Self Defense: Practical or Paranoid?

[red5angel]

Ok, so I have this thick dowel I use for some of my excersises right and I have go tin the habit of sticking it under the bed on my side at night, just in case.
The neighborhoods not necessarily a bad one by any means, but things happen. Since Christmas my wife hung some replica swords (still functional obviously) on the wall in the entry and so anyone coming through the front door has a chance to use them on me or other occupants of the house.
My wife thinks I am being a little silly putting the stick under the bed, but I won't have a gun in the house anymore. I just believe in being prepared for anything...that's what a few years in the boyscouts will teach you!

What do you people think? too much? too little?

[ewallace]

Not paranoid, it's being prepared. Personally, I'd like to keep a surface-to-air missle launcher under my bed, but the ATF generally frowns on having such tools in the hands of folks like me.

[KC Elbows]

I keep a bokken, a three section staff, and two knives within reach of where I sleep.

You're probably not paranoid, but you should be thinking about why your wife is putting the replicas right there. What's she up to?

[dezhen2001]

nothing constructive to add... just wanted to say i like ur avatar ewallace and kc - what a way to make a man secure in his marriage

dawood

[red5angel]

Exallace, if I could arrange it I would make sure you had a surface to air missle under your bed

KC, hehe, I don't know I open up a life insurance policy before christmas and suddenly I get all sorts of guns, knives and swords for christmas. Of course my wife being the decorator, she gets to decide where they all "belong", hmmmmmmm


Actually this question kind of reminds me of this night back in high school when I was in karate. I was crashing at a buddy of mines who was also in my karate class. Him and I had just turned the lights out about 3 am when we hear this loud crash from downstairs. We creep to the door and open it and hear voices downstairs. He grabs his boken and hands me his sai and we both go tearing downstairs but the guy was already heading out the back door. We found the guys footprints and as near as we figure he must have been outside this guys window waiting for us to crash before he broke in!

[apoweyn]

well, i've never tried it, mind you. but i wouldn't fancy fending off a sword with a dowel rod. replica or no.

is it paranoid? probably. odds are pretty decent that nobody's going to break into your house. (i don't know stats, mind you.) odds are that if they did, they wouldn't be coming specifically to cause you harm. odds are that if they were coming specifically to cause you harm, they wouldn't plan on doing so with the replica swords in the hallway.

that said, what's the harm? doesn't cost you anything to stick a dowel rod under the bed. so what if it never pays off.

now my wife would never go for having weapons by the bed. (not that i'm inclined to do that anyway, honestly.) but if you believe that weapons are necessary for home defense, then it only makes sense that they be readily available to you.

so i guess it's a question of cost-benefit analysis. my gut tells me that there's little benefit to it. but if there's little cost as well, what the hell. and if i'm wrong, and there is a benefit to having that weapon on hand (god forbid), then no cost is too high. right?


stuart b.

[Cody]

Swords by the door, huh? I wouldn't like that much.

As for the dowel, I'm cool with that. I have a thick wooden sword by my bed.

Cody

[red5angel]

Ap, you've never seen me with a dowel rod obviously... Besides the things is like an inch and a half thick, I know it's just wood but still!

I essentially explained to my wife that it doesn't hurt anything. First of all I use the stick for training so it isn't like I went out to get the best "Self Defense Dowel" (TM) I could find, I just happened to think, hey if someone were to come in the house it sure would be nice to have somehting other then my hands to use if I had to. Guns were out so I just made it a habit of sticking this thing under my bed when I was done with practice.

[apoweyn]

hey, like i said, no harm in it.

but as long as you're sticking a nondescript stick under your bed, you may want to grab a rattan eskrima stick. i've got to believe it'd weather getting beaten on with a sword better than a dowel rod would. dowel rods break. rattan frays, splits, etc. but tends not to snap.

[yutyeesam]

Would we be inclined to call someone paranoid if they sleep with a gun under their pillow?

How different is keeping a rod under the bed, or a sword by the bed? The level of potential damage inflicted is the obvious difference, but principally, is it not the same?

It's an issue of how much one fears death. If you watch Bowling for Columbine, one astounding difference between Canadians and Americans is how considerably less Canadians are consumed with fear, compared to Americans, yet they have the crime, the poverty, and a love affair with guns.


123

[norther practitioner]

I'm roomates with a guy that trains with me..... We were discussing this the other day when we realized we have a sword in just about every room (dining room, his room, my room, living room, and near the front door). And a butt load more weapons around, staffs, 3 section staff, etc. What we have done now though is stuck some weapons in some spots for "just in case" situations. The house has been broken into twice, and one of our friends always brings by some questionable "aquantainces". Anyhow, I am a firm believer in that there should always be something close at hand to hit someone with (helps you make your point). In all seriousness, keeping a dowel right there doesn't hurt anything, and in all reality you never know when you are going to have to bludgen someone trying to violate your space and sanctity. So practical would be my vote....now if you had a tinfoil hat on and some patriot missles in the garage, then we should find a good therapist .

[red5angel]

Ap, since I am looking at doing some escrima trianing ayway it might be a good idea, the trusty "Self Defense Dowel" (TM) was just a handy and hard stick laying around anyway.

yutyeesam, I think the level of potential damage is what makes the difference. I have worked with guns enough to know I have better control over someones life with a stick. It will definitely allow me to gain control of a situation easier and I won't be tempted as much to go for sweet spots I might be with a gun. If you live in the right neighborhood, it might be necessary, but for my suburb I would have to call myself paranoid if I kept a gun under my pillow.

[Former castleva]

Feng shui solutions:
Sleep facing the door (or least a related entryway)

Dunno about swords above the door...
Spiky cactuses placed near the windows should keep intruders away...

I do not know if I´d consider weapons within your reach paranoid,maybe of less importance than good preparations to keep troubles away from your drowsy body.

[yenhoi]

I have a pair of rattan sticks within reach when I sleep. Couple knives under the pillow since sept 11, too.

Paranoid.

[Slayer]

Who lets see. A few knives here and there. My staff by the door. Escrima sticks, and Bart Jam Doa by my bed. Colt 45 in a holster attached to the bottem of my desk. My mom keeps a Bretta 9mm in the kitchen, and we have a shot gun hidden in the China Cabenit.

I saw prepared. We keep our weapons in our house so we can reach them with in 10 seconds.

My dad was in the Army
I was in the Scouts
My mom was home alone on day when our house was broken into.
So we try to stay prepared

Slayer