The Inconspicuous Weapon

[JohnJ]

Quite often we see or hear about makeshift weapons confiscated in prison. From shivs/shanks, rolled newspapers folded with weighted ends to toothbrushes with razorblades attached. While the ingenuity is somewhat primitive due to limitations, they are without doubt viable tools for defense or offense (whichever side your on).

What are some weapons you’ve experimented with or have heard about?

SAP Caps – A baseball cap with a little sand bag sewn in on the back. The variation I have seen was done with strips of lead weights in the rim.

A closed compact/personal umbrella filled with buck shot and duck taped at the handle. If you hit someone, remove the tape and dump the buck shot.

Knockers – A junior baseball bat with handle cut off, a drilled hole to attach a strap or rope.

Heavy duty socks filled with fishing bait weights.

Cheap retractable baton attached to a cheap mini mag light with black industrial hose. Flash em’ then smash em’.

Here is one I heard of in another forum. Rawhide knuckles…
1) Boil a nice strip of rawhide to soften
2) Cool off and form around hand
3) Remove and use once hardened.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I am not endorsing the use of these makeshift weapons but hope to bring it to your attention. These are things to simply watch for.

JohnJ

[arnisador]

I've played with umbrellas, retractable batons, axe handles, baseball bats, brooms, jackets (used as a flexible weapon), pens, magazines/newspapers, flashlights, etc. Just last week I was threatened by a man holding a pen in a threatening way (long story, but I walked away and nothing came of it).

I had never heard of the "sap-cap" idea but I think it's a fascinating one. I wear a baseball cap pretty often out here in the desert, though I'll probably stop when I get back home to Indiana.

[JohnJ]

I've played with umbrellas, retractable batons, axe handles, baseball bats, brooms, jackets (used as a flexible weapon), pens, magazines/newspapers, flashlights, etc.

Using common everyday objects is great but what about some of the not so common, sort of home-made weapons.

JohnJ

[blindside]

I had never heard of the "sap-cap" idea but I think it's a fascinating one. I wear a baseball cap pretty often out here in the desert, though I'll probably stop when I get back home to Indiana.

I remember seeing on "Surviving Edged Weapons" (Calibre Press) there was a baseball cap with razorblades on the back, presumably to start as a surprise slash across the face.

Lamont

[arnisador]

Using common everyday objects is great but what about some of the not so common, sort of home-made weapons.

I don't have much experience there. It's an interesting question! The baseball cap with shot or razors is a new idea to me. I've heard of "whip-sticks" being used as improvised gang weapons but don't really grasp exactly what they are--something about a flexible weapon based on a coat hanger or antenna. I know about sharpened screwdrivers and hand-held razor blades being used on the street.

[JohnJ]

I've heard of "whip-sticks" being used as improvised gang weapons but don't really grasp exactly what they are--something about a flexible weapon based on a coat hanger or antenna.

You hit it on the nose...they are thin enough and flexible enough to tear flesh like a whip. Other targets are obviously the eyes and face as clothing can easily minimize the extent of its whipping effect.

[Pat OMalley]

One I used to use on the doors of troublesome nightclubs and raves was a bunch of coins tied up in a hankerchief. A quick rap across the nose or face gave just that little bit more time to handles any weapon weilding thug, and before the police turn up the hanky can be disposed of and you could pop off later and buy yourself a beer with the change:EvilGrin:

The obligitory pen used for making reports after an incident was also a very good equalising tool in a major brawl too.

Best regards

Pat

[arnisador]

Here's something described on MartialTalk as a common prison weapon: a Bic razor blade melted into the end of a toothbrush (http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=510670#post510670). There are also pictures of the victim of a bladed weapon attack (medically graphic).

