Staying Safe

Dragan · 16-09-2008 10:58am

With regard to carrying a knife , that is a bad idea. For every time people get attacked other people think they are going to. When do you draw the knife?

I'm a big dude, long hair, beard, normally wear a cap. If i am walking into and alley or side street late one evening as you are walking out of it i could forgive you for being nervous, if you pulled a knife i would assume you were up to no good and plant you. Sorry ladies, i don't hit wimmins unless they are trying to cut me.

If you carry a knife then you need to be prepared to use it, straight away after you deploy it. You would want to be pretty sure you are being attacked and you can't be until contact is made. If someone is mouthing off to you in an alley, threatening you and you pull a knife then what do you do? You are the one who has escalated that situation, you have introduced a blade and that could make things a million times worse.

Do the key thing ( carry it in your left hand as most people are right handed and attacks from this area often expected ) but DO NOT carry a weapon.

If you fear attack to the point where you feel the need to carry a dedicated weapon then you have a lot more to worry about in your head and possibly in other area's of your life than on the streets.

You can't live in fear and the majority of the time there is no need to.

But being a bit aware and a bit smart costs nothing.:)

Nevyn · 16-09-2008 10:58am

Popinjay wrote: »

*Spot prize for whoever guesses the book. I'll give you a clue, it's Terry Pratchett.

/Pats pockets and finds a old blunt and rusted needle and some thread....

There is a difference between having a knife on you and 'carrying' a knife.
I often have a pen knife on me, usual deep in on of the pockets of my backpack or bag, huge difference between this and 'carrying' a knife. 'Carrying' implies intent to use it and easy accessibility.
'Carrying' a knife is not a clever thing to do.

Popinjay · 16-09-2008 11:20am

Dragan wrote: »

...DO NOT carry a weapon.

Tried to make this point in my third paragraph but it does need to be repeated. It really is far more likely to make the situation worse than anything else.

Dragan wrote: »

If you fear attack to the point where you feel the need to carry a dedicated weapon then you have a lot more to worry about in your head and possibly in other area's of your life than on the streets.

Ah well, I was young and foolish. Have to say I never pulled, even when anything did happen. Just makes it even dumber to carry it though. Wouldn't even dream of it now.

Thaedydal wrote: »

There is a difference between having a knife on you and 'carrying' a knife.
I often have a pen knife on me, usual deep in on of the pockets of my backpack or bag, huge difference between this and 'carrying' a knife. 'Carrying' implies intent to use it and easy accessibility.
'Carrying' a knife is not a clever thing to do.

I've had friends picked up for having a pen knife in their bag before but I have to admit it's very rare. Even then, they were released without charge. As Thaed says, intent and accessibility count for a lot. Compare that with what happened to me in my first post in the thread. Got a 'payment to the court poor-box (which is essentialy a fine without being a fine) and very luckily no conviction. That wouldn't be the case today and a conviction wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen if you pulled an knife during an attack. It's never ever a good idea to escalate a situation.

Thaedydal wrote: »

/Pats pockets and finds a old blunt and rusted needle and some thread....

See! You don't really need a dedicated weapon anyway. Just a little creativity.

/Hides

Dragan · 16-09-2008 11:56am

Thaedydal wrote: »

There is a difference between having a knife on you and 'carrying' a knife.
I often have a pen knife on me, usual deep in on of the pockets of my backpack or bag, huge difference between this and 'carrying' a knife. 'Carrying' implies intent to use it and easy accessibility.
'Carrying' a knife is not a clever thing to do.

Actually you are not supposed to have anything on you that may be considered a weapon. If a building is walking down the road with his equipment belt and is attacked and pulls a hammer to defend himself then in the eyes of the law he will considered to have been armed with intent.

A mates girlfriend was arrested on Saturday. She was on O Connell Street and apparently matched the description of someone who was actively pick pocketing. When approached by a Gardai and asked could she be searched she was more than happy to co-operate. They did however find a pen knife in her pocket and hauled her in.

There is no such thing as a distinction like "carrying" in the eyes of the law. You have a weapon or you do not. It's about that simple tbh.

WindSock · 16-09-2008 12:34pm

challengemaster wrote: »

First of all - lol. Secondly, how the hell were you accidentally kicked in the gee?

