren't bracing themselves for the worst. Make no mistake, however: Carrying a knife is one of the most extreme measures you can take to protect yourself.

A Knife is a Lethal Weapon

Don't carry a knife believing you'll use it to scare someone away or just cut them "a bit" if they get too close. It takes very little force to mortally wound someone with a sharp knife and in the right spot, a cut can cause a fatal "bleed out" in seconds. Do not assume you'll be able to control the amount of force you use. In fact, knives are not any less lethal than many handguns. In other words, a knife is for scenarios just as serious as the ones you'd reserve a firearm for - situations where you're prepared to kill an attacker.

Knives are Unpredictable and Hard to See

To understand how knives work, you have to know how they're used in criminal assaults. Throw away visions of the wide, sweeping motions and threatening gestures you see in action flicks. You will never, ever see people "duel" with knives, either. Assailants conceal knives right up to the attack -- then they hit fast, and often. Many knifing victims don't even know they've been stabbed until the assailant's long gone and they start bleeding heavily. That's when they discover that each "punch" was a knife blow. Tap the bottom of your fist lightly but firmly against your desk ten times. That's how quickly someone can stab you ten times.

In a Fight Against a Knife, You'll Get Cut

You can see, then, that a knife is less of a deterrent than a way to protect your life from someone who will not be stopped with nonlethal means - a larger and/or armed attacker determined to do something terrible to you or your loved ones. If the attacker has a knife too, expect to get cut. Remember: he's probably already stabbed you a few times before you can even start protecting yourself. This is why a gun can't protect you from a knife, either. Police studies (specifically, the Tueller Drill) show that within 21 feet, an assailant can close and stab an officer before he has time to draw his gun. Training to defend against a knife is about maintaining as large a safety zone as possible and if that fails, receiving the cut in a way designed to minimize injury.

So Are You Ready?

Assuming you don't just want to buy a knife because you're a collector or martial arts enthusiast, let's use the above facts to help you decide whether or not you should buy a knife. Do the following points apply to you?

Are you willing to kill someone in an extreme situation - to save your life, or that of a family member, for example?
Are you willing to "ambush" someone instead of passively waiting for an attack?
Will you keep fighting after being cut instead of freaking out at the sight of your own blood?
Do you understand that carrying or using a fighting knife is as serious as carrying and using a firearm, and that the authorities will likely see it this way as well?

If you can accept the above, then by all means, exercise your rights; buy a tactical folding knife or a pen knife. If not, have you considered an alternative, like a stun gun?

Your Mind and Body: The Most Important Self Defense Products You Own

2008-09-22T13:43:00.000-04:00

My business at Self Defense ATL sells self defense products for the average person but as I've said in past articles, you need practice, alertness and a little common sense to protect yourself. A stun gun or pepper spray increase your chance of success, but the most important "self defense product" is you!

Let's get down to brass tacks about what that means. The qualities of someone who successfully defends themselves could be written up in dozens of pages, but to make it readable we'll boil things down into just four areas: Environmental Awareness, Motivation, Physical Fitness and Training.

Self Defense Though Environmental Awareness

Environmental Awareness is a simple concept. If you want to protect yourself from danger you better see it coming! Just as we teach children to look both ways before crossing the street, we must teach ourselves to be aware of our surroundings and alert to possible danger. This is not the same as paranoia! In fact, proper Environmental Awareness should actually increase your appreciation for the small things in life. Instead of marching down the street concentrating on your own thoughts, you should be really looking at the world around you. That way, you'll notice difficult people or suspicious situations and avoid them, defending yourself without even getting into a fight. Not only that, but who do you think the average street predator would rather go after: someone who looks alert or someone who's staring at his shoes? Awareness gives you an air of confidence.
Self Defense Through Motivation

Sift through the news and it's easy to find stories about martial arts experts and big tough guys getting assaulted and not being able to do a thing to protect themselves. What happened? It could be a bunch of things, including plain bad luck, but in many cases these people weren't motivated to protect themselves. That sounds hard to believe, but true motivation (what some people call the "self defense mindset") doesn't magically appear because you took karate classes or hit the gym. Your attitude needs two important features:

You need to believe you have the right to defend yourself! This isn't just an intellectual choice. You must absolutely believe that fighting back is the right thing to do. Decades ago police used to advise rape and other violent assault victims to not resist, but this only made things worse. Nowadays, we know that violent people see a passive attitude as an invitation to attack, and often have a mental "script" that doesn't count on resistance.
You need to be mentally prepared to survive an assault. Don't think about how you'd defend against an attack. Think about what would happen if you actually were punched or cut with a knife. You need to have the resolve to keep fighting, because people only block every attack in the movies. You can't survive unless you think you can.

