in-flight improvised weapons

[eyeballz]

DR. Martin boots. 100% legal and reliable, and effective.

[GSB]

Empty can of soda: crimp the center and work it back and forth a few times to fatigue the metal, then rip the can in two. That metal edge is VERY sharp. You can palm the top/bottom of the can safely and use it as a nice slashing weapon.

[imadork]

-- the overhead compartment doors or lavatory doors would make nice shields.
-- the oxygen tank or fire extinguisher would make nice impact weapons
-- lavatory faucets would make nice metal knuckles
-- airfone(tm) would make a great blackjack
-- bottles from the galley could be broken into shards

[Shodan]

Zap 'em with the on-board defibulator.

Shodan

[CWL]

Just came back from a trip where I had 3 carabiners clipped onto the outside of my day pack/carry-on luggage. Wasn't quesioned even once on the 4 separate planes I rode on, though I did have my shoes x-rayed twice.

They'd make good knuckledusters, or can be used to connect my leather belt to my cluster of keys for a flail weapon.

[CMichael]

I'm not sure whether OTMG Jr. has a point or not, but the disrobing of the females is certainly worth a shot.<<

I agree, but the topic here is self-defense

[M1911]

I'm not sure whether OTMG Jr. has a point or not, but the disrobing of the females is certainly worth a shot.

I agree, but the topic here is self-defense

It certainly is. If my wife got wind of my trying that, I'd definitely be in need of self defense

M1911

[Bogie]

Guys, airplanes are probably the safest places to be. Passengers have pretty much learned that a "victim" mentality will get them killed, and I suspect that the next "real" hijacker will end up in pieces.

HOWEVER, there are numerous "Unarmed Victim" zones that one may consider. Was at a mall the other day with the girlfriend. We were chatting, and I remarked that large public places with crowds made me nervous. She wondered why. I told her that there were too few entrances/exits, and that a half dozen terrorists with handheld weaponry could likely successfully herd the majority of the shoppers (a few hundred) into a central place, and kill a large number of 'em before the police even knew that they had a problem. I think she started thinking.

[Gomez]

I always have a flashlight with me, flying or not. One of the high speed SureFires works great as a distraction and as a pocket stick. And of course a bright blue or red MiniMagLite ($10 at a Wally World near you) was designed to work as a Kubaton and works very well as a pocket stick.

But, of course, what will always make the difference is your mindset, focused aggression and an absolute refusal to give up.

Someone once relayed a "mindset story" to me, they said it was an old Celtic tale. Anyway, the gist of it is this: The young, unbloodied soldier asked the old, battle hardened warrior "what was it like?", "How do you know what to do?" and hundreds of other questions. The old warrior responded, "Go into every battle having decided that if the enemy should cut off your head, you must pick up your head, tuck it under your arm, and destroy the one that did this to you."

Now, I've probably gotten the story a little wrong, but the message still comes through, I think. MINDSET. MINDSET. MINDSET.


Gomez

[M1911]

On a serious note regarding disrobing females, remember that the a number of the terrorists that hijacked the planes on 9/11 hung around in nudie bars and drank alcohol. They would not have been any more distracted by a naked woman than you or I.

M1911

[fignozzle]

I was at a gun show here in God's country over the weekend, and came across a bin full of one piece molded kydex knives, about 6 inches long, selling for 3 bucks apiece.
On closer examination, they had no really effective cutting edge (though you might be able to change that with a file or dremel), but the wicked spear-shaped point made them a very effective stabbing/gouging/ripping weapon.

When I saw them, I immediately thought of this post; since they are not metal, they'd go right through a detector/x-ray in a boot, planner, briefcase, or backpack.

Could work for the badguys, too...but hey, if everybody's carrying, the playing field's level, right?

Add the 'No Victims' mindset, and those BG's are in for a hell of a flight. Or fight. Or both.

Anybody else seen these?

[Bogie]

I'd have it coated with a good grade of lubricant, because if you get caught with it past the airport security zone...

[vulcan]

Hi, Lots of interesting ideas, but I think the most effective weapon is realization of the situation & the consequences. You might get cut/injured but the alternatives are a lot worse. The first 2 plane's passengers & pilots thought it was a highjacking & acted according to the airline's policy( compliance). The third plane's passengers did the right thing knowing of the terrorist's intentions. The sheer numbers of unarmed strong willed people taking action is more effective than any improvised weapon in my opinion. nuke their ass take their gas!

[Justin]

I always thought that an X-acto knife would be really easy to get onto a plane. Just fill a pocket of your carryon bag with lots of metallic pens/pencils, and then stick the X-acto in with them.
For added camouflage, you might even stick a metal pen-cap onto the X-acto.

GSB-
I was also thinking of the split soda can technique, too.

Of course, I think that Bogie is right. It's unlikely that there will be another series of hijackings that are as orchestrated as 9|11.

Assuming that there's a chance of another attack, it will be in a different way. Drizzt recently posted a link to an article that critiqued the Al Qaeda training tapes, and it seemed that they were gearing up more towards attacks in buildings, schools, banks, etc.

[Gomez]

Since someone mentioned the al Qaeda training tape, I'll go ahead and toss this in; the review of the al Quaeda training tape that is making the rounds and is being attributed to everyone from "government alalysts" to "Army sources at Ft Benning" to "Mickey Mouse and the mousesketeers" was done by Mr. John Holschen of Insights Training Center (www.insightstraining.com). Holschen retired in '99 after a career in the US Army Special Forces. His critique of the tape has been making the rounds on the internet for some time and has recently been used in several news stories without attribution.

Here are a few links to the review:

http://blackwaterusa.com/btw/article...sions0715.html

http://www.staysafestreets.com/tip38.htm

https://mail.lsit.ucsb.edu/pipermail...ne/002891.html

Some give credit, some are silent and some claim the work is theirs.

Anyway, everyone should read John's assessment. Knowledge is power and forewarned is forearmed.

[illuminatus99]

I like the idea of naked flight attendants. we should write to congress.

[pbarrick]

My favorite carry-on weapons would be a pair of Doc Martin's and a Surefire E2e flashlight. You get a distraction device that doubles as an impact weapon and two shod feet to use for stomping/kicking.

[wingnutx]

I just got done flying across country, to my 2 weeks of active duty and back. The only thing they found questionable was a large socket in my carry-on(which would go into my extra pair of socks as a bashing implement), and I always had to have my jump boots x-rayed. I had several carabiners clipped to the handle & zipper of my bag. One screener thought that my welding helmet and gloves were riot-gear, which is pretty pathetic for anyone involved in security.

I was chosen for 'random' search on every single leg of my flights.

On my last leg, one of the flight crew came out of the cockpit and assisted the flight attendants.