Continuum of force suggestions.

[Flopsweat]

Lots of old guys think they used to be Mike Tyson. The pictures I've seen from their younger years look more like Al Bundy

I wasn't as tall as Al.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Lots of old guys think they used to be Mike Tyson. The pictures I've seen from their younger years look more like Al Bundy

 

[nehalemguy]

Problem solved. No charge.

-E-

 

[Certaindeaf]

You can make one of those from a $10 Walmart bat and a buck's worth of barbed wire. And some motor oil for color and waterproofing.

My bat is an axe, razor sharp.

 

[lucusloc]

Lots of old guys think they used to be Mike Tyson. The pictures I've seen from their younger years look more like Al Bundy

It helps to get into the competitive side of those sports. Let's you measure up in as safe a way was practically possible. Same reason I wish they would bring 2/3gun back to my area. I can run drill myself, but putting that into practice in competition lets you know how well that practice it taking.

 

[TTSX]

 

[Nosferatu]

That poor lens

although if you have a tailcap switch you can get the rave effect going. Might look like a normal "dance" at some clubs. . .

I smashed someone in the eyesocket with a Surefire once. Other than some foreign organic matter on it, you wouldn't have known it made contact with anything.

 

[Knobgoblin]

To the OP. All clowning around aside , how many street fights with crazy bums do you really see in your future?
I don't go to cities unless it's absolutely necessary. I rarely stay out late. I'm never drunk or otherwise impaired.
I'm older ,fatter and slower than ever. But, my daily activities don't expose me to the risks of my carefree youth.

 

[Certaindeaf]

To the OP. All clowning around aside , how many street fights with crazy bums do you really see in your future?
I don't go to cities unless it's absolutely necessary. I rarely stay out late. I'm never drunk or otherwise impaired.
I'm older ,fatter and slower than ever. But, my daily activities don't expose me to the risks of my carefree youth.

It's good to be prepared. Murderbums generally go straight to the hammer aisle at Walmart and you'll get your throat cut on the bus, set on fire at Denny's, and everything in between etc. etc. all while just minding your own business.

 

[lucusloc]

It's good to be prepared. Murderbums generally go straight to the hammer aisle at Walmart and you'll get your throat cut on the bus, set on fire at Denny's, and everything in between etc. etc. all while just minding your own business.

This is the same reason I carry a firearm. Even when you are practicing active avoidance problems can still find you. The question of carrying something else other than a firearm is one of legal risk. A drugged up bum on his last legs probably is not that big a threat to justify a mag dump, but he could be aggressive and problematic enough to reasonably justify some kind of force to get him to reconsider his actions. Right now I am reasonably confident in my non-lethal force capabilities, but that is fading and I would rather have a replacement sorted out before I need to make the switch than after.

 

[eustace_stelio]

It's good to be prepared. Murderbums generally go straight to the hammer aisle at Walmart and you'll get your throat cut on the bus, set on fire at Denny's, and everything in between etc. etc. all while just minding your own business.

Or half your face bitten off while waiting on the max or stabbed in the back while sitting at a coffee shop...

 

[Knobgoblin]

This is the same reason I carry a firearm. Even when you are practicing active avoidance problems can still find you. The question of carrying something else other than a firearm is one of legal risk. A drugged up bum on his last legs probably is not that big a threat to justify a mag dump, but he could be aggressive and problematic enough to reasonably justify some kind of force to get him to reconsider his actions. Right now I am reasonably confident in my non-lethal force capabilities, but that is fading and I would rather have a replacement sorted out before I need to make the switch than after.

To this point I simply think stacking the deck with impact weapons is the simplest and cheapest way to go.
Gunfire will definitely draw attention. Attention is the last thing an honest, law abiding, tax paying, property owning citizen wants in this Bizarro world new millennium.
Punchy-stompy-stabby happens every day. When in Rome...

 

[Certaindeaf]

Oh I forgot, there's whole threads here on fighting canes.

 

[lucusloc]

Oh I forgot, there's whole threads here on fighting canes.

I used to use a fighting cane back when I lived somewhere that carry was prohibited. The need for a cane was real, partially as a result of injury from the aforementioned physical competition, but it also made really good cover to carry effective and only sort-of illegal self defense. Mine was a two-parter, with a pokey bit covered by a not-pokey bit. Both bits had their use in defensive situations as one part was quite lethal while the other was less so.

My knees feel a lot better nowadays since I treat them better than I did in my youth, but I could probably ham it up enough that walking with a cane again would not seem abnormal. I wonder if anyone here has a good hookup for a nice cane like that, since my old one was stolen right before I left that hellhole of a town.