Self Defense Through Physical Fitness

Most of us aren't big guys built like UFC fighters or anything, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't regularly exercise. Not only is it just plain good for you, it also prepares your body for the stresses of an emergency. Strength training and aerobic fitness are the two primary foci of any fitness program. Don't worry about "sculpting" or "toning," but see how well you do at everyday tasks like moving furniture or climbing stairs. My wife and I love the outdoors because it's fun and helps us stay fit enough to enjoy life - and that's fit enough for an average person to defend themselves.

Self Defense Through Training

Practice makes perfect - or good enough, at least. Remember to always practice carrying, retrieving and aiming our products. Check for local self-defense courses in your area. If you choose to own a handgun always take courses in its proper handling and use. Even if you learned all about guns growing up, taking a course shows law enforcement that you are a responsible gun owner - and that's important if (God forbid) you ever have to go to court. If you can't find instruction in your area we do have Instructional Fighting Videos for sale.

Why Cops Buy Stun Guns!

2008-09-10T14:30:00.004-04:00

Stun Guns use high voltage and low amperage to temporarily disable an attacker. They disrupt voluntary muscle movements and cause a great deal of pain, leaving enough time for you to get away from a dangerous situation. Most law enforcement organizations make stun guns available to front line officers because of their proven effectiveness.

Let's go over the above statements in detail. First of all, like most weapons a stun gun isn't a "magic wand" and it isn't "setting phasers on stun." Stun guns are trusted because they work on age-old electrical principles. A stun gun (including a TASER's twin projectiles and the prods on a stun baton) has two contact points that deliver the electricity. Many models have a test mode that lets you run a small arc of electricity between the contacts. When that shock moves through human flesh . . . that flesh's owner doesn't like it very much.

Despite the name, most stun guns are actually close range weapons. You must touch your attacker with the weapon's contacts. TASERs are the exception, since their contacts are twin darts that are shot out, trailing a wire to deliver the electrical discharge. The weapon's exact effects depend on its wattage, amperage and the length of time the contacts touch your attacker. A fraction of a second's contact will cause pain and muscle contractions. Two or three seconds is often enough contact time to make an attacker drop to the ground. Past that, the shock might incapacitate the assailant for longer.

The importance of contact time is why Taser International recommends that TASER civilian model users abandon the weapon and run after use (Taser International will replace it if they get a police report about the incident), but their stun guns use projectiles that will stay in the target unless forcibly removed, and deliver the shock even after being abandoned, for a maximum of five seconds.

Remember: Electricity is dangerous! A stun gun isn't as dangerous to the target as a firearm but it can still cause long-term health complications. You shouldn't worry about that when someone's threatening you, of course, but like all weapons, a stun gun isn't a toy and should be used carefully. Make sure you keep it safe, secure and out of reach of your children, but practice drawing it quickly in case you need to use it. Make sure it's fully charged at all times. Finally, be aware of local laws. See our Stun Gun Laws page for legal information.

What Happens After You Buy Pepper Spray?

2008-08-26T11:00:00.007-04:00

Let's say you've decided to buy pepper spray. Evidence from law enforcement organizations and the general public demonstrate that it's a highly effective self-defense tool as long as employ it properly - but how do you do that? To find the answer, you need to understand how it works.

The movies portray pepper spray as something that instantly drops any attacker, but that's not what really happens. Pepper spray is derived from Capsiacin, a chemical found in hot peppers. (This is why it's also called OC Spray - OC for Oleoresin Capsicum, a resinous form of capsiacin. Also note the term "Mace" in our products, which isn't a specific chemical but a reliable self defense brand. That's why you can buy Mace Pepper Spray, for example.)