Mess fighting in school. I know the foot was not meant to land in that particular area, but oh what a mighty shock and just before class started.

Back to the topic. Another way to keep people away from you is to dribble, drool and pick your nose

cocoa · 16-09-2008 12:42pm

wow, next time I'm worried I'm gonna ask a girl to walk me home!

Now I'm a small guy (5'8" if I'm generous) and small framed at that (bottom of the BMI 'healthy' range last time i checked), but I've never really been too scared... Maybe I'm just stupid, but I know I wouldn't hesitate to deck a guy, use my elbows or feet, and I can run pretty fast. Can't say I've ever really thought further than that... If I'm on my own my eyes would be open, and especially so anywhere dark (no dark alleys, but there's a green I'd usually walk across) but would rarely even be worried enough to take out the earphones!

Conversely though, I'd always want to know how my friends were getting home, a lot moreso the girls than guys, and wouldn't hesitate to offer to walk anyone home.

Guess I'm just crazy...

Dragan · 16-09-2008 1:04pm

WindSock wrote: »

Back to the topic. Another way to keep people away from you is to dribble, drool and pick your nose

Twice pretending I was a bit insane stopped me getting my ass kicked by 3+ dudes. No one wants to fight a crazy person.:D

Macha · 16-09-2008 1:11pm

Dragan wrote: »

Twice pretending I was a bit insane stopped me getting my ass kicked by 3+ dudes. No one wants to fight a crazy person.:D

LOL really? Actually one thing that they also said in our Kravmaga course was that surprisingly, it's often the big guy that gets picked on. The attacker is often drunk or on drugs and is trying to pick a fight to prove something so s/he goes for the biggest guy around.

I did hear that if you're being raped, you should try to p!ss yourself or defecate - anything to turn the guy off.

LolaDub · 16-09-2008 1:54pm

Dragan you never fail to amuse or enlighten me with your posts. Funny enough when this thread started the only incidents that came to mind were the random ones, after reading the whole thing i remember a few not so random ones. Weird how i forgot those so easily? The mr smelly coke addict from the worst dates thread was off his head a few times on whatever he got his hands on and turned violent a bit. Then there was the italian guy that started smacking me around during sex-thinking i would like it

both of those are in other thread. When i broke up with my fiancee (he was cheating i was pregnant) and i went to collect stuff after baby was born he threw me across the room and smashed my head on the fireplace/radiator cover, massive cut and a lot of blood. Ran out of there so fast and straight in a garda who looked more than a little shocked! I guess my past has a mix of randomers and people i knew.

Anti · 16-09-2008 2:06pm

challengemaster wrote: »

Yeah, everyone knows how that one turned out anyway.. :pac:

lulz

I could have taken her

Dragan · 16-09-2008 2:31pm

taconnol wrote: »

LOL really? Actually one thing that they also said in our Kravmaga course was that surprisingly, it's often the big guy that gets picked on. The attacker is often drunk or on drugs and is trying to pick a fight to prove something so s/he goes for the biggest guy around.

Yeah, us big folk get picked on too. People seem to feel that taking out a big opponent will make you look harder, or that because i am a tad bigger than most it means i am a good fighter, so in a fight situation i should be taken out early.

To be honest, one of the group set ups was work related and one social and the fact that both groups had a ring leader who started talking before attacking kind of hinted they didn't really have the guts for it anyway. Most blokes will act really hard, especially with friends there and what they want is the story of how the scared a guy and are hoping that the numbers game will make you scared.

Both times the simple promise of extreme pain to the first person to get within my reach and a promise of some back door action should i get one of them on the ground was enough to have them walk.

I can be pretty convincing at times.:)

challengemaster · 16-09-2008 3:31pm

Manties wrote: »

I could have taken her

Ah I see.. and you showed this by getting a black eye...Right....:p

WindSock wrote: »

Mess fighting in school. I know the foot was not meant to land in that particular area, but oh what a mighty shock and just before class started.

Heh.. Since when do wimmins mess fight.. Actually I'd love to know why a **** punt actually hurts..

that said, if it was a lad.. Tears + on the ground in pain would have been the result..

Nevyn · 16-09-2008 3:39pm

Same as a male crotch shot, catch the labia and clit with force between shin/foot and public bone, there is the same ammount of nerve endings there as on a bloke just in a more consentrated area.

