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RoyGBiv wrote: ↑Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:15 am I carry POM pocket clip spray. Covid has made people edgy, easily angered. I've seen people rage at an autistic grocery clerk and been followed from the parking lot to the store by a guy that took umbrage to my driving on the correct side of the road in a parking lot while he tried to hit me head on (I suppose he was just not paying attention and blamed me for the near crash).

If an idiot is threatening me without a visible weapon, it's nice to have a non lethal option.

POM is what both myself and the missus carry. To the rest, Covid has certainly not helped, but we’d become a thin-skinned society long before that. People have been killing other people for at least 2 or 3 decades now for no other reason than they felt disrespected. And those who aren’t killing others, are loudly demanding that their life choices be affirmed above all others.

My default is to treat strangers with respect. But if I see someone behaving in a manner unworthy of respect, I’m not going to positively affirm their bad behavior. And that is why I always try to practice walk-away-fu. If at all possible, I’ll walk away from a potentially brewing confrontation before I have to speak my mind … because I will speak my mind if pressed.

I do carry both a knife and some OC spray besides my gun, but the knife is definitely NOT for self defense. It’s a tool. I’ve considered some kind of striking devise like a collapsible baton or something, but honestly, I have no intention of getting physical with anyone. I’m too old for that kind of nonsense. So it’s either the pepper spray or the gun. If I’m in a knife fight, I’m already losing. I only considered a collapsing baton because it would allow me to keep a little bit of standoff, but I just don’t want to be that close to an opponent if I can at all help it.

When I’m in a non permissive environment where a gun is a no go (on airplanes and such), I also have a shillelagh/cane that goes perfectly with my Santa look.