CRAZY PREPARED

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

Thanks Annabell

Yes, ANNEBEL! I WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, ANNABEL!!

[Richter]

Do yourself a favor and get a good Leatherman multitool. They're useful for working with a variety of materials and can be used to make all sorts of shit, extremely useful. Much more-so than a regular knife.

Also, knives are mostly a liability in a fight unless you've had extensive training on how to use them. Knives will take time to stop an assailant even if used properly, a good blunt object can stop an assailant almost immediately. That said, if you've gotten into a fight (especially a close quarters fight) you've already fucked up.

TRUFPASTE.

also keep in mind you have to:
1. Close into range of the other person's natural (hands, arms, feet, legs, knees, head, teeth), and actual weapons before that knife will do ANYTHING other than look pretty. 
2. Have the mindset to fucking them badly, and not forget or hesitate you're fuckign them badly while holding / standing on rabid felines on speed.
These fights end 2 places, according to Dave the crazy Marine.  The ER or the Morgue

[Freeky]

So for someone who has never got in a fight, and doesn't have the mindset for fucking them badly, what would you suggest they carry?

[Triple Zero]

Pepperspray? Is that legal where you are? I suppose it is.

It's not here

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

So for someone who has never got in a fight, and doesn't have the mindset for fucking them badly, what would you suggest they carry?

A cell phone and good running shoes.

[Freeky]

Need teh shoes. 

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

The best thing you can do is to keep your phone handy and pay attention to what's going on around you. If you think something bad might happen, GTFO.

If you get cornered and you feel as though you don't have the stomach to be violent the only think I can think of that would reliably work would be a TASER, but even then you'd have to be able to make contact with it before you got injured.

The best way to win a fight is to avoid it.

[Freeky]

The best thing you can do is to keep your phone handy and pay attention to what's going on around you. If you think something bad might happen, GTFO.

If you get cornered and you feel as though you don't have the stomach to be violent the only think I can think of that would reliably work would be a TASER, but even then you'd have to be able to make contact with it before you got injured.

The best way to win a fight is to avoid it.

I've got that down to a science, but you never know. Thanks.

[East Coast Hustle]

you can buy a derringer or similar style pistol for a couple hundred bucks. small enough to be concealed in the palm of your hand (or purse, or bra, or whatever), but it holds 1 or 2 shots and can be found in calibers up to and including .32 (might come in even larger calibers but that would make it difficult to conceal in your palm). In a situation where you can't avoid physical confrontation and you are in danger of losing life or limb, a couple of .32 bullets to the chest/gut/face is going to ensure the confrontation ends in your favor.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

If you were going to carry a firearm I would suggest a proper compact or subcompact pistol or snub nose revolver with a good-sized caliber (.45 would be good in close quarters). They also make revolvers that shoot shotgun shells, which would be devastating in close quarters. Guns are kind of on the other side of the spectrum as far as violence goes though.

[Freeky]

Guns are nice when I'm not pointing them at people.

[Richter]

Every weapon is another set of reactions to train, keep up, and remember under adrenaline. 
Basic self defense, drill it, and keep up the general fitness to apply it and RUN.  I'm confident Roger can give you pointers on both.
 

[Reginald Ret]

So for someone who has never got in a fight, and doesn't have the mindset for fucking them badly, what would you suggest they carry?

knowledge of basic physics and basic anatomy.
find weak spots and hit them with a lever and/or weight.

i'd give more tips but i am drunked out of my gourd(wtf is a gourd?) and have decided to refrain.

[East Coast Hustle]

Every weapon is another set of reactions to train, keep up, and remember under adrenaline. 
Basic self defense, drill it, and keep up the general fitness to apply it and RUN.  I'm confident Roger can give you pointers on both.
 

that's why I suggested the derringer. You really don't need to have any proficiency in traditional firearm use to be able to use one effectively, since they're only to be used at point-blank range. I agree that running away from a violent confrontation should almost always be your first choice, but in an urban environment where you run a much higher risk of being cornered or having your egress otherwise impeded, it's good to have a backup and even better if that backup is as close to a guaranteed situation-ender as you can find, short of napalm.

[Jasper]

Has anyone ITT mentioned bear spray? 

Shit is harsh.