erig007

I was looking at this video showing how to use a flashlight against a thief

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB7Wl...eature=related

Having done some boxing I don't see how in real life someone will move faster than a fist especially when you weight more than 200lb.

Is flashlight self defense a viable option against a thief?

Doohickie

No. Not like the video shows, anyway.

erig007

Here is the situation

2 guys go into a fight for whatever reason. 2 bikes on the ground.
It seems that one win the fight and try to leave with 2 bikes perhaps stealing the bike of the other who is still on the ground
It's not clear if the guy leaving owns the bike he is riding nor if the other one owns a bike
Looking at the seat height of both bikes, the fact that the looser has a helmet in his hand and the reaction of the other guys, what I believe is that the winner went away with his bike or is it a bike jacking?

Can you solve this mystery?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qo1K77VxAI

(That's where the flashlight come into a play in a fight even tho it's daytime)

Rootman

Just a total WAG but my guess is that it might work 1 time in 1000, the other 999 times you're going to get your a$$ kicked and bike stole.

IF you want to fight back use ANYTHING at your disposal. If you're unsure let them take it because injuries or death are a lot more expensive than a bike.

erig007

If it happens i will ask politely to the thief:
do you have a gun or a knife with you?
If not, then let's fight

Velo Dog

It's better to have weapon than not, and a sturdy flashlight can be an effective close-in weapon. Really bright ones can blind an attacker for a second so you can strike or run away, and the hard edges do more damage than a fist with less chance of hurting your hands. It's similar to a nightstick or yuwara. But it won't scare anybody away--if you're going to use it, you've got to be prepared to mix it up.

ben4345

I keep a tactical pocket sized grizzly bear with me at all times.

Totoboa

Not popular here, but if you are that worried, and the area is that bad, don't go there or carry a pocket .380 or 9mm pistol, about $300. Over, done with. Anyone, everyone should have the right to defend themselves.

rekmeyata

They make flashlight stun guns and flashlight pepper spray devices if guns are not your thing. Problem with guns and riding a bike is you're not going to able to get the gun out of a handlebar bag or a fanny bag before you're knocked to the ground, and you can't holster it due to specific laws, so the best option is to holster a flashlight that has either a stun gun or pepper spray device built in. Also 78% of people firing a weapon in a stressful situation miss their target which means you have bullets flying around with no idea who a stray bullet may hit like a kid or a mom or a dad or some other innocent bystander then you're in huge trouble financially and mentally. So my suggestion for everyday riding is to simply use your boxing skills, most punks don't know how to fight anyways so you're way ahead on that score, besides more than likely even with a holstered flashlight you're not going to have time to get to it...so get ready to rumble!

On the street I don't carry any weapon, you say you're a boxer fine, then box any potential threat. I took Aikido for 40 years so that's what I would use yet never had to while riding my bike for over 40 years including in areas like Los Angeles and surrounding gang areas even, and San Francisco.

The only time I take a gun on my bike is if I'm going on a tour and I know I will be camping in a remote area away from humans like a public camping area. Then the gun is for animals, both the four and two legged kind. And I carry a real small 2 shot 45 Derringer because most defensive shootings are done at the 6 to 7 foot range, I only need one shot, and when riding I can hide in a touring bag so cops would never see it, and it's lightweight and not bulky which is perfect for touring. Plus the size of the gun allows me to palm the gun without the perp knowing I even have one so the element of surprise is on my side. But other people have other ideas about what size gun to carry, I carry small one because like I said I would probably never use it, and if I did I know I only need one shot.

Whiteknight

A response to a threat or an actual attack is full of questions. State laws dictate what is a proper response. I have used several tactical flashlights in my neighborhood at night. In every case the threatening person backed off and beat feet. At 70 I don't have to run or stand and take a beating. My next line of defense is a large canister of high-strength pepper spray in a stream form. I had one 16 year old neighborhood boy get nasty one night when he came home drunk. All I did was pull out the pepper spray and point it at him. He had a previous encounter where a police officer had sprayed him. The last resort would be the .380 Colt.
The trouble is that if the mugger, thief, etc. is smart and determined they will set it up that you don't have time to respond. Around here they simply walk as close as they can and give you a hard punch to the head to incapacitate you.
The best defense is to constantly look all around you and learn to judge where and when you might be in danger and avoid a situation where the possible assailant could surprise you. If you are alert to your surroundings the thugs generally think twice before any attack. They are looking for victims that are somewhat oblivious to their surroundings.