Capsiacin makes food spicy because it's a chemical irritant, but it's only present in very small doses in even the hottest chilies, compared to the industrial concentrate found in pepper spray. In a spray, it's an intense inflammatory and irritant that effects the eyes, nose and mouth. Reactions include blindness, severe coughing, a runny nose, a burning sensation on exposed skin and in many cases, general incapacitation. This lasts for 30-45 minutes (lingering effects last for several hours), though individuals have different levels of tolerance.

What does this mean in practical terms? Pay attention to these 10 guidelines:

Only use pepper spray if you feel legitimately threatened - not just annoyed. It has severe effects on virtually anyone you hit with it. It might have the same chemical as something you eat, but there's just no comparison between the intensity. Pepper spray hurts!
Aim for the attacker's face, where it will deliver key incapacitating effects such as blindness. Experts suggest a tight fanning motion as if using air freshener. Never spray indiscriminately, since the spray can hit bystanders or even drift back to your own face.
If you or any other unintended target comes into contact with pepper spray, be advised that it's not water soluble - you can't just rinse it off. Use soap and shampoo to wash exposed skin and blink rapidly to promote tears. Use eye wash solutions when they're available. Do not use creams and oils, as they can trap the spray on the skin and cause more severe, prolonged effects. Don't touch uncontaminated people with contaminated clothes or body parts either - these can spread the irritant.
Just like the effects of a spicy meal, contact with pepper spray takes several seconds to take effect, and not everyone reacts the same. You must combine pepper spray use with other self-defense tactics. The assailant will not drop like a lead balloon.
Yell "STOP!" to make it clear you're defending yourself, escape to a safe place and contact the police. Pepper spray is no substitute for common sense. Get away!
One of pepper spray's best uses is as a way to buy you time to escape. It will slow most people down, but doesn't knock them out. It's not a weapon to help you stand your ground.
Keep the can or other spray delivery system a safe distance away from your face, but don't stretch your hand all the way out, because the pepper spray can't shield you from attack. An attacker can still move, do if you hold your arm out, he might be able to not only wrestle it away, but grab your arm.
Keep your pepper spray in easy reach. Many of our Pepper Spray Products come with a special holster our pouch for this reason.
Consider taking a course in the proper use of pepper spray. As pepper spray is legal in all 50 states you should be able to find a course in your area. We also offer a Pepper Spray Instruction Manual for personal study.
Always obey municipal ordinances and state laws! Check out our page on Pepper Spray Laws for some basic information.

With the right information, pepper spray is an excellent self-defense investment. We hope you never have to use it, but if you do, we hope you use it well!

Party Safety

2008-06-03T16:21:00.001-04:00

Whatever your drug of choice, remember: drugs and alcohol can affect your ability to make decisions (such as identifying danger signs and plotting escape routes). Manage how much you consume.

* Always get your own drink. Watch it being poured.
* Don't leave it unattended.
* Don't drink or taste anybody else's drink.
* Don't accept drinks from anyone else.
* Dispose of your drink if you think it tastes odd (if you just leave it, someone else may drink it).
* Drugs used to spike drinks can be colorless and tasteless so you might not realize that anything has been added.
* Be aware of the behavior of your friends. Is their behavior out of character? Do they seem too "out of it" for what they've had?
* Watch out for your friends. Are they binge drinking or taking drugs? Are they making safe decisions? Are they OK?
* If your friend needs to sober up or straighten out, check to see that they are OK. Are they alone? Who is with them? Are they safe?
* Encourage people who are drunk to drink water or eat something. Keep an eye on them, if you can.
* Do you really trust whom you are going home with? Are you sure they won't make you do anything you don't want to do? Will they take "NO" for an answer?
* If you are going home with someone different, let someone know. Introduce them to your friends.

If You're Throwing the Party

* Know whom you have invited to the party and plan what you will do if there are gatecrashers.
* Provide food and non-alcoholic drink spacers like water, soft drinks and juice.
* Keep a look out for your guests. Make sure they're safe and having a good time.
* Offer to organize taxis for your guests. Take a note of the taxi company you have called.
* Create a safe atmosphere. If you know that someone is harassing or intimidating someone else, then do something about it:

1. Let them know you are watching;
2. Ask the person to stop;
3. Ask them to leave;
4. Find the victimized person a safe place;
5. Don't be afraid to call the police.

Stay safe yourself and ask for help if you need it.

