Hello again and welcome back to the next installment of Unboxed Prepping brought to you by the team at GenXTalkin - on being prepared.
I’m your host, Matt Marshall and I’m here to remind you with preparedness comes comfort, with preparedness comes peace. Something we can all use a bit more of.
Well today I’m going to introduce you, our loyal listeners, to a special little tool for self protection. It’s called the Fast Strike Personal Safety Tool. And this is just a gem for self defense. We’ll drop the web site down in the show notes.
Before I go into the technical details, I’ll share a little story. Here in this little slice of the eastern seaboard, it is not easy to exercise your second amendment right. This is not a Shall Issue state, and I would say closer to a MIGHT issue state IF the decision makers are feeling good that day. The truth is it is not likely a normal person will ever get a concealed carry license without extensive, costly training classes and… wait for it… you must own a business!
So I’d been going through the CCW classes and our instructor was talking through how you can de-escalate situations so you don’t have to involve a deadly weapon. And out of the blue, he whips out this thing from his back pocket and shows a number of defensive tactics as well as attack surfaces. The basic point is, even in those situations in which you can’t carry your weapon of choice for personal protection, there are other non-lethal means of protection.
A quick disclaimer… Be careful when considering this and other weapons. You may live in a state where even non-lethal items like stun guns and telescoping asps can be illegal. So please, do your own homework for your own state… PSA is Complete...
Back to our fast strike personal safety tool. Also referred to as a tactical whip, this little beaut comes in at about 17 inches long including the hilt and the whip portion. It weighs only 3 ozs and will set you back about 20 bucks… and of course we love that it’s American Made!
The hilt itself has a really nice, surprisingly comfortable belt clip which allows the unit to be attached to a belt or a backpack. As well, it can be slightly rolled up into the back pocket and clipped in.
If you spend just a few moments on the web site, you’ll see some short videos on how it can be attached to your person, man or woman. As well, they show a number of different attack techniques. This is where it’s pretty interesting. Attack (or defense) one, of course, would be to use it like a whip. The videos they show have an example of the damage that’s done with just one strike to a guy’s back… wholly cow, that looks like it hurts!
If being attacked IRL (as the youths say) (that’s “in real life”, for us older folk), consider aiming for the face. In particular, aim right above the eyes. This could easily cause a head wound, and as you might guess, it will start to bleed… profusely... causing a lot of pain, and disruption to their eyesight, allowing you to get away.
Attack (or defense) number two, is featured in their videos as, using the butt of the hilt as a weapon, or as a safety tool to break a window. Now, as a weapon, it’s kindof like a Kubotan, at least from the perspective of hammerfist-type attacks. I’m a serious UFC fan, and I think one of the coolest strikes is the spinning back fist, because much of the time the opponent doesn’t see it coming. This weapon is perfect for this type of defense. If you imagine yourself walking down the street and someone tries to attack from behind. Quickly grab your Fast Strike and spin toward them with a back fist attack. This can really cause some damage, giving you a better opportunity to get home safely.
As a safety tool, the Fast Strike can be used to break glass with the hilt. Either for yourself if you’re trapped in a vehicle, or to get someone else out of a trapped vehicle. One clarification, I wouldn’t necessarily use this item to replace a more complete safety tool you should already have hanging in your vehicle. Mainly because the Fast Strike doesn’t provide a way to cut the car’s seat belt, if needed to escape the vehicle.
How do I use this tool? On any common day, depending on what I’m wearing, or what the purpose is of me being out and about, I’ll have one of two defensive tools. Either a very small canister of pepper gel, or I carry this Fast Strike tool, attached to the inside of my shorts or pants. Additionally, I’ll keep one or two of these in my truck with real quick access for both driver and passenger. I’m also section hiking the Appalachian Trail, and since I came to know of its existence, I’ve started carrying this with me as defense on the trail.
Add-it or Chuck-it… Now here’s the part of the episode where we talk about, if and how we might add this item to our bug out bags, or just chuck it, and not keep it at all. As you might guess, I’m a fan! So, yes, I keep one of these in every bug out bag I put together. It’s far too effective as a tool, not to mention cost effective. It’s super lightweight, so you wouldn’t even feel it. Two additional points I would make here are first, this tool (weapon) almost becomes invisible to others. So it provides quite a bit of surprise. Second, it may be impractical to carry an actual firearm in many cases, yet personal safety is of utmost importance. So why not!?
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