No time to learn the martial arts?

“It takes years to master any martial art,” says Matt Thomas, the world class martial artist who founded the first Model Mugging program over 34 years ago. “It can, in fact, take several years just to learn a correct karate punch.”

“If you really want to learn the martial arts,” adds Massad Ayoob in The Truth About Self-Protection, “you must understand that it will take hundreds or even thousands of hours of hard work, strenuous calisthenics, bruised and pulled muscles.”

What about weapons such as knives, scissors, or even small handguns? Well, first, you have to have the weapon ready and available when you need it, and you seldom if ever know ahead of time about an impending attack. And, even if you have the weapon ready, unless you can disguise it, you lose the all-important element of surprise—one of the fundamentals of good self-defense. Here are two weapons that do not look like weapons and that can be naturally carried in your hand:

1. SureFire flashlight.
These high-intensity lights are used by elite military units such as the U.S. Navy SEALs, Rangers, Ravens, Recon and Delta. The SureFire E2D LED Defender is less than five inches long, weighs only 3.2 ounces, and can seldom be seen when you carry it in your hand. This powerful little package is designed to inflict serious damage. In addition, if attacked in the dark, you can blind the assailant by aiming the unit directly at his eyes and then triggering the 120-lumen beam by pressing the large button on the end.

2. Mont Blanc 'Meisterstuck' pen.
If you have been trained in the use of a Kubotan, the Mont Blanc Meisterstuck can be a devastating weapon. The pen is heavy, strong, and the pointed end makes it even more dangerous than the blunt end of a Kubotan. Both the pens and the SureFire flashlights can be ordered at Amazon.com. Expect to pay about $140 for the flashlight or $300 for the pen.

Additional information on more self-defense weapons is available in Dirty Tricks.