This is why I love asking these kinds of questions. Not only do you learn new stuff, but it can help dust off the old cobwebs of the mind. Plus it would give me an excellent excuse to get back into HEMA so I can re-learn everything I would need to be effective as a cranky old man with a bumsticker.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Some of Cold Steels offerings

 

[lucusloc]

View attachment 1753460View attachment 1753461View attachment 1753462
Some of Cold Steels offerings

I have a Cold Steel sword cane. I got it as a replacement for the one I lost. Unfortunately they are plug-type canes, not latch type, and the plugs are always either too tight or too loose. I definitely want to find a latching type cane again, but I am unaware of any other current manufactures that are not cheap wallhanger crap. I have been keeping an eye out for one in antique and specialty shops, but no luck yet. Maybe someone here knows where I can find one like that.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I have a Cold Steel sword cane. I got it as a replacement for the one I lost. Unfortunately they are plug-type canes, not latch type, and the plugs are always either too tight or too loose. I definitely want to find a latching type cane again, but I am unaware of any other current manufactures that are not cheap wallhanger crap. I have been keeping an eye out for one in antique and specialty shops, but no luck yet. Maybe someone here knows where I can find one like that.

I wouldn't mess with a sword cane as anything other than a novelty. That weird one is a cable whip cane. If I was rocking one , it would probably be the plastic version of the blackthorn.

 

[Member 53328]

It's good to be prepared. Murderbums generally go straight to the hammer aisle at Walmart and you'll get your throat cut on the bus, set on fire at Denny's, and everything in between etc. etc. all while just minding your own business.

If you're in Maine you'll get clipped bowling…..

 

[OldBroad44]

I used to use a fighting cane back when I lived somewhere that carry was prohibited. The need for a cane was real, partially as a result of injury from the aforementioned physical competition, but it also made really good cover to carry effective and only sort-of illegal self defense. Mine was a two-parter, with a pokey bit covered by a not-pokey bit. Both bits had their use in defensive situations as one part was quite lethal while the other was less so.

My knees feel a lot better nowadays since I treat them better than I did in my youth, but I could probably ham it up enough that walking with a cane again would not seem abnormal. I wonder if anyone here has a good hookup for a nice cane like that, since my old one was stolen right before I left that hellhole of a town.

This is why I love asking these kinds of questions. Not only do you learn new stuff, but it can help dust off the old cobwebs of the mind. Plus it would give me an excellent excuse to get back into HEMA so I can re-learn everything I would need to be effective as a cranky old man with a bumsticker.

The Kingsbury Walking Cane

Click here to shop our product, The Kingsbury Walking Cane. Cane Masters is the leading retailer of custom walking canes, sticks & walking staffs.

canemasters.com

Cane Masters has a huge selection. Mine, A Kingsbury, is listed in the Classic Walking Cane section. But it has all the basic features of a fighting cane. Made of hickory, A premiere wood for canes because it is light (making it possible to swing faster), rigid, and less likely to break than most woods. The wide hook and the derby attachment make the cane better for walking with, hooking over an arm when you need both hands, and drawing stuff towards you. The bird design on the end of the hook gives you the beak tip, A point dull enough so it doesnt break and sharp enough to greatly concentrate the force when drawing part of someone toward you. Like the back of their neck for example. And other parts of the bird head design concentrate the force if you hit someone with the hook part of the crook. The two areas of indentations on the cane are hand grip areas that assure you a solid grip if you have to fight with a cane that is wet or muddy or if your hands are sweaty. The black is a useful color because you can touch up any scraped or scratches with black magic marker as needed. Basically a cane intended primarily for a walking or balance assist but that has all the basic features of a fighting cane but passing on the more obvious extreme features of fighting canes.

 

[lucusloc]

I wouldn't mess with a sword cane as anything other than a novelty. That weird one is a cable whip cane. If I was rocking one , it would probably be the plastic version of the blackthorn.

A good one (like the one I used to have) is exactly as good as a good light sword, because that is what it is. The problem is that most sword canes are cheap Chinese crap, which is also true of most of the swords they produce. The Cold Steel canes are decent swords, but they fail at being canes because of the sub-par retention mechanism. If they could get that sorted out they would make fine defensive weapons.

Of course this issue is not unique to sword canes. Most large blades on the market today are not suitable for any kind of combat, hence my derogatory term of "wallhanger" as that is all they are suitable for. I know of a few places that make fantastic combat capable swords (I have a fair collection of them), but none of them make canes at all, let alone in decent quality.

But yes, if you do not know how to use a sword, and especially if you do not know what a good sword looks like, it is best to just steer clear of the entire market space. You chances of finding something actually suitable for defensive use are vanishingly small, and you chances of finding something that is as big a danger to you as the person you are trying to defend yourself against is almost guaranteed.