Since I travel around the country doing training, I often find myself having to rely on different tools for my own safety.
For instance, today, I’m in New York City appearing on the Rachael Ray show. New York City has extremely strict gun laws (among other things) and NYC’s slogan might as well be: “we want our residents to be able to protect themselves as little as possible.”
So whether you live in NYC or in Texas, let me share with you the different tools you can use to keep yourself safe.
1. Firearm – Of course, I had to start with my favorite way to keep myself safe, which is a handgun. These days there are three guns that I switch between for concealed carry most often. First, my Ruger LCP, which fits nicely in my front pocket inside a small kydex holster. Right now, my LCP is loaded with Hornady Critical Defense ammunition. The next gun is my Glock 19. I carry it at the four o’clock position in an inside the waistband holster. I have several holsters for this gun and use the Clipper-DL, a CrossBreed holster, and a Kydex holster that a friend made for me. The last gun I carry is a full size Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm. Both my Glock and the Smith & Wesson are loaded with 124-grain Speer Gold Dot ammo. Unless it’s illegal to do so, one of these three guns is on me at all times.
2. Air Horn – I know a lot of folks have guns for home defense purposes only and don’t carry concealed. If this is the case for you, let me recommend an air horn. You can purchase an air horn at any boating supply store and the noise will scare the living daylights out of almost anyone. Let’s say you had an air horn in your purse and were being followed through the Walmart parking lot. You could quickly pull the air horn from your purse and use it to scare someone away. (If you haven’t tested an air horn lately make sure your ears are covered when you do… trust me on this one. Also, an air horn is great for college students and teenagers.)
3. Tactical Pen – The tactical pen is one of my favorite self-defense tools and what I’m using now since I’m in New York City. The tactical pens goes everywhere with me whether I’m on a plane, in a courthouse or in a city or state that has strict gun laws.
4. Knife – You never want to be in a knife fight, but if a knife were the only tool you had you would obviously use it. I keep my knife clipped to my pants pocket and the knife I typically carry is a Benchmade. However, the particular model I own is illegal in New York so it’s at home sitting on my desk right now.
5. Crow Bar – In the back of my vehicle is a crow bar. The beauty of the crow bar is that it has multiple uses, one being self-defense. It’s certainly not my number one choice for personal protection but it’s definitely better than nothing. If you don’t already have a crow bar in your vehicle pick one up this week from Walmart or Home Depot.
6. Monkey Fist Keychain – The Monkey Fist is a parcacord keychain wrapped around a ball bearing. It may not sound like much but getting struck by one definitely hurts. You can also use the paracord for escape & evasion purposes and another bonus is that you’ll probably never lose your keys since the Monkey Fist makes them easy to keep track of.