Tips to avoid schemes and scams

2008-05-31T10:14:00.002-04:00

Charity fraud does a lot of harm. The con artist takes advantage of people's good will and takes their cash - money that was meant for people in need. You can make sure that any money you give gets into the right hands. Just remember these tips when somebody asks you for a donation.

* Ask for identification - the organization AND the solicitor. Find out what the purpose of the charity is and how funds are used.
* Ask if contributions are tax deductible.
* If you're not satisfied with the answers-don't give.
* Give to charities that you know.
* Check out the ones you've never heard of before, or others whose names are similar to a well-known charity.
* Don't fall for high-pressure tactics. If solicitors won't take no for an answer, tell them NO anyway - BUT DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY.
* Be suspicious of charities that only accept cash.
* Always send a check made out to the charity and not the individual requesting the donation.

THE PIGEON DROP

A person approaches you and says that he just found a large amount of money. What should he do with it? Maybe his "boss" can suggest something. He then leaves to check with his "boss" and comes back a few minutes later. His boss said to divide the money, but first, each of you must put up some, "good faith money". Once you hand over your share, you'll never see it or the con artist again.

THE BANK EXAMINER

A con artist will contact you and tell you he is a bank official or police officer and that he needs your help to catch a dishonest bank teller. All you have to do is withdraw your savings and give the money to him so he can check the serial numbers. IF you do, you've been "stung". A real bank official would NEVER ask you to withdraw your money.

Is it hard to believe that people fall for such tricks? Con artists may be the greatest actors you'll ever meet. The pigeon drop and the bank examiner schemes are two of the most successful con games around. Don't be fooled. CALL THEIR BLUFF BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Protect Yourself From Con-Artists

The con artist's philosophy is "the gullible were put on this earth to be gulled." In the past, con artists were usually referred to as con men. This is no longer the case as more and more women have become involved in con games and numerous variations of con games. Before we proceed with some tips on "how not to get conned" you should always remember that a con artist can be a male or a female. In addition, many times the con artist will work with a child who will assist them in accomplishing their goal. That goal is to GET YOUR MONEY.

Here are some good rules to follow all the time - whether or not you suspect a fraud:

* Don't believe in something-for-nothing offers. You get what you pay for.
* Be suspicious of high-pressure sales efforts.
* Take your time; think about it before you part with your money.
* Get all agreements in writing. Insist that agreements be in plain English and not legal jargon.
* Read all contracts and agreements before signing. Have a lawyer examine all major contracts.
* Beware of anyone who comes to your door asking for money for charity or for personal reasons.

HOME IMPROVEMENT FRAUD

Home repairs and improvements can be costly. Watch out if:

* Somebody offers to do an expensive job for an unusually low price
* If a firm offers to make a "free" inspection or if the person just happened to be in the neighborhood.
* The most popular home improvement frauds are roof repair and painting, driveway sealing, and termite inspection.

When hiring for home Improvement projects:

* Always get several estimates for every repair job, and compare prices and terms. Check to see if there is a charge for estimates.
* Ask your friends for recommendations. Alternatively, ask the firm for references - and CHECK THEM!
* Check the identification of all "inspectors."
* Call the loan Consumer Affairs office or the Better Business Bureau to check the company's reputation before you authorize any work.
* Be suspicious of high-pressure sales tactics.
* Pay by check - never with cash. Arrange to make the payments in installments.

Vacation Safety

2008-05-29T12:51:00.003-04:00

Thieves look for opportunities. If you're going on vacation this summer, take a minute to check the list to protect yourself and your home.

* One of the times your home is most vulnerable is when it is left empty for an extended period of time. Darkened windows, mail or newspapers collecting and closed windows in hotter weather all advertise your absence to a potential burglar.

* The best protection for your apartment during your absence is to have a house sitter. A friend you trust staying at your house can take care of your pets and/or plants in addition to making sure the house is inhabited.

* Have a neighbor check on your apartment while you're away -- turning on lights, radios or TVs and opening and closing curtains will give your apartment the appearance of someone home.

* If you don't have a friend or neighbor to housesit or check your apartment while you're away -- perhaps even if you do -- you should keep not only lights but a TV or radio on a timer. If you're like me and have your TV on almost all the time you're home [I don't watch it, it's just background noise.], the absence of the sound and that glowing light in the windows announces that you're not there.