Macha · 16-09-2008 3:44pm

Oh jesus Thaed...you have me wincing here.

Dragan · 16-09-2008 3:57pm

Thaedydal wrote: »

Same as a male crotch shot, catch the labia and clit with force between shin/foot and public bone, there is the same ammount of nerve endings there as on a bloke just in a more consentrated area.

I know plenty of people with a massive pain tolerance, workhorses who will get through pretty much anything until they are put away, never seen a single one of them walk off a good shot in the nuts.

It's not the pain, it's the horrible creeping sickness that puts them away.:eek:

And that one comes from the testicles. Kick an angry dude in the general area of where the clit would be on a woman and he may just walk it off.

Connect with the nuts and it's game over.

RuailleBuaille · 16-09-2008 4:00pm

JaneyMc wrote: »

I usually just carry my keys in my hand and have the pointy bits sticking throught the my fingers. Makes me fell a little safer.

That'll do more damage to you than them unless you know how to do it correctly.

JaneyMc wrote: »

My Mam always told me, if anything ever happens, boot them as hard as possible in the nads, when they go to grab themselves in pain, jab them in the eyeballs, then run like hell.

First thing you should do (if you can) is SCREAM. Any self defence teacher will tell you your voice is your best weapon. Failing that, eyes and bollox are fair game.
I'm into the boxercise at the mo, probably wouldn't help much when you're in shock but it makes me feel like a double hard bastard and so I don't give out vulnerable vibes!

Dragan · 16-09-2008 4:09pm

RuailleBuaille wrote: »

First thing you should do (if you can) is SCREAM. Any self defence teacher will tell you your voice is your best weapon. Failing that, eyes and bollox are fair game.
I'm into the boxercise at the mo, probably wouldn't help much when you're in shock but it makes me feel like a double hard bastard and so I don't give out vulnerable vibes!

Scarily enough the advice in New York is to scream "fire" as people were found to not respond to "rape".

As for boxcercise, great for health, not that great for developing effective strikes!!! :pac:

RuailleBuaille · 16-09-2008 4:11pm

Dragan wrote: »

As for boxcercise, great for health, not that great for developing effective strikes!!! :pac:

Why don't you come over here and say that! :pac:
To be fair, I throw a much meaner punch using my whole body than I knew how to before I started.

Strikes don't need to be effective IMO, just need to make me feel safe and appear less vulnerable. The vulnerability is the clincher here I think.

To the poster who said they keep their keys between their fingers, DON'T!

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/71152_advanced-selfdefense-keys.htm

Anti · 16-09-2008 4:16pm

challengemaster wrote: »

Ah I see.. and you showed this by getting a black eye...Right....:p

Im a gentleman, you see. It would rather unbecomming of me to choke slam her through a window

Dragan · 16-09-2008 4:20pm

RuailleBuaille wrote: »

Why don't you come over here and say that! :pac:
To be fair, I throw a much meaner punch using my whole body than I knew how to before I started.

Strikes don't need to be effective IMO, just need to make me feel safe and appear less vulnerable. The vulnerability is the clincher here I think.

To the poster who said they keep their keys between their fingers, DON'T!

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/71152_advanced-selfdefense-keys.htm

I completely agree with you on the feeling vulnerable thing. Some people just look like victims with the way they carry themselves to be honest.

As for the keys, it's a solid plan you just need to do it right, as in, one key, firm grip, soft target. Otherwise your hand will get minced.

As for the effectiveness of the strikes, well, why else do you hit people?:pac:

RuailleBuaille · 16-09-2008 4:36pm

Dragan wrote: »

As for the effectiveness of the strikes, well, why else do you hit people?:pac:

http://www.cix.co.uk/~hewitt/real6.htm

Piste · 16-09-2008 5:30pm

Fishie wrote: »

When I was younger, my mum used to do home-selling of personal alarms. You kept it in your handbag and if someone tried to mug you, you'd pull the pin out and it made the most godawful noise! Not sure how useful it would be if someone was trying to rape you though.

I have one of those rape alarm thingies but I never carry it around. I would think that if I had to use it anyone who hard it would assume it was a car/house alarm and just be vaguely irritated instead of thinking "gee, I bet some poor girl's in danger!"

