The Best Non-Lethal Self Defense Weapons

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Carrying a weapon — especially one that can take a life — is a heavy decision to make. But there are ways to make yourself more secure in a variety of situations, including physical ones, that minimize the risk that a fight will become a life-ending battle. 

Non-lethal weapons, as well, are often legal in many places — even ones that have significant restrictions on knives and guns. Still, it’s wise to check your local laws on specific devices before buying anything that could be used as a weapon. 

However, some items, like a good flashlight, can be vitally useful in everyday life — and can double as valuable self-defense tools.

What the Experts Say

Self-defense with any tool is more about your mindset and training than the particular weapon. But Sifu Anthony Fontana, a self-defense expert and instructor in Jeet Kun Do, boxing, Muay Thai, and several other fighting systems, has a few specific recommendations for people who want to arm themselves with the best tool for a given situation. 

Fontana usually recommends a knife for most self-defense situations, but there’s a huge level of risk, for both the attacker and defender, in using a blade. Still, he has plenty of ideas for different devices and different tactics for keeping yourself safe without using lethal force. The best weapons for self-defense, Fontana says, are “everyday tools you already walk around with.” When I asked him for specific products, for instance, he immediately rifled off a list of tools that included a pen and a rolled-up newspaper. That may sound absurd, but the philosophy is the same: Weapons are an extension of your hand, and anything solid enough or stiff enough to extend your ability to hit something is a valuable tool. However, there are some everyday items that do it better than others.