OK. How does one get stopped? In the vast majority of cases I heard about its lack of situational awareness. After that, the only way one can be surprised is if he is forced through a blind spot which gives the attackers a place to hide WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE, or he stops willingly because of subterfuge. example: My buddy is hurt, we need help, can I use your phone, etc.
Lets deal with the last one first. A second person may even be lying on the ground to sucker you in. First off, If you decide to stop (most people would), stop well out of reach of these people and dismount from your bicycle. You are now in a better position to defend yourself. Hopefully your weapon is on YOU and not the bike. Try not to put yourself between two people or have your back to one of them. Don't be afraid to take charge of the situation. If the people truly need help, they will welcome this and if not, their intentions will be made more clear. Its also OK to be blunt: Your too close to me. Stay right there. Don't come any closer. All these tactics will buy you time to assess and manage the situation.
Now, the blind corner or place to hide near the trail scenario.
Again, they can just step out in front of you to stop you assuming you won't run them over; do so! Then immediately dismount on the side away from other assailants, so they have to go around the bike to get to you. If its a gang situation you'll have to decide in the moment based on other factors.
If there is a physical barricade you are forced to stop; dismount away from the larger number of attackers (if just two, pick a side).
IF someone is going to pull you from the bike, they will have to do this from either the side or behind, else you could just run them down; stopping you probably, but also taking one of them out of the fight.
If they grab you from these positions (side, behind), drop the bike, forget your weapon (you don't have time enough) for the moment and concentrate gaining distance from the attacker. How do you do that? By moving in CLOSER to him, hurting him badly, then moving back. That means you must dismount from your bike on the same side as the attacker. Dismount TOWARD him. Besides remember he has a hold of you so that's really the only way you can go unless you waste time by breaking his hold. This puts you at the advantage giving you the chance to disable him. If, as been suggested, he rips you off the bike to try to throw you on the ground, let him. There are still things that can be done to him by anyone with a modicum of training. For instance, he grabs you around the neck from your left side, pulling you toward him. Forget the bike, lean into him and bring you right hand across your body, behind his head, & hook your fingers into his right eye socket * pull back and down. I can almost guarantee he will be out of the fight. Even for the untrained, with a strong will to fight you can prevail. Remember they are expecting you to not have a plan and be submissive. Don't be!
These ideas don't cover all possible scenarios but are a place to start. Play what-if all the time; I think that's why most of us are here on this site.
Sorry about the length of this.
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I keep a small boat horn in a pouch mounted on the top bar. I also keep a can of Wasp & Hornet spray in one of the water bottle racks. Both are generally for dogs but could be a deterent to a "BG". I like the wasp & hornet because it will spray about 15-20 ft. and has the same affect on dogs as pepper spray. I am also looking at purchasing the Pistol Wear pouch. It straps to your waist/torso underneath your jersey and has a moisture barrier to help keep sweat off your firearm.
Check out Cold Steel's Pepper Foam. They have one that's about the same size and will cover those distances; you will be less likely to place yourself in legal jeopardy. Its one thing to use bug spray because that's all you can lay your hands on in an emergency, but quite another to favor it over a proven safe purpose-designed item used by LEOs everywhere. Less chance of a law suite later! Remember, pepper spray won't harm anyone's eyes, no matter how much it feels like it!Originally Posted by weagle83
Easy (unless you post another use for it on a forum somewhere...) to claim you are deathly afraid of wasps/bees and that is why you were carrying the spray....
Note: Personally, I try to never, ever lie, (really! ) and am not suggesting that anyone else should either......
Leave me alone... and I will leave you alone....
Don't poke a wolverine with a sharp stick unless you want your balls ripped off.
Don't start nuthin, wont be nuthin.....
It could even be true. However, an opposing attorney will challenge that (we're assuming one of the muggers or his family is suing you)in court to show you up as a liar. Now, everything else you've said becomes questionable. Remember that the standard is not what you thought at the time but what a reasonable person would believe/do under the same circumstances; a subtle, but important point. Don't forget that in a civil case only two-thirds of the jury needs to agree in order to find you guilty. Personally, I think muggers deserve whatever grief they get. Not everyone sees it that way, so I like to stack the odds in my favor as much as I can. Sure, it may cost a little more, but its cheap insurance. Hey, its good enough for the professionals; hard to argue against that!
Be strong.
WorshipViolin
Yes. You're right. It never hurts to have a good non-lethal means of protection as an option. If nothing else, it may show the jury that you weren't just riding around looking for someone to shoot. It really is sad that we can be sued (and actually lose) for doing what seems right. I would like to think that none of us would get trigger happy just because we are in any bad situation. When it becomes a matter of being in reasonable fear of death or grave bodily injury to yourself or another person, then the trigger is there to hopefully eliminate the danger.
I think that my own conclusions (for me.... You do what you must) on this subject are these:
1. Do not live in fear, but do live a prepared lifestyle. Even though we cannot be prepared for every possible bad scenario that could happen in life, we can keep alert and be ready to improvise according to whatever does come our way.
2. Be ready and willing to use every non-lethal effort that I can use FIRST. This may do more to protect my life after the attack than it does to protect the bad guy's life during the attack. I don't want to go to jail or lose my rear end in court just because I might have been able to get the job done without killing the bad guy. Even injuring him may give him the ability to take you to the cleaners in court, depending on the laws of your state. In Tennessee we have the Good Samaritan Protection Act of 1999 that protects us from civil liability if we have to use force (even deadly force) and happen to injure or kill the criminal while stopping certain crimes.
3. If non-lethal is a non-option, then I need be ready and willing to get the job done.
4. Pray.
Stay safe everyone.
God and brave men with guns made the USA a free nation. It will take the very same to keep it that way.
Just so you know, the majority of Wasp and Hornet sprays are in actuality nerve agents (that is to say nerve gas), which is why they work so well to kill bugs, but can do the same thing to people, including you! Read the warning label!
Wasp Spray is NOT “Self-Defense” Spray « S4 Training
Good link!
Thanks Hoganbeg, I will try that. The wasp and hornet will stop a dog but doesn't seem to hurt them because they will be right back again within a day or 2. Watched the video on the Cold Steel spray and it has distance and a stout effect on the idiots that volunteered to be sprayed. Hope they got a big payday.
I would also recommend FOX Labs OC spray. I've used it, it works well.
A man's life, liberty, and property are only safe when the legislature is NOT in session. Will Rogers
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