Macha · 16-09-2008 6:28pm

Speak of the devil: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhqlqlsnkfey/rss2/

University campuses are doge-city late at night. No general members of the public milling around and generally crap lighting. Oh and somewhat useless campus guards who spend their time trying to convince SU shop workers to give them the left-over doughnuts and buns because the shop is closing in 20 mins ("Shouldn't you be...working?")

Pol Pot · 16-09-2008 7:10pm

nouggatti wrote: »

Completely OT: Has Pighead invaded the lounge disguised as Pol Pot??? :eek:

negative, Pol pot has no link to Pighead and is rather insulted that you viewed his opinions in the same light as Pighead "designed to enrage and amuse at the same time" kinda post.

taconnol wrote: »

According to the UN:

http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/vaw/facts_figures.php

While rates of violence are higher in countries such as Saudi Arabi and Egypt, it happens here. According to Irish Health:

So yes, a lot of the violence in Ireland is done by a person the woman knows but about half of it doesn't.

Having said that I HATE those fear-mongering email scams. Know the facts and know how to stay safe, don't live in fear.

interesting. Pol pot is now more knowledgeable. he would have expected the proportion of attackers "known" to their victim to be a lot higher.
Pol Pot dislikes those "fear mongering" emails too...esp those ones about "a friend of a friends who got a taxi where the taxi man had a gammy eye coupled with him being a foreigner meant 100% she was going to be raped....pass it on and stay safe...."

cocoa wrote: »

wow, next time I'm worried I'm gonna ask a girl to walk me home!

Pol_Pot thinks you should walk the girl home.
Some aspects of chivalry are still nice and it's a fair bet that if your house looks like Pol Pot's - her's will be cleaner

cocoa · 16-09-2008 7:52pm

Pol Pot wrote: »

Pol_Pot thinks you should walk the girl home.
Some aspects of chivalry are still nice and it's a fair bet that if your house looks like Pol Pot's - her's will be cleaner

point taken. but alas, the cleanliness standards of my female friends tend not to surpass my own mediocre standards of stuff goes on any available surface area including floor...

While I still maintain the girls seem to have greater proficiency with nutkicking and eye gouging, I guess I'll still walk them home for the good of the poor assailant! =P (just in case anyone gets me wrong here, I am in fact, joking, and any scumbag assailant fully deserves a solid nutkicking and/or eye gouging)

Thoie · 16-09-2008 10:02pm

cocoa wrote: »

point taken. but alas, the cleanliness standards of my female friends tend not to surpass my own mediocre standards of stuff goes on any available surface area including floor...

While I still maintain the girls seem to have greater proficiency with nutkicking and eye gouging, I guess I'll still walk them home for the good of the poor assailant! =P (just in case anyone gets me wrong here, I am in fact, joking, and any scumbag assailant fully deserves a solid nutkicking and/or eye gouging)

Walk them home, then call a taxi to take you home. Male/Female pairs are statistically less likely to be jumped on than two blokes or two girls. No-one's really figured out why yet though.

Piste · 16-09-2008 10:06pm

Maybe it's because Male/Female pairs on their own will be viewed as a couple, so they'll defend each other more loyally than just friends.

wasabi · 16-09-2008 11:22pm

RuailleBuaille wrote: »

http://www.cix.co.uk/~hewitt/real6.htm

Jaysus, I know now where my next career is if the programming dries up!

Piste wrote: »

Maybe it's because Male/Female pairs on their own will be viewed as a couple, so they'll defend each other more loyally than just friends.

Maybe also less likely to get drawn into random interactions with other people, as well.

Dragan · 17-09-2008 9:55am

wasabi wrote: »

Maybe also less likely to get drawn into random interactions with other people, as well.

I know for a fact i behave better when the OH is about. Concern for them overrides my lack of concern for me and at the end of the day you both just want to get home safe so end up being a bit more subconciously safer.

17-09-2008 2:55pm

Thats a controversial username if I ever saw one Pol!

Personally Id say about staying safe:

- If u have to walk alone at night, stay off the phone/ipod. Keep alert.

- Girls dont wear high heels if walking alone, not gonna be able to run far.

- Try to stay in groups.

- Get a friend to take the taxi number if being left off and getting the taxi alone.

Staying Safe

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