This is basically what my father always said and it's kept me from getting hurt, going to jail and there are no little unwanted Me's running around.Originally Posted by Jay Cunningham
This is basically what my father always said and it's kept me from getting hurt, going to jail and there are no little unwanted Me's running around.
"Take the message to Garcia."
I'm not trying to get that deep, dude.
Very good thread here OP. I'm glad you mentioned pepper spray. I started carrying O.C. last year and I see it as a very good non-lethal option. We are more likely to be accosted by someone looking for a fist fight than a gun fight, at least where I come from. Avoidance is the key but it's nice to have options.
How are people carrying OC on their body? Holster, pocket, clip?
Great write up Jay.
I did the DTI basic class with the Farnams a few months ago and would agree that his deselection and de-escalation stuff is great. One technique John teaches for deselection is what he calls “tape loops”- you should already have a reply rehearsed and ready to go when approached by an unknown. We used “Sorry sir, can’t help you”, and throughout the course were expected to address the target while moving (the AI’s would also stand behind the line and give us lines to respond to, i.e.”hey man,c an I have a ride?”). During the drill YVK mentions it was even suggested that you might look at the ground, yell “SNAKE!” and haul ass to break a persistent contact. It was all about disrupting his plan while keeping your head clear to deal with the situation and quite useful for a newb like me.
His lectures also focus on most of the things mentioned here- don’t go stupid places, be invisible if you have to be there, if targeted get yourself deselected, disengage at the lowest level of force. If all of that fails what he calls the 4 D’s come in- Divide his focus, Disrupt his plan, Disable his body, Destroy his will to fight. I found that approach gave me a lot more to think about than “Just shoot the SOB” and encourages you to look for other options. Like YVK said, the lecture part of the course may be worth the money all by itself.
Is there a definitive resource for OC/Pepper spray for civilians? Or start hitting the googles and try to avoid the FUD?
The importance of making good decisions, from the excellent Cornered Cat website:
"When you pull and use a gun, you are gambling literally everything you have on getting it right during the event and being legally justified afterward. You are gambling your physical life. You are betting your job, your home, and every penny you have in the bank. At risk is your marriage, your ability to share a bed with the person you love, and your ability to watch your children grow up in person instead of from jail. You place on the table every friendship you've ever made, every dollar you've ever earned or will earn, and your family's future happiness. You are risking sleep disturbances, flashbacks, nightmares, impotence, anorexia, alcoholism, drug reliance, and a long and bitter lifetime of regret if you get it wrong. That is the gamble you take when you use a firearm against another human being."
http://www.corneredcat.com/toc.aspx
I've been using a Sabre brand unit with a pocket clip that I reversed and put on the bottom of the tube and secured with electrical tape. I carry it this way, spray top down, in my non shooting hand side front pocket. All most people see is just the small clip coming from my pocket while it's being carried this way. I practice deploying it with my non dominate hand so the other hand can access my firearm if need be.
Rob Pincus has a DVD on the topic called "Chemical sprays for defense / Electrical defensive devices" that has a lot of good information on the different types available and how to best deploy them.
www.defensedevices.com
I'd like to point out that I haven't yet received formal training (an entire class) on how to deploy OC, other than an hour or two with John Farnam. That said, member orionz06 and I have been working on a couple of OC carrier concepts and he built a test model. I'm going to try it out and run it past a few people with a lot more experience to get some opinions.
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