Household Self-Defense Techniques: Save Yourself With a Pen
 During an emergency you may not always have the luxury of running about in full tactical gear, complete with a rifle and 10 extra magazines with a backup pistol on your hip. There may be situations where law enforcement or even just skittish locals might be inclined to shoot first at any obvious threat and you need to have a weapon with you that would escape even casual pat downs. For this sort of situation, the humble pen can become a perfect self-defense tool. During an emergency you may not always have the luxury of running about in full tactical gear, complete with a rifle and 10 extra magazines with a backup pistol on your hip. There may be situations where law enforcement or even just skittish locals might be inclined to shoot first at any obvious threat and you need to have a weapon with you that would escape even casual pat downs. For this sort of situation, the humble pen can become a perfect self-defense tool.The humble pen easily sneaks past even many vigilant people. Obviously any rigid object that can be made to have a pointy end could be used for self-defense, but the pen has the distinction of being incredibly common and easy to explain away in almost any situation. Homemade shivs made from toothbrushes or compressed paper can only be used to harm others and will raise eyebrows, while pens are permitted in even the most secure facilities in the land. Furthermore, they are also easy to come by in the event that you suddenly need to defend yourself, since any home or business will have a few dozen of them lying around in drawers and such, and they’re not likely to be looted by scum looking for more valuable loot. In terms of practicality, the pen has few equals for defending yourself from an attack. It already has a nice sharp pointy end for stabbing, is reasonably sturdy enough to withstand a fight’s worth of quick blows, and it doesn’t need a great deal of strength, skill or finesse to use. While I would certainly choose a personal firearm to put good distance and a hail of lead between me and an attacker over a pen, it is an excellent backup for those times when more conventional weaponry wouldn’t be permitted. |
