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Excaliber wrote:

chasfm11 wrote:

WildBill wrote:

Excaliber wrote:The difference is that they have acquired a working knowledge of what to expect from folks like you and adapt their tactics to get what they want with those expectations in mind.

That, is a very scary thought.

I don't have any plan of trying to spend "quality time" with folks who think like that. How does one prepare to deal with them, other than just being armed to the teeth?

There are resources out there that can help explain in words how these folks think, make decisions, and move in for the attack. One good example is the No Nonsense Self Defense web site which has some excellent info on how criminal "specialists" who commit different types of major crimes think, pick targets, set up the incident, and act. This is not a replacement for "quality time" because it's almost impossible to internalize the information to the point of instinctive usefulness without seeing these folks in action. It has value, though, because it'll get you a good deal further than guessing will.

The "armed to the teeth" solution focuses on weapons and is a misplaced emphasis. The focus needs to be on seeing the elements of an incident as they first start to come together, and taking action to keep them from "gelling" so to speak. This is because the only encounter you're sure to come out of well is the one that never reaches the confrontation and conflict stage.

Certainly guns and other weapons have their place as last ditch defensive options, but real safety comes from being able to recognize when a bad guy first starts thinking about you as a potential victim. This happens when he first takes a closer look at you to the exclusion of all the other folks in the background. At that point there's distance and time between you, and those factors translate into a whole bunch of viable options for you.

The closer he comes and the more sure he gets that you're gonna be a good score, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the fewer viable options you have. By the time he gets to bad breath range, even if you're "armed to the teeth," all your good options are gone and you're left only with choices range from bad to worse.

WildBill wrote:

Excaliber wrote:The difference is that they have acquired a working knowledge of what to expect from folks like you and adapt their tactics to get what they want with those expectations in mind.

That, is a very scary thought.