Occasionally, you’ll find yourself in an area where you can’t legally carry a weapon like a big knife or a gun. Or, you may live in such a location. Whether you choose to carry a weapon regardless of what the law says you must do is your choice, of course, but there are some situations where it’s likely to cause more inconvenience than it’s worth. If I am going to see my doctor because I am ill, I know several things in advance. First, firearms are prohibited in the medical building (which is not an inconvenience – I could carry a gun since the gun is concealed) and second, for me to get over my illness, the doctor is going to examine me. Once I start removing clothing, the gun is no longer concealed, the doctor may not like the gun, and no matter what happens next, I likely won’t get the thorough doctor’s examination I paid for. My decision at this point is to not bring the pistol inside the building. I’m choosing to do what it takes to get my health back, meanwhile gambling that it’s not particularly likely I’ll need a gun once inside.

Does that mean I need to be unarmed? Not likely, whether it’s going to see the doctor or going anywhere else that I may need to defend myself. A firearm is a great equalizer, but the lack of one should not leave you with no options other than attempting to run away. Anything can be used as a weapon, even a pen or pencil, but there are a few choices that might be better. One is a 6 D-Cell Maglite flashlight. You’ll have to do some searching, not everyone carries this largest model. This big aluminum light will help you find your car in a dark parking lot and it makes a fine club. If you hold it backward (your hand on the bulb end) and strike with the barrel, the knurling in the barrel that’s intended to give a secure grip also makes a good surface for scraping off the top layer of the bad guy’s skin. You can carry a flashlight anywhere. Pick up a 6” Crescent wrench and put it on your key ring – or on a ring to attach to your keys, since the weight of the wrench will make your vehicle’s ignition switch rather unhappy. The wrench and your keys work reasonably well for striking, though not with the authority of the Maglite. Continuing in the tools category, a 12 or 14 ounce ball pein hammer stuck under your belt will also take care of problems.

If you have trouble walking, or think you do, or don’t anyway, get a cane. Not any cheap cane but a heavy, tough stick. See if you can find a farm supply store and get a hickory “stockman’s cane” which looks like a regular cane with a curved handle. These are intended for herding (that means poking and shoving) cattle into trailers. They are extremely strong and quite inexpensive. You can carry a cane anywhere, just like a big flashlight. If you need to use it, thrust with the tip rather than swing it in an arc, at least until you have played with it enough to be able to use it quickly. Something else you can take with you everywhere is something you already do – your belt. Since you’re not carrying a gun in these situations, don’t carry anything else on your belt. However, make sure the belt has a relatively big, heavy steel buckle. There are nylon web belts available that have steel buckles designed so that a climber can hook a carabiner to the buckle. Anything like that will work well, you can easily strip the belt off and you have that buckle as another impact weapon. Don’t forget the carabiner, either. A carabiner attached anywhere you can access it, perhaps a belt loop, gives you a good substitute for brass knuckles.