What sort of events? What to you mean by "the worse [sic] happens"? Street Mugging? Man-rape? Break-ins? what?

Monster has the right of it: the nature of the events is going to determine the level, range, and force of the self-defense gear. If it's gunfights, you're not going to live bringing a knife to them. Burglary or strongarm robbery, well, there you're talking knifework. If you're that kind of hardass. To be efficient at knifing somebody, you have to be damned mean, and efficiency is the core and essence of self-defense fighting.

A bat or baton-type object, the more innocent-looking the better, helps as a nonfirearm defense for your home or your vehicle, depending on where you need to defend against a threat. Under "baton" -- a 5-cell Mag-Lite. It's just long and heavy enough. Hold the lightbulb end and strike with the other end, using the bulb end as an aid to keeping your grip. You can also guard with this, gripping it at either end and parry/blocking with the midpart of the shaft. This thing hits like two tons of bricks, though, like a deadblow hammer, and if you menace policemen with it they will shoot -- because they know how hard it is to heal comminuted bone fractures. But I don't think the cops would be too annoyed if you crippled an attacker hitting him with a Mag-Lite. And they cost less than fifty dollars.

Factory fighter knives generally inhabit a bracket between $50-$100. Essentially, you want a thick blade and a small crossguard, like an Army surplus place's Ka-Bar. A folder is nice in its way for carry, but it takes mighty sturdy design to even approach a sheaf knife's strength. You'd like onehanded opening, and there are legal-'most-everywhere actions for this. Spyderco folders offer both strength and some models opening singlehanded. They also are very good edgeholders.

Switches are legal about nowhere, and even balisongs are harder to find than they were, though they are fun to learn to manipulate. However, mine's bitten me when I had a stupid moment. So watch it with these guys.

The cleaver I sell costs over a hundred. You can get cheaper, but ours hits like an axe -- and looks innocent to boot, being a piece of kitchen cutlery. Knocks frozen hamburger and frozen burritos right in half.

Lee: Did you know Kim carried a gun?
Abernathy: Yes. Now, do I approve? No. Do I know? Yes?
Kim: Look, I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but the world I live in, a bitch need a gun.
Abernathy: You can't get around the fact that people who carry guns, tend to get shot more than people who don't.
Kim: And you can't get around the fact that if I go down to the laundry room in my building at midnight enough times, I might get my ass raped.
Lee: Don't do your laundry at midnight.
Kim: Fuck that! I wanna do my laundry whenever the fuck I wanna do my laundry.
Abernathy: There are other things you can carry other than a gun. Pepper spray.
Kim: Uh, motherfucker tryna rape me? I don't wanna give him skin rash! I wanna shut that nigga down!
Abernathy: How about a knife at least?
Kim: Yeah, you know what happens to motherfuckers carry knives? They get shot! Look, if I ever become a famous actress, I won't carry a gun. I'll hire me a do-dirt nigga, and he'll carry the gun. And when shit goes down, I'll sit back and laugh, but until that day, it's Wild West, motherfucker!

-----------

Now that that's out of the way, a switch will get you jail time. Personal experience. So will a balisong (butterfly knife).

A knife is good, but you might want to consider a machete.
If you're not taking it out of the house, concealing it is no problem.

Check your local Army-Navy for different types of knives.
Ask them if the can get one for you.
Leave a contact number.
(If you're nervous about people knowing about it, get a prepaid cell.)
IF they ask why you want it, it's for cutting down small trees.
(The reason I say this is that if you tell them it's for home protection, the first thing they'll start thinking of is "If he hits someone with it, it'll get traced back to us, and the victim'll sue us......" and so on.)

Now, it was mentioned "move".
Good idea, but if you don't have funds, moving might not be an option right now.

A polypropylene bat (The Brooklyn Basher) is a nice option.
Aluminum bat.
Axe handle.
2 foot steel pipe.

www.CheaperThanDirt.com


Just remember, be careful.
Be aware of your surroundings.
Always have an escape plan.
Your stuff can be recovered or repurchased.
Your life, however....

An axe handle can be considered a weapon, get an axe.

poison-tipped umbrella

My truck is home to two (2) 5-cell Maglites. Hung on belt straps from door handles. Used for inspecting my truck in the dark. Maybe one or two other uses I don't talk about.
There is also a 2 lb sledge for freeing stuck things, big can of WD-40, a Leatherman pocket tool, a short loaded plastic club for banging on tires, 9 inch long stick air gauge for checking tire pressure, I smoke so there is a handful of lighters strewn about, a can of starter fluid to get that big diesel started on cold mornings, a dozen or so load straps with ratcheting buckles, an all-day sucker that I never seem to have the time to consume, a handful of keys on my ring that I cannot seem to remember where they go anymore (I really need to thin that ring down, someday. I'm NOT a janitor), two load bars on the back of my cab, sharing space with a push broom with a wood handle (for sweeping out trailers), a spare air line, some rope for tying down loose freight, an extra pair of boots (Marine combat boots with long laces) in case I ruin my usuals, rolls of quarters for laundry and vending machines (out of which I sometimes eat, unfortunately), sundry tools on a small, handled canvas bag, a piece of angle-iron with notches (so I can pull out nails left in my trailer floor), a grab handle on my muffler that I keep meaning to fix and a few other things that escape me at present.

Did I mention that weapons are forbidden on our trucks?

I have no weapons as per company policy...... or do I?

How about a junkyard dog, or at least a recording of one?

Great pun, lookout.

Use whatever you feel you will be able to use on another person. A tire-knocker or big-ass Maglite are good choices for me, specifically, because I'm not afrid of blunt-force somebody. Stabbings, though, are right out.

You can't go there and leave that hanging.

http://www.firstshowing.net/img/machete-article.jpg

move to a different 'hood?

If you're thinking of doing mortal damage to an attacker with a knife, understand the knife to the heart trick only works well in Hollywood. Ribcage and other stuff is hard to force a knife thru.

holy crap foot, thats as bad as getting rickrolled

Thanks for the advise.

I talked to my roommate and we are either going to get a bat or some sort of firearm.

good lord - get a bat or a big friggin stick - leave the knives and the firearms to those who are properly trained to use them.