[Urbane Guerrilla]

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.