* Make sure whoever is checking your apartment while you're away knows how to work your alarm system and who to call in case of a problem.

* Unless you have a house sitter, stop your mail and any newspaper or other delivery. Nothing announces an empty apartment better than a stack of newspapers or an overflowing mailbox. Ask a nearby neighbor to pick up any packages delivered while you're gone.

* If you have a garden or plants on your balcony, make sure someone is watering the plants regularly or put the plants where they can't be seen. Plants slowly dying due to lack of water may announce your absence.

* Check your lease. Many landlords require that you notify them if your apartment is going to be left empty for any period of time (this is so they can enter in case of emergency even if they can't reach you). If you've got a house sitter this isn't necessary.

For the summer: Boating Safety

2008-05-29T12:46:00.004-04:00

During the summer, we enjoy tips to the lake or to the beach. Don't let your family outing turn into the day you became a victim of crime!

Thieves are always on the lookout for easy targets. Don't make yourself an
easy target. Always follow these simple steps.

* Never leave anything valuable on display, however small and insignificant it may seem. Thieves steal first and think about value later.
* Don't leave anything loose in the cockpit or on deck.
* Don't leave your engine key in the ignition - always take it with you.
* Keep your boat keys separate from your engine keys.
* Always keep your boat locked when no one is on board, even for a short time.
* Use strong padlocks or rimlocks on all your hatches, entry points and cockpit lockers.
* Constantly check and improve the security on your boat. It's a good idea to fit an alarm and use a visible sticker to say that one is fitted.
* Make sure your cockpit lockers can be properly locked, and check that your main hatch and fore-hatch are strong.
* Also think about having a strongbox down below. If you don't think something is secure, get it fixed.

IMPROVE YOUR SECURITY
Once you've tied up alongside, always do a quick security check before going ashore.

Always:

* Lock anything valuable out of sight in a strong locker secured by a strong padlock;
* Lock up emergency money away from other valuables;
* Keep your curtains closed so that no-one can look in;
* Keep unused ropes, fenders and other items out of sight in your cockpit, lockers and cupboards - and always lock them;
* Make sure that your life raft and outboard motor are secure, as these are valuable and attractive to boat thieves.
* When you go ashore from a dinghy, always remove your oars or paddles, rowlocks or pump, and secure the dinghy with a strong chain and padlock.
* If you are the victim of boat theft, call the police immediately and tell the harbour master or boatyard manager. Check to make sure that your boat is still seaworthy and hasn't been badly damaged.
* And, if you can, check that neighboring boats haven't been broken into as well.
* Get to know other boat owners in your marina and work together to keep the marina secure. You can do the following.
* Keep an eye on other boats, as well as your own.
* Report any strangers at the marina to the harbour master or yard master.
* Don't give your marina access card or key to other people.
* Never tell anyone else the access code to the marina.
* Don't let strangers into the marina, however genuine they may seem.
* Keep the marina gate closed at all times.

Videos on Pepper spray and Stun guns

2008-05-28T14:00:00.005-04:00

Basic Moves for Women's Self Defense : How to Use Pepper Spray on an Attacker...
Learn about using mace pepper spray on an attacker and some basic moves for women's self defense in this free video clip.

The Nevada Sagebrush tests a Stun Gun:
Watch as a college student demonstrates the effectiveness of a stun gun on an attacker. The Nevada Sagebrush is the college newspaper for the University of Nevada, Reno.

What type of Pepper Spray or Mace® is Best?

2008-05-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

The most popular, non-lethal, personal defense product on the market today is self defense sprays like Pepper Spray or Mace®. But which type is best? The terms are confusing.

Most defense sprays now contain Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) which is not an irritant. This is the best ingredient so make sure the one you purchase contains OC.

OC is an inflammatory agent that creates a couple of things to happen. When a person is sprayed with OC, two things happen without delay. First, the person's eyes clamp shut, hard. Even if they do manage to open them they still can't see well because the OC dilates the capillaries of the eyes and causes temporary blindness. Second, an uncontrollable coughing fit doubles the person over and often sends them to their knees. The OC causes an instant inflammation of breathing tissues, restricting all but life support breathing. The condition is temporary but very debilitating. Whoever is sprayed with it stops what they're doing, stops what they're thinking - so it gives the victim a chance to escape! It works on persons on drugs, drunk, or psychotic.

