Do You Have EDC "Dead Eyes"?

[The Night Rider]

I apparently have "The Look" because I've had almost panhandlers start walking up to me and they stop, they take a second look and they will find a different Target and I am not intimidating in appearance. I look like exactly what I am, a gimpy old man who does not want to be trifled with.

I am aware that I'm responding to my own post.

This is speculation on my part but think "The Look" is simply that a lot of my training focused on transitional spaces and parking lots are nothing but transitional spaces.

Transitional spaces are where bad things usually happen.

I said earlier that you can't make a conscious decision to increase or decrease your level of situational awareness for any length of time and I still believe that.

But as I just said my training and experience had taught me that Transitional Spaces are dangerous and so I get out of my car looking for threats and trouble.

Predators and panhandlers (who are minor league predators) notice people who notice them and usually look for an easier mark.

I think that's "The Look"

 

[The Night Rider]

What does everyone else use for non-lethal defense besides fists/feet and situational awareness?

I've been on the wrong end of this once. It will get your attention.

 

[Sld1959]

My wife left a can of pepper spray he dash of my car in summer once. I was getting into the car when it exploded in my face. I rolled out of the car blind , feeling like someone was melting my face with a flame thrower and trying to breath

Pepper spray works, you absolutely have no more desire to rob rape or kill. The idea of killing comes later.. once you can see breath and find your face is intact.

 

[Model 457]

I don't know how people go through life like this. True, "it will never happen to me" is dumb, but "it's highly unlikely that it will happen to me" is accurate. The statistics are clear - the world is not nearly as dangerous as the marketers want us to think it is. Keep your wits about you, sure, because things happen in life, and it's good to not be taken completely by surprise if it does. But you can't spend every waking minute expecting to need to bash someone's head into that nearby table edge. Is that one in a million chance really worth going through life paranoid and scared all the time? Articles like this are meant to keep people scared, because scared people spend way more money on all kinds of stuff they don't need. OK, flame away, kids. Light me up. I know this will be an extremely unpopular opinion in these parts.

ETA - also, even if you've got all your weps ready to go, you've identified your shooting lanes, you've found a nice sharp table edge, or a rolled-up magazine or a pencil or whatever other John Wick crap you're thinking about while you're in a restaurant or your aunt's funeral, you're probably not going to be able to use any of them. Very, very few people are capable. You're being sold a fantasy.

Interesting perspective and I always appreciate, and ponder points of view from all directions. My comments are made with positive intent so hopefully I don't trigger the flaming you anticipated from your post.

"The statistics are clear - the world is not nearly as dangerous as the marketers want us to think it is." - I don't need marketers to convince me of anything. I see the criminal element everywhere I look in my city and our police force is forbade from enforcing the laws by our politicians. Therefore, my safety is solely my responsibility.

"But you can't spend every waking minute expecting to need to bash someone's head into that nearby table edge." - I don't spend every waking moment expecting the need. I am, however, prepared for the unfortunate opportunity to do so should the situation dictate.

"Articles like this are meant to keep people scared, because scared people spend way more money on all kinds of stuff they don't need." - These types of articles are directed towards a readership that has already spent the money. We don't buy our toys because we are scared. We buy them because we like them and enjoy the hobby. Being a tool that can also be used for personal safety is a nice byproduct. Nobody needs a car that will do 120 MPH, and marketing a car that will do 120 MPH won't attract an audience that isn't already interested in that type of vehicle. The average person has never seen a firearm advertisement and thought "Gee whiz, I should get me one of those so I can protect myself."

"Very, very few people are capable. You're being sold a fantasy." - I don't know who you hang around with. But the crowd I associate with is deadly capable. No "John Wick" nonsense. Just plain old competence and the right attitude.