Personal Safety: How to Protect Yourself in Public

Personal safety is critical, and it can be difficult to protect yourself in public places where certain self- defense weapons may be illegal or restricted. Plus, you risk injuring other people, as well as the bad guy, if you aren’t careful with your self-defense strategies. The great news is that you can learn how to protect yourself without making it unsafe for the people around you.

Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is a critical aspect of personal safety. You must always remain aware of your surroundings. You don’t need to be hyped up to the point that you wear yourself out with a constant flow of adrenaline. However, stay focused enough to recognize dangerous people and situations.

Many self-defense instructors teach you how to engage a threat, but they don’t instruct on avoidance techniques. Often you can avoid danger altogether when you know the signs to look for. Assailants often use the element of surprise to catch people off-guard, but, if you’re constantly vigilant, you’ll make an attacker’s job more difficult.

Look for people that seem out of place or suspicious like a few men wearing long coats in the summer. Or, note the only other vehicle in a dark parking lot is the panel van running idle next to yours. We are often taught to be macho and stand and fight, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with running from confrontation.

When our body’s natural self-defense fight or flight kicks in, it’s okay to choose flight, as long as you do it in a calm and logical manner. You don’t want to panic because you won’t think rationally when you need your brain the most.

Exercise situational awareness because it may not come naturally to you and isn’t a skill that you can practice. Simply seek to remain aware of the people around you and your environment.

Confidence

Being confident is as critical as equipping yourself with the right tools for personal safety. Attackers prey on victims afraid to stand up for themselves confidently. You must put on an air of confidence even if you’re terrified inside. Glancing away or appearing flustered and nervous could make you an attractive target for a criminal.

Often robbers simply brandish a weapon to intimidate you, so don’t look afraid. Stand your ground and protect yourself. However, if it goes south and you’re marked as a target for a robbery, give them what they want. Money and credit cards are replaceable, but you are not. They may simply take the items and leave. If they stay to inflict more harm, you may need to resort to your secret self-defense weapon to gain the upper hand with the element of surprise.

Self Defense Weapons

Yes, we’re bringing personal safety weapons and tools back in play, but the more tools you put in your security toolbox, the better. There are a variety of self-defense products on the market besides firearms, such as pepper and OC spray, tasers and stun guns, extendable batons, tactical flashlights, self-defense key rings, and more. So, there are plenty of options other than carrying a gun, which poses a threat to the perpetrator as well as other people in the area.

Some people aren’t comfortable carrying a firearm or even a taser or stun gun. That’s okay as long as you carry something with you in case someone confronts you, and avoidance isn’t an option. Unfortunately, sometimes it may be necessary to stand and fight. You’ll need a tool other than your bare hands. Just make sure whatever weapon or tool you choose to carry is legal in your jurisdiction.

Select a self-defense weapon or tool that you are comfortable carrying and can use. It won’t do you any good to carry something for personal safety if you’re afraid to use it or can’t wield it comfortably. There are plenty of options available that come in all shapes and sizes, so the perfect self-defense weapon for you is out there.

There is a right way and a wrong way to approach self-defense. The wrong way is to charge head on into a fight that you could have avoided completely, with a weapon you don’t know how to use. Most people need to practice with their self-defense tool often to get a feel for it.

It’s also really hard to use a weapon for self-defense if you don’t even pay attention to your surroundings. The best advice anyone can give you is to always remain aware of what’s going on around you and to practice avoidance. Fighting an assailant should be the last thing you do if you want to escape injury or even death.