OC is a natural chemical, a derivative of various hot pepper plants. OC takes about 20 to 45 minutes to wear off. The assailant makes a complete recovery and suffers no harmful effects.

Now, should you purchase a spray, gel, stream or foam version of pepper spray? The best for home use is the pepper gel spray because it has a range of 15 to 20 feet. The pepper gel is recommended for home or vehicle protection. However, the smaller ½ oz size of pepper sprays are effective because they fit easily on your key-ring and will be available quickly when needed even though their range is only 5 to 8 feet, which is usually all the distance you need when walking or hiking.

How can I compare one unit to another in its strength? Defense sprays come in concentrations of 1%, 5%, and 10%. But, due to a number of differences in the formulation, these percentages are not a good indication of the effectiveness of the spray. A 1% spray can be just as effective as a 10% concentration. Three formulation factors: the heat rating of the OC, the type of carrier agent and the spray density, combine to determine how effective any given spray is. The heat generating capacity of OC is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU's). OC is derived from hot peppers. Peppers range from 0 SHU's for standard bell peppers to 5,000 for Jalapeno peppers up to 300,000 SHU's for Habaneros peppers. As you can see, a 10% concentration of Jalapeno peppers is not going to be nearly as effective as a 1% concentration of Habaneros peppers. So compare the Scoville Heat units (SHU's) of a pepper spray not the percentage of the pepper concentration.

To summarize, only purchase self defense sprays with OC (Oleoresin Capsicum). The sprays that attach to a keychain are effective even though they have a range of only 5 to 8 feet. But for home defense purchases, the pepper gel formulas are best because they have a range of 15 to 20 feet. And compare the heat of the various sprays with the SHU (Scoville Heat Units).

Safety Tips to Help You Avoid Being a Victim!

2008-05-28T13:30:00.002-04:00

These are some common sense tips that you can follow to help you avoid being a victim of random crime. You may have heard some of them before but it doesn’t hurt to reiterate them!

Be Alert! Keep your head up. Be aware of your surroundings. Wherever you are on the street, in an office building or shopping malls, driving, waiting for a bus or cab, stay alert and tuned in to your surroundings.
Vary your routines. Predictability makes you a more likely target.
Lock it! Home, car, office – locks are your first line of defense.
Make your home a tough target. Use floodlights, motion sensors, a security system, deadbolts, etc.
Foil Car-jackers. Keep windows and doors locked. Check mirrors and blind spots when stopped. Stay one to one and a half lengths away from the car ahead of you. Sound your horn and flash your lights if you think you’re being approached by a car-jacker.
Avoid Car Theft. Lock it. Use an anti-theft device. Turn the wheels when you park. Never leave a spare key inside the car. Park in a well-lighted place. Put packages in the trunk.
Trust your instincts. If something or someone makes you uncomfortable, avoid the person or leave.
Know your neighborhoods where you live and work. Check out the locations of police and fire stations, hospitals, and restaurants, or stores that are open late.

Cell Phone Stun Guns

2008-05-28T13:20:00.003-04:00

How does a Stun Gun Work?

Stun guns use high voltage and low amperage to temporarily disable an attacker for several minutes. The stun gun does not rely on pain for results. The energy stored in the gun is dumped into the attacker's muscles causing them to do a great deal of work rapidly. This rapid work cycle instantly depletes the attacker's blood sugar by converting it to lactic acid. In short, he is unable to produce energy for his muscles, and his body is unable to function properly. The stun gun also interrupts the tiny neurological impulses that control and direct voluntary muscle movement. When the attacker's neuromuscular system is overwhelmed and controlled by the stun gun he loses his balance. Should the attacker be touching you, the current will NOT pass to your body!

Does the Stun Gun do any Permanent Damage?

No. The assailant recovers 100 percent within 45 minutes. There is NO permanent damage. The whole purpose of a stun gun is to allow the user time to escape and get help.

How to protect yourself?

Surprise your attacker! Be prepared by walking with a cell phone that is really a stun gun. So many people carry a cell phone in their hands these days that it doesn’t even look strange. When someone comes too close, switch it on and be prepared to stun the attacker and bring them to their knees. As they fall to their knees, stun them again in the back of the neck and this will ensure that they remain disabled for a short period of time to allow you plenty of time to escape.