If you are a Digital Nomad, or a frequent flyer, or someone who just eats breakfast with their kid at school you’ll likely find yourself disarmed at some point. Metal detectors, pat-downs and more prevent you from carrying a gun, a knife, or even a multi-tool. In this regard, we have to start looking at improvising weapons. We can’t just build a gun( well 80% Glocks exist, but it’s not our topic) and get to work solving the world’s problems in most areas. Instead, we have to rely on our ingenuity, instincts and the tools at hand. There are a few different options out there and I couldn’t possibly cover every single improvised weapon.
Instead, we want to give you an idea of what to look for, as well as a few things you can carry legally in these environments. This includes purpose-built tools that aren’t weapons, how to improvise with things in the environment, and how to quickly make improvised weapons from your environment.
Improvised Weapons You Can Carry
There are a variety of tools out there that come to mind that can be carried everywhere and easily used as improvised weapons. The tactical pen phenomenon, for example, proves this very well.
Crate Clubs own Tactical Pen features a carbide tip for breaking glass and faces. It’s a brutal impact weapon that aids in gaining the upper hand on an attacker. The pen itself is still a pen, it just has a fancy tip. It just so happens to write very smoothly and look damn good too. I’ve flown with the Tactical Pen twice now without issue.
Another improvised weapon is the Tactikey, which is another item that is in the Crate Club. This polymer handle flexes around a key and easily allows it to modify a punch to be brutal and fight stopping. I also carried this on my last plane trip to Vegas and had zero issues with TSA.
Either of these tools will be more than capable of doing serious damage during a fight and are completely innocent, legal to carry, and they stay out of the way.
Environmental Improvisation
Depending on the threat it may be easy to see a fight coming and you can prepare yourself in some way. In a situation where you are disarmed but sense danger you can use what is in the environment to fight back.
One of my favorite tools is a classic cup of hot coffee. Scalding hot anything to the face is always a good way to end a fight or to buy time for your next move. Coffee is everywhere and is often free. You can find it in offices, groceries stores, most government buildings, etc. Mix up a cup and just carry it. Even better keep it hot for a long time with an insulated container like the Corkcicle modern canteen and it will stay hot for a long time.
Without a doubt, the majority of rooms in the world will have something you can use as a weapon. From a pair of scissors to a broomstick. The key is keeping an eye out for them and identifying them ahead of time. Make it a habit to identify things that can be used to gain the upper hand in a fight. Memorize their location and be ready to retrieve them.
In a pinch, you can easily roll a magazine extremely tightly and you can effectively turn this into an impact weapon. This weapon will work as a club for sure but is better when used almost like a knife. You can bring the tool downwards into the body or stab like a knife into the body and create serious pain. You can even squeeze something heavy into a beanie or sock and turn it into a brutal close range sap. That something heavy can be a D battery, a padlock, a bar of soap, a can of soda, or anything else that is heavy and hard.
The Main Idea
The idea behind improvised weapons is simple. Find something that offers an advantage over your bare hands. Your hands are weak and fragile and break easily. A weapon can cause more damage, can preserve your fragile hands, add reach to your blow and so much more. As James Mattis once said, “The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.”
Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase
