Do you carry a weapon when you run alone at night?

OP, if you feel safer carrying a gun while running, you should do it. Get something you can handle with ease and practice to become proficient at unholstering and firing it quickly, with the intent to kill your attacker.

My daughter ran for a school with an urban campus in the South. A woman - not a member of the team - was attacked and raped a few blocks from my daughter's dorm. Reports stated she was listening to an iPod and the attacker came up behind her.

Stay alert to your surroundings and if you decide to carry a gun, be prepared to shoot to kill.

no name wrote:

I carry a lethal weapon otherwise known as my thumbs. I can launch any attackers eyeballs clear out of their skull with relative ease.

How often have you done this?

Use your sixth sense...I once had a guy break into my apartment when I was a young single woman living alone. Luckily, I awoke by the sound of (the finite noise of a slack/jacket rubbing against one another) to find the stranger coming towards my bed and asked him "WTH are you doing here?" with my barely spoken/paralyzed scared voice. Apparently, I must have scared him as much as he did me because he left and did me no harm.

Regardless, it was ONE of the most scariest event in my life--among many others.

Anyways, while running, I've had strange encounters of fools trying to scare me while in their car yelling out "Hey you"...prior to sunrise and/or during daylight. I don't take any chances...I immediately put up my guard/senses and avoid the situation or constantly think ways to protect myself.

My weapon is my sharp car key that I carry between my fingers and my voice to yell and my body to "fight". In other words, if you're going to attack me then you picked the wrong person to do so...

Killing an silently is a tall order, but a quick look at an anatomy chart will show that the larynx is an easy enough target--providing you can make a stealthy approach, sneak up on your victim, and catch him unaware. Once that's accomplished, grasp his hair as close to the scalp as possible and yank his head back while using your Ka-Bar combat knife to make a lateral cut across his throat. Make sure you sever both the carotid artery and jugular vein while piercing the windpipe, and press hard! The larynx is a tough, rubbery piece of tissue. Cool?

A woman running alone at night should definitely carry mace and also learn how to kick or grab a guy hard in the gonads. There are a lot of creeps out there. Also, try not to run the same routes all the time. We've had incidents where I live more than once.

Doesn't carrying a weapon on your leg screw up your stride? I'd think you'd be better off wearing a belt or something.

Don't be an idiot, run at some other time of the day or get a treadmill.

I think a lot of depends on where you live. I feel like most cities / suburban areas have relatively safe places to run at night. I feel there are downtown areas in most cities that are populated and safe (although don't go a few blocks in the wrong direction). Or like a busy road with a sidewalk and street lights would be relatively safe.

I'm a guy so I don't worry too much about this stuff - but I would never want a girl I knew to go running in a rural place at dark or in certain neighborhoods.

Sometimes driving to a place to run at night is a good solution.

Machete

Tom Longboat wrote:

Another reason I am glad I live in Canada....this thread is amazing. A person recommending you carry a handgun while running. Is this what the US has become?

Yes. That and you have universal healthcare. And your university fees are not as expensive. You also have less poor people. Blacks in Canada are 2.5% of the population vs 13% in the USA. The US is a very backward country. The US should have followed the way of Canada and not revolted. Independence was a mistake. USA = on par with Brazil/Mexico.

usasa wrote:

Tom Longboat wrote:

Another reason I am glad I live in Canada....this thread is amazing. A person recommending you carry a handgun while running. Is this what the US has become?

Yes. That and you have universal healthcare. And your university fees are not as expensive. You also have less poor people. Blacks in Canada are 2.5% of the population vs 13% in the USA. The US is a very backward country. The US should have followed the way of Canada and not revolted. Independence was a mistake. USA = on par with Brazil/Mexico.

Ok. You live in Canada. BFD. So, people who live in areas that have a history of randumb violent crimes should not protect themselves? Really? That's what passes for intelligence where you live? Sorry, I prefer to be the big bad dumb 'merican hick who protects himself and his family from violent sociopath predators. BTW, I don't carry a fire arm when I run. I don't need to.

I was giving answers/advice to a serious question. The OP lives where a violent rapist has been operating and was possibly singled out as a victim. She is concerned for her personal safety and ASKED ABOUT CARRYING A FIRE ARM. Fire arms are serious and no one should consider owning or carrying one without proper education and training.

If some one points a gun to your head and says,

"YOU WANNA PLAY GAMES?!"

Don't be so quick to turn them away, they might have an xbox!

XBOX + Skyrim = ?

I like to use Extreme Conditioning, Lightwieght Pro, a throwing knife, and a lightwieght machine pistol, possibly akimbo.

Or you could offer the advice

1. Don't run alone

2. Don't run out of sight of people.

3. Don't run at night

4. Run on a treadmill.

Carrying a weapon is serious sh!t. Handguns are made for one purpose - killing people.

Have you ever had a gun in your face? Its an amazing feeling...your desire is to just get away, not seek revenge. (A pleasant memory of mine of going to high school in the US)

Have you ever been the victim of any crime? Most people who carry handguns "for protection" have never missed a hot meal in their lives, let alone been confronted by a dangerous person. Are you among those people?

There are dangerous people everywhere. I am surprised the response has been, "Confront the crazy/dangerous person". That just doesn't make sense. Who would give that advice?

redux wrote: Fire arms are serious and no one should consider owning or carrying one without proper education and training.

The rational answer is, "Don't carry one". All the time and effort you spend to buy it (expensive) and keep it safe (mentally burdensome) practice using it (time consuming) when you could just let the police do their job, and run in a safe place.

I don't get it...what is the blood lust for confrontation?!

When i run at night i switch from trainers to steel-toe boots. The weight training is totally worth it and i can engage in combat with just about anyone. I would say my VO2 max and B.A. rating have both increased substantially since i started doing this.

Just saw this. You describe running pretty well.