[Ron B]

one good inconspicuos weapon would be the maglite flashlight.I carry a small one on my person and have one in my car.police have seen my maglight but have never asked me about it.http://www.maglite.com/product.asp?psc=2AACELL&pt=R
http://www.maglite.com/product.asp?psc=4DCELL
I carry a flashlight for 2 reasons the only reason that I will admit to is sometimes you need a flashlight.one time at work the power went out and we had no lighting at all.being in an area where you had no lighting at all really sucked and I said from now on I will carry a small flashlight.never ever admit you carry a flashlight,knife ect as a weapon for self defence you are just asking for trouble if you do.

[arnisador]

one good inconspicuos weapon would be the maglite flashlight.I carry a small one on my person

How do you carry it? Sheathed on your belt? I've tried this kind of thing as a keychain but find it just too big in my pocket. Right now I have a tiny flashlight on my keychain--good for emergency lighting but not much else.

Where's the link to the wristwatch with the cord that pulls out of it for choking, James Bond style (Dr. No)?

[Ron B]

arnisador

I either carry it in my back pocket if I am wearing jeans or in my front pocket if I am wearing OD BDU pants.making a cord that pulls out of a wristwatch sounds like another at home work project.when I took a seminar on knife fighting from a guy named Noah Walt I bought a wrist whip device off of him.it is a small belt that is wrapped around the wrist that when you take it off you can use it like a small belt.you can weigh the one end down with quarters as well that fit into a pouch.I dont wear it but it looked interesting and in training I like to get different types of weapons to figure out how they can be used.a bad habit I developed from making nunchakus and throwing stars after watching martial arts movies when I was a kid.

[arnisador]

Va. Gang Videotapes Attack on Others

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/16/AR2006031601218.html)
Members of a neighborhood gang videotaped themselves beating people with a trash can, slamming a man with a bicycle and robbing others at gunpoint, police said Thursday.

[...]

Portions of the video, provided to The Associated Press by the Newport News police, show a group of attackers kicking a man lying on the ground. One assailant lifts a bicycle above his head and slams it down on the victim.


Well, there are some improvised weapons for you...trash cans and bicycles.

[arnisador]

Clever contraband - Sneaky inmates keep jailers on their toes (http://courier.evansville.net/news/2006/nov/21/clever-contraband/)



Some of the contraband successfully made its way past the jail's many safeguards, while other items were confiscated before reaching the inmates. All of it, Wedding said, shows how important it is for jailers to keep a close watch on what the inmates are doing.


That lesson is perhaps no better conveyed than through the bin's array of makeshift weaponry. There is a toothbrush whittled to a point with a handle formed from bandages. There are numerous pointed metal strips, apparently picked off of a vent grate and sharpened over time. There is an ordinary gym sock packed full of rock-hard bars of soap.


Even a tightly wound stack of magazines, held together by a cardboard tube, turns into a blunt, batlike object that can cause serious injury.

[JohnJ]

And as practitioners, these type of weapons should not be taken lightly. The concern is obviously on bringing these methods into the light so we wre aware of what others may be doing. How bout the tasers cell phones now on the market. This can become more of a benefit to those with bad intent than benefit the civilian.

[arnisador]

Yes, the easy availability of cell phone tasers--in essence, a concealed taser--is definitely of concern. How far away is the cell phone .22?

[kabaroan]

How's this for improvised: I have a pair of titanium chopsticks that never get a second glance...well they do, they are anodized purple. Great for rice, not so great with noodles. Still I prefer a pocket knife and feel naked without one.

[Waltyr]

Yes, the easy availability of cell phone tasers--in essence, a concealed taser--is definitely of concern. How far away is the cell phone .22?


The cellphone .22 calibur weapon is on the streets right now. When I was in the police academy, I had the oppurtunity to see a variety of weapons and one of them was a cell phone with a single shot .22. Granted, the cell phone wasn't functional as an actual phone, but was used to disguise the the .22 weapon. I believe (and don't quote me on this) that the phone is made overseas (eastern europe I want to say but I'm not sure). But it's here on the streets of U.S.

W.v.