Ergo, brass knuckles with blades sticking out of them are the answer.

This, somehow, reminds me of the recent presentation I did for my presentation class on "How to Defend Yourself from Vampires." I eventually decided that, as long as we assume that any blessed liquid qualifies as "Holy Water," then a blessed can of mace is the most convenient defense weapon for your average defenseless young pretty thing that likes to walk in alleys.

Protects from either muggers OR vamps.

I totally got an 'A' on that presentation, too.

In other news, I did not watch a movie today. But I strongly considered doing so.

Sean, I was talking tested principles. Some of which I've tested myself.

I asked a people at the krav centre, and I got looked at real funny. And told "Knife." with that why-are-you-asking-me-a-silly-question? uptick at the end.

These are people whose opinion on combat I trust. I don't know if my recommendation counts, because you don't trust my opinion, but there you go ... the krav-skewed opinion.

Speaking from personal experience, I think the most dangerous thing in Plei's kitchen is the coffee maker.

You're still really kind of missing my point ita.

You spoke to a bunch of people who really know what they are doing - something that makes a thousand times more difference than which of two or more possible objects are being used as a weapon in their hand.

People who don't know what they are doing, they're inexperience is probably more of a factor than the balance of the hammer or edge of the blade.

It seems to me that almost every other factor in a given situation besides which weapon you're holding in your hand is a more important factor than the weapon in question.

Crack the bottle wrong, and, rather than a useful weapon, you'll end up with a palmful of glass shards.

I will teach you how to properly do this, someday, Holli.

But you're very right about the shards. If an attacker breaks into your home, I bet you're likely to be barefoot and he's wearing shoes.

So anything creating a slippery or sharp surface, well, you've just fucked your own footwork worse than his.

Against an unarmed attacker, I'd want a knife, or mine own two fists, and my legs.

I did get attacked with a knife once. Threatened more like it, pressed against my belly in my own car. So I jumped out of the car. Had it been a gun, or a hammer, I'd have done the same thing.

Escape is the best option, if you can, methinks. I figured my chances were better on the pavement. Or at least, if run down by my own car, better than stabbed and raped by that fuckwad carjacking coward. At least I was choosing.

But you were talking about the better weapon, Sean, in the hands of an inexperienced attacker. Given that there's a huge degree of physics involved in using a hammer in order to hit your target, including physical strength, a still opponent that doesn't fuck your trajectory during the downswing, and that the attacker can grab the hammer from you without causing injury to himself, I think the point is proven that the hammer totally sucks in comparison to the knife.

You can slash haphazardly with the knife, stab with precision, slice. The attacker can't grab the weapon from you without causing injury to himself. An attacker can determine how the hammer will fall and adjust, duck, decreasing injury, tackling you, and then you've lost any advantage the hammer had because you can't then stab him in the back or orm with the hammer. It's heavy, you probably dropped it, anyway. Same with your brick.

The argument is really, "what's better? Sharp, or heavy?"

Sharp wins.

It's times like this that I think, "The Krav people would be so PROUD of me."

But you were talking about the better weapon, Sean,

Actually, in that regard I was never trying to argue that the hammer was the better weapon, just that it wasn't as usless as ita was making it out to be. I felt she unfairly maligned a perfectly useable weapon.

No, you were arguing that they were equal, but you're right, you weren't arguing that they were better.

Actually, the craziest part of your argument is that there is somehow less inherent wildness in the swing of a knife than there is in the swing of a hammer.

And there is less inherent wildness, as stated above, because the knife is a natural feeling extension of your hand. It's as precise as you are. The hammer, all depends on how you hold it, and your physical strength and endurance. Can you keep swinging? Can he grab it from you?

There's far more variables in the hammer, given it's weight and that you're using an artficial lever with a weight on it that fucks with your ability to judge both distance and trajectory....well, the knife is going to be more accurate due to its balance, and that you're the lever. You know how much your arm weighs, you don't have to account for added weight and a moving target and all that other stuff. The knife goes where your fist goes. You're a better judge of your size and you don't have to do the math to cause injury, which means your judgment is better. A hammer is going to be unnatural in your hands, causing more wildness in the swing. The heaviness of it changes your balance, especially on the upswing, since your arm is stretched back, and your back is probably arched back as well to reach back further to create greater momentum. You're now in a fucked up, open position wherein all I have to do is get low and tackle, and you're down.

There's also the factor that most of us use knives every day, not so much with the hammer.

So her argument isnt so crazy, as it is sense-making.

I've gotta come in on the knife side. I'm fairly big for a woman, but not so big and strong that I'd feel at all confident about being able to defend myself with a hammer. There are many places you can put a knife into someone that don't require a lot of strength and end the fight, and the quicker you end the fight the better.

Now, if I'm having to levy a militia of untrained farmers, store clerks, and IT professionals to take down the government in the event of a Republican victory in November, I'd want them carrying hammers or clubs. That's the way to arm your plebes.

Summary - personal one-on-one defense: knife. Having to equip a bunch of untrained men quickly for max effectiveness: hammer. Having this discussion at all: priceless.

Do I need to make a nod to the topic by mentioning the hysterical sledgehammer fight in Streets of Fire?