Everyone wants to feel safe, whether at home, in their car, or just outside of their business. Unfortunately, there may come a time when you need to have some means of self-defense, some way to protect yourself, your home, or your family. If you’ve spent any time reviewing different types of self-defense and training weapons, you’ve no doubt seen stores and websites offering everything from pistols and shotguns to pepper sprays and martial arts courses. However, if none of these standard methods appeal to you, here are some other suggestions (some serious, some not so serious):

1. Instead of pepper spray, use a can of wasp and hornet spray. It is readily available and has an effective range of up to 20 feet, compared to six to eight feet for most pepper spray products.
2. Gloves with steel shot sewn into the knuckles. They seem harmless but they work like blackjack and are available through a couple of different providers across the internet. You can also find baseball caps that are similar, with steel shot sewn into the cap itself, though I’m not sure how comfortable it would be to wear.
3. A can of WD-40 and a butane lighter make a nice miniature flamethrower. However, collateral damage could be a problem.
4. The sharp edge of one of your credit cards can be quite an efficient (and innocent-looking) weapon for cutting someone at close range.
5. How about a sling with a wrist strap and a bag of golf balls or ball bearings? It takes a lot of practice to become proficient, but you can do serious damage if you use a good quality slingshot and can really hit the mark.
6. A hockey stick has a number of advantages in terms of self defense. It’s a very good weapon for cutting something or someone and doesn’t look particularly out of place if you’re carrying one outside.
7. For home defense, one or two large dogs are an excellent choice. And if you don’t have or don’t want to have a large dog, a continuous loop tape or CD of barking dogs may also work.
8. Kevlar gloves can provide some protection against a knife attack.
9. Some experts recommend biting, not a normal bite, but something more on the order of a pitbull-type bite, preferably on an ear or finger.
10. One of the “unbreakable” umbrellas for sale on the Internet offers a way to keep an attacker at arm’s length; and if you’ve ever seen commuters vying for a seat on the London Underground, you may appreciate the use of the umbrella as an offensive weapon.
11. If you want a firearm for self defense, you might want to take a look at the handgun. It is a single shot .38 caliber pistol that fits in the palm of your hand. It is specially designed for the elderly or disabled who have limited physical dexterity and is fired with the thumb instead of the index finger. And it has been classified as a “medical device” by the FDA.
12. If you really intend to avoid any confrontation, you might try leaving some money or valuables on a table near your door or window and hope that anyone who comes in will just “take the money and run.”

We hope these suggestions provide you with new options for self-advocacy. And if you really like home defense, you can take a tip from an army ranger I heard about. He fixed his porch light so that if you turned on the light switch, the porch light would come on; if he flipped the switch, he’d set off a small explosive charge, more than enough to deter anyone trying to break down the front door. In any case, take some time to think about self-defense – you never know when the time will come when you need to have some way to protect yourself.