Self-Defense Tip 134 Homemade Weapons, Improvised Weapons, and Weapons of Opportunity

This self-defense tip expands the subject I wrote about in Self-Defense Tip 102 — Improvised Weapons: Keys. It is about weapons of opportunity, improvised weapons, and homemade weapons, and shows video demos of using two ingenious homemade weapons. It is good to know how to make and use these common weapons, the better to guard against them.

Weapons of Opportunity

Weapons of opportunity are ordinary utility objects used in an emergency to defend oneself. These weapons have great deniability.
Examples:
A bike chain lock, picked up from one’s bike.
A pencil.
A book.
A handbag with a heavy book inside.
A magazine or a newspaper rolled-up.
A money belt.

Improvised Weapons

Improvised weapons are made of objects not designed to be weapons. These weapons have poor to none deniability.
Examples:
A padlock put in a sock or tied to a rope.
A handbag with a dumbbell inside.
A magazine or newspaper tightly folded into a Millwall Brick (the video below shows how it is made).

How to Make a Weapon from Newspaper

Homemade Weapons

Homemade weapons require tools and a few minutes, or longer, to make. These weapons too have poor to none deniability.
Examples:
Dan bong (a short stick with a wrist loop).
Trapo (a metal ball on a wrist loop).

I chose trapo and dan bong as examples of homemade weapons because these two are very easy to make but in trained hands they are irresistible persuaders, tactically near perfect. The dan bong with a wrist loop is a great substitute for a telescopic baton, invisible to metal detectors. The trapo is visible to metal detectors, but is easy to use, and decisively effective — each strike is the last one needed.

Dan bong, courtesy of Guro Jee Choi

Videos below show how to use it.

Dan Bong 2 – Hapkido Short Stick & Blade

A different way of using the lanyard (wrist loop):

How to Use the Lanyard on a Danbong Short Stick

Trapo

Videos below show how to use it.

Guro Jee’s Panu Program Explained: How to Use the Trapo and Comtech Kerchief (Fighting Bandana)

Guro Jee Choi Tradecraft NPE Bandana Cloth Panu Trapo FFS EKI Self Defence Seminar Excerpt

Jee Choi DeClassified NPE Defence Panu Trapo Weight Fundo Launch Shot Grip Method Tradecraft

Now you know how to make and use these common weapons, the better to guard against them.

By the way:
You saw the dan bong and the trapo in action. But there is something better, an ordinary everyday wear item, that:
— is easier to use than the dan bong,
— is as quick to draw out as the dan bong,
— is as destructive as the trapo,
— unlike the dan bong and the trapo, has full plausible deniability — no one can question your having it with you. Watch it below.

Do you want a belt like that? You can make it yourself. It is easy, just get a suitable belt and a buckle, and attach the buckle to the belt. Neither part is expensive. To get links for buying these parts, subscribers of our newsletter RealSelfDefense-list need to send a message with the subject “make-it-yourself belt” through our Contact form. Not a subscriber of our newsletter? Click here to subscribe.

You want the belt, but can’t or don’t want to make it yourself?
No problem, you can get a similar belt, called SIEGE Belt, also referred to as a survival belt, from siegebelts.com. Features of both belts, the make-it-yourself belt and the SIEGE Belt, are described below.

Buckles of both belts are made of solid chunks of metal, either brass or steel. SIEGE Belt offers a range of weights, from 3.5 oz (99 g), to 6.5 oz (184 g).

For the make-it-yourself belt, the recommended buckle weighs 4.4 oz (125 g). It is recommended because it performs well. However, different weights are available on eBay and other marketplaces, plus it is easy to add some mass to a buckle or to subtract it, using hand tools.

Straps of both belts are made of heavy-duty nylon webbing.
SIEGE belt’s strap dimensions: width 1.25-1.5″ (3.2-3.8 cm), length 27″-70″ (69-178 cm).
The make-it-yourself belt’s strap dimensions: width 1.5″ (3.8 cm), length 48″ (122 cm).

The make-it-yourself belt’s strap has a build-in hidden money pouch. The pouch begins at the strap’s attachment to the buckle, and runs most of the strap’s length. Filling the first eight or ten inches of the pouch with a few bills of low denominations, or a folded map, makes that part of the strap rigid. Those rigid few inches of the strap make the belt’s deployment fast and strikes accurate, so the time from grasping the belt’s buckle to pull the belt from its loops (pants’ loops), to the first impact, is 2.3 seconds, or less. See it at the very beginning of a video below and time it yourself.

Strap of the SIEGE belt has no money pouch that may stuffed with something to make it rigid. The SIEGE belt’s use is demonstrated on the videos below. Neither video shows use of the belt from drawing it from pants’ loops (belt loops) to the first impact. I guess, this belt, because of its strap’s softness, requires a lot of practice to strike from the draw.

Cost of the make-it-yourself belt: $28.97 if its buckle and strap are bought on eBay.
Cost of the SIEGE belt: from $150 to $359.

You will find more posts on deniability at real-self-defense.com/?s=deniability

Attention:
Applying any of the techniques mentioned above is your sole responsibility.

Neither Never-Thought-of-It LLC nor the author of this self-defense tip, nor persons pictured in this self-defense tip, make any representation, warranty, or guarantee that the techniques described or shown in this tip will be safe, effective, or legal in any self-defense situation or otherwise.

The reader or viewer assumes all risks and hazards of injury or death to herself, himself, or others, as well as any resultant liability for the use of the techniques and methods contained in this self-defense tip.

Specific self-defense responses demonstrated or described in this self-defense tip may not be justified in certain situations in light of all the circumstances or under the applicable federal, state, or local law. Neither Never-Thought-of-It LLC nor the author of this self-defense tip makes any representation or warranty regarding the legality or appropriateness of any techniques described or demonstrated in this self-defense tip.

Self-defense tip from Thomas Kurz, co-author of Basic Instincts of Self-Defense and author of Science of Sports Training, Stretching Scientifically, and Flexibility Express.

Self-Defense Moves

For your defense moves to work under stress they must be based on your natural, instinctive reactions, require little strength and limited range of motion, and be proven in fighting experience.

To learn how your natural reactions can instantly defeat any unarmed attack, see the video Basic Instincts of Self-Defense.

Defend Against Weapons

To defend against weapons you have to know how they are used. Also — every stick has two ends … the weapon of attack may become a weapon of defense in your hand …

To learn how the typical street weapons (club, knife, razor) are used by an experienced streetfighter and how to practice with them, see the video Self-Defense: Tools of Attack — Club, Hatchet, Blackjack, Knife, Straight Razor.

Mental Toughness

Staying cool under pressure is more important for self-defense than being physically fit and technically skilled. If you can’t control your mind what can you control?

To learn mental techniques that let you calmly face any threat and act rationally in the heat of a fight, click here.

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