Sometimes the inner cities are Darwinism at its most basic level.

erig007

Wow. Full of good advices

rekmeyata

And that's my point, "muggers" do surprise attacks most of the time or in groups, they want the element of surprise so you don't have a chance to respond. because their punks and don't know how to fight one on one, so it's the surprise attack or more then 2 attackers going up against one so they think the odds are in their favor, and they pick on the elderly and women because their punks, punks who need a good arss whippen that would take about 3 months to heal to some degree, and a lifetime of memories and residual lifetime of pain and or difficulty of moving certain body parts.

agent pombero

I'd never carry a flashlight with the purpose of self defense. This is what I carry. Zero Tolerance 200. 4'' blade. Flips open faster than a lizard tongue catching a fly...

rekmeyata

That's fast!! I carry a machete in my car that I sharpened to a razors edge...you know, it's a landscaping tool if the cops ask, and if needed I can landscape some punk. Curved tile cutting knives work really good at opening up things too, and their small and discrete.

Nermal

What's noticable in the video is the agressor is such a little feller, and the big guy could have stood with his hand at his sides and the "agressor" would have missed with every punch he threw.

E.W.G.M.B

The light can help by blinding them for a second or two. Hell any thing you can use is better then nothing my friend once used a pencil and went on a stabbing spree (guy grab her shirt was was trying to rip it off while he pulled her down to the ground).

MichaelW

Flashlight makes a very good defensive weapon, esp the longer, heavier ones. Personally I prefer them to knives which are really not very defensive (as well as being illegal to carry in the UK). Flashlights are legal to carry everywhere. You can whack attackers on the wrist, elbow, knee or ankle, solar plexus, cheek or if you have to, more lethal areas. You can use them to strike at extended range and get a small, hard point of impact (no matter which way round it is). You can use them for restraint and painful locks, but in a 2 on 1 situation restraints work in both direction.
Flashlight techniques work well with heavy U-locks, which can kept on your rack-top for rapid access.
You need to be off the bike and on your feet to make any kind of defence. In the attacks which are targeted at cyclists this is exactly where you aren't.
Cyclist attacks follow a few patterns:
Roadblock ambush
Standing man ambush


Roadblocks can be stuff on the ground, chord across the path or simply a gathering of people across the path.
Standing man attacks are one guy, doing nothing 'till you ride past, then he will shove or drag you down or hold his fist for you to ride into.

Any "fighting" response to these attacks has come too late, you need to assess the situation, listen to your instincts and keep your distance.

One guy in the UK saw a large group of teenagers straddling the pavement and road. Instead of stopping he picked a small gap in the road between the sidewalk and one of the teenagers. The teenager instinctively stepped back onto the sidewalk for safety, closing the gap and the cyclist collided with her. She hit her head and died. He is in jail. The fear of groups of teenagers is well founded, they can and do attack lone cyclists. If you assess the situation incorrectly you can pay a big price.

nonlinear

LOL I wouldn't rely on it unless I had a MAG light

Mobile 155

If you are going to use a flashlight something like this would be my choice. https://www.stungunscheaper.com/_Mona...t.php?ref=mssg

https://www.stungunscheaper.com/_ZAPL...t.php?ref=mssg

But then I hope to never be were I have to fight for my bike.

Fishmonger

I guess I'll never visit the UK. I always have a pocketknife on me: I can't clean my fingernails with a flashlight. Imagine how disgusting they would get . . .

MichaelW

The law is: under 3" blade and non-locking is legal in a public place, so Swiss Army style is OK, Opinel is not, Leatherman is probably OK but hasn't been tested in court.
You can carry anything else as long as you have a good reason so hunters, farmers, lumberjacks and fishermen are covered but you must be at or on your way to do the activity. A local builder was caught after he submitted his lock knife at the entrance to a court. It was quite legal for him to have his knife for opening bags of cement at a building site but not once he left. It is a strict liability law so there is no getout for carelessness or forgetfulness.
If you are a regular citizen the police press for you to accept a caution (admission of guilt) with no punishment but a caution counts against you in lots of ways. I think more regular citizens have been caught than knife-wielding, lowlife gang-members.
This is one of many laws that have been bought in by Moral Panic stirred up by our tabloid newspapers. They are all bad laws.

Fishmonger

I agree. Disarming law-abiding citizens doesn't create safety. It creates easy targets.

spectastic

y'all violent people

Angio Graham

what do you use to defend against the grizzly ?

erig007

I make it listen Britney spears