HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF WITH A BOBBY PIN, BARRETTE or, ITEMS YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF!

Please enjoy this edition of the Family Survival Evening Post, a completely free comprehensive survival and preparedness publication sent to give you the knowledge and skills you'll need to be always safe and secure no matter what happens. Multi-purpose items for travelers are like peanut butter is to jelly. Things so common they’re often overlooked and just “assumed”. A black skirt that can be worn casually during the day but dressed up for evening-wear; a suitcase doubling into a wine carrier; a purse that turns into a scarf; the list goes on. We forget – or haven’t realized – everyday items we travel with can also be used as self-defense tools. Today we'll cover some of these very useful items we often always have on us, and how to protect yourself with whatever you've got. Bobby Pin or Barrette Clench the bobby pin in the fist of your dominant hand and use your thumb to apply additional downward force. Don’t allow more than half of the barrette to protrude; you don’t want to risk losing it or breaking it upon contact. A straightforward jabbing motion is the most effective option; use short, fast strikes – boxers call them rabbit punches – and aim for the eyes, throat, side of the neck just below the ear, or the soft spot just behind the earlobe. A slashing maneuver can also be attempted is you miss you jab strike and have left your arm extended. Simply whip you arm from side to side as if you were swimming a tennis racket. Corkscrew If using one of the small travel corkscrews (a waiter’s corkscrew), hold it in your fist with the base (the part you hold and twist) pressed tight against your palm. Allow the corkscrew (the curly, metal part) to extend beyond your clenched fist between your fingers, as close to the center of you fist as possible for maximum impact and control. Once you have the corkscrew in a firm grip, thrust at your attacker. Aim for the eye, neck, liver, groin or the thigh. Sunglasses / Eyeglasses Four eyes are always better than two, especially when it comes to protecting yourself. In the book Schappert explains multiple ways you can use glasses as a self-defense tool. Each requires you to break your glasses…albeit your attacker would have no problem helping you with that. He suggests you break off both arms of your glasses and use them like daggers, holding one in each hand for dual or simultaneous attacks. You can also pop the lenses out and use the frame like a dagger. Flashlight When it comes to using a flashlight for self-defense, bigger and heavier lights are always better but more likely you’re traveling with a smaller, go-anywhere sized pocket light. Smaller, metal, pocket lights that also offer high brightness levels (lumens) can pack a punch. Use these pocket lights as “fist fillers” to make your punch’s even more powerful. Simply close your hand around the flashlight, make a fist and you have a more powerful punch. If you are carrying a larger, metal flashlight use it to hit your attacker. Scarf/Neck Tie The most obvious way to use either – after they’re removed – from around your neck – is as a garrote to choke your attacker. But you can also wrap them around your fist to protect you hand when punching them. Or, knot one end to the tie and use it as a flail. Tying something with heft to the tie or wrapping it around something with weight will allow you to generate more speed, and therefore cause more damage. If you have a tiepin, tie-tack or broach, reposition it to the end you plan on using as you flail. Exposing the point or sharp end will increase damage. Always Safe, Always Prepared Frank Mitchell Founder P.S. You don’t need an expensive house alarm or thousands of dollars in security equipment to protect your home. With a little know-how, a power drill and a trip to the hardware store, you can turn your house into a reinforced bunker, impenetrable even by SWAT teams for under $50. Click here to learn how.