Chetti

Ive been car free for about 5 months now, commuting 6 miles to work and back. Ive really been enjoying it, However I end up riding through about 2 miles of seedy neighborhood, and quite a bit of heavy traffic... Ive come across a couple close calls, with ignorant drivers(especially those on the phone), and Hurried/impatient drivers(who seem to be the most dangerous). And on two occasions, Anyhow, Ive started riding with a tire iron snapped to the frame of my bike. a lite tap on a window generally lets a car know Im sharing the road with them, and it also deters the Aholes who like to fly by me in this cold icy weather

max-a-mill

careful you don't get shot....

people don't like it when you touch their car, so if you do just be ready for a confrontation.

in bad neighborhoods these are significantly scarier than having biff and buffy yell at you from the window of their bmw...

Bekologist

I've been contemplating a titanium crowbar.... to "Help" the drivers with any "automobile issues" they may be having.I'm not going to recommend it to anyone else though.

Your desire to rage the cagers must come from within.

CliftonGK1

Back in Cleveland, I used zip-ties to secure 1" sections of 1" PVC pipe (cut lengthwise into a "U") to my top tube. I glued the fuzzy side of some Velcro inside the "U", and the hook-side was wrapped around the heavy end of a pool cue, cut to fit in this top-tube holster. It's easy to grab, has a nice swing speed, and it's equally effective at keeping both agitated drivers and pedestrian would-be-assailants at bay.
I haven't felt a necessity to do this for over a decade, though.

ghettocruiser

If anyone actually gets a Ti crowbar, for any reason, I demand they post a pic.

Preferably with it sitting on a scale.

bmclaughlin807

Kinda defeats the purpose... a good part of the usefulness of a crowbar as a 'persuader' is due to it's heft.

jrubzer

Try a telescoping baton. Compact, easy to mount and highly effective. This one has an optional LED to boot....

https://www.hightechsafety.com/telesc...FQlcSgodSy6xSQ

max-a-mill

how about just using your lock or frame pump to kill the evil cagers with???

no need to add extra heavy items to assult people with when you already carrying perfectly good assult weapons.

bmclaughlin807

I don't have a u-lock, and my pump is worth more than their life, so...

caloso

Pfft! Please. Any weight weenie worth his salt would have a carbon fiber crowbar.

JeffS

Buying weapons for your road rage is a slippery slope. Just remember that if you threaten them today they might just run you over tomorrow.

-----

unrelated story: I was riding home on my motorcycle about a year ago. Guy was going 30 in a 45. I flashed my lights and he brake-checked me fairly hard. About a half mile later he pulls into a parking lot and I follow. He parks and I pull up beside and behind him. Don't get off the bike or even put it on the kickstand. He sits in the car for what must have been five minutes and finally gets out with a club. The older man was scared ****less and it showed. That didn't keep him from running his mouth when confronted though. The thought of a physical confrontation hadn't crossed my mind until he pulled out the club. At that point deep down somewhere I was actually tempted to relieve him of it and beat him.

The point, if you can call it that, is that weapons escalate a situation and if you can't weild them effectively put you at greater risk. Pulling out a club against someone is a car is just begging to get run over.

fatbat

I remeber some bike maker who made himself a custom Ti frame pump.

Much heavier than the standard pump, but as he said "Plus with this heft, if you hit a dog with this pump, the dog will die."

hobbsc

+1, I've got one that I picked up from a local surplus store. I've only carried it on the bike once, though. I just keep it at home for self defense.

Not like it matters, what with the arsenal of firearms I've inherited from various family members.

tlupfer

I've been rolling with a car horn. it seems to totally castrate motorists when a bicycle honks at them. they just sort of look at you stupidly, drool spilling everywhere, and move about their business.

last night a car rolled up behind me and blared their horn for a solid ten seconds. as they were passing by I gave them a friendly return honk and wave.

TreeUnit

If you ever need to physically defend yourself, I think a "Blade"(the vampire-killer) style sword (made from titanium) would be excellent for your purposes. That back-mounted sheath would be great on a bike.

Artkansas 

That's great. Got a pic of your setup?

le brad

The sword idea is good. I think people would be much less likely to honk or harras cyclists if we ALL had ninja swords strapped to our backs.

CastIron

Really stupid idea.

Dourbali Star

That bike maker would be Bruce Gordon, and you can own it for a mere $300. Here's the link, about half way down the page:
https://www.bgcycles.com/accessories.html

Lurker1999

I can already see how this conversation will go.

"No officer, he started this because he buzzed me on my bike. So I took my telescoping baton out of its holster and tapped on his window to remind him to share the road."

"So you were brandishing a weapon?"

"No officer, I only wanted to remind him to share the road."

"With a weapon?"

"I wasn't going to hurt him."

"Are you aware that batons are illegal in this state?"

Actually, I changed my mind. Please do carry a baton. Let natural selection take care of the rest.

deathintransit

Could it be that wanting to carry a weapon while riding is a way of coming to grips with your own vulnerability on the roads?

We are extremely vulnerable out there, but it's nothing weapons can protect us against. A crowbar won't do a thing for you when that distracted driver just does not see you and rolls right over you. Don't take it personally though, they would have run that stop sign whether you were there or not.

If you want to carry weapons theres this huge war going on right now in Iraq. You could sign up and go over there and carry all kinds of weapons around if you want to.

curb hash

Pull a weapon on or "tap" the wrong person's vehicle and sure as sh*t though you may have won this battle, their road raging ass is going to thirst for payback.

You are too familiar a sight and too vulnerable to chance giving some determined nut the opportunity to turn you into a drooling nursing home resident. Take the high road Grasshopper.

tlupfer

not at the moment. I'll take one soon. basically, I just attached it underneath the brake bridge on my xtracycle. that area wasn't being used efficiently anyway.

BIG-E

I carry pepper spray, but it's for DEFENSE only. 2oz can with 20ft range.

Getting into confrontations isn't worth it. You'll be a lot happier if you realize you can't change stupid people.

Gabbo

If I understand correctly, it is illegal in all 50 states to carry one of those concealed without a permit, and in most states, you can't carry one at all. Those are harsh little weapons. My buddy who was a cop really jacked up a couple people with one. If you do a strike on bone, it's sure to break it.