If only the stock market were as predictable as some of the threads on BF.

I'm 6'3", 320lbs, have to turn sideways to fit my shoulders through narrower doors and have a goatee down to my chest, so no, I haven't much felt a need to carry anything for self-defense.

If I did start carrying, there is nothing you can accomplish with a pistol in your pocket that I cannot with a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit chain. For one, it's more likely to hit something from 3' away, hideout guns fired in anger tend to put bullets in things that aren't your target. Real life is not like the gun range. For another, I don't have to worry about it jamming or running out of ammo. For a third, I don't care if my kid finds it and plays with it.

I don't have a desire to carry a gun but I have given thought to getting an ASP baton, which requires a concealed weapons permit here in Florida IIRC. Past that, I agree with other's who've said that if you feel THAT unsafe on your route, change it up.

Could we please lose the myth that you can predict *where* you will be attacked??
The worst case of road rage I ever encountered was in a small town of 20,000
at an intersection I had literally passed through many times each week for 20 years w/o incident.

not interested in bringing my heater with me on the bike

I own one, and practice with it regularly. It's secure in my secret place right now, where I can get it if I need it. If you feel like you need to arm yourself to ride your bicycle to work, then you live in the right country for that. Do the right thing and be a responsible firearm owner, and it's all good.

You seem to just know all about self preservation huh?

I don't want a gun anywhere near my house since I sleep walk and would likely blow my own head off if I could find it. Worse yet, my son inherited the affliction. However, I would like to see more cyclists carry weapons as a deterrent to those who think we are easy marks. They risk the trouble and I get the benefit; I'm so selfish.

OK, gun threads invariably spin out of control. If the OP had enough posts to get access to P&R, I'd move it there and give him access. Since he doesn't, I'm closing it.

OP, by the way, for the record, I have CCW and am a gun owner, so it's not because I'm antiguns the thread was closed. I just know the history of what happens every time there's a gun thread in a bike forum.