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This is by far, a Prepper's worst nightmare - having to protect one's family or self. The harsh reality is that if the SHTF, it may be a scenario that could come knocking at your door.
I always encourage people to avoid lethal weapons (if at all possible), but I also advise that a person meet the challenge with a "superior force". This can be done with a larger group than that of the intruder or it could mean a more powerful and devastating weapon of self-defense.
One of the cheapest and powerful self-defense weapons is the simple baseball bat. It doesn't take a lot of strength to produce a damaging blow to your opponent. Even a modest blow can cause severe trauma to both muscle and bone.
Using a bat as a Self-Defense Weapon doesn't require much skill. You don't need to spend time on the range or in a gym. Instead, it requires some understanding of what damage a bat can do and how to put an end to the conflict with minimal injuries to yourself and your opponent.
When using the bat as a non-lethal weapon, one should focus on a few areas; a blow to the arms can not only produce intense pain, but also cause the assailant to loose grip on his weapon. A blow to the leg will slow the person down, while producing intense pain. A jab to the stomach will cause the person to loose their breath. A blow to the upper torso region can easily break one or two ribs, and if you've ever had a broken rib, you know how painful that can be and how long the pain will last. At all costs, avoid the head. This could do more than merely hurting the person.
Our ancient ancestors managed to fend off enemies and even put food on the table with a rendition of the baseball bat. To them it was the "club", fashioned from a limb or root from a tree. They managed to produce a very useful weapon, but today, we have a much wider selection of materials available to us.
Since you're not looking to increase your batting average, selection is a rather simple process and is based on a few points; length, weight, composition and price.
Length
Adult bats range from 30"-34". Although it is true, that you'd have a longer reach with an adult bat, it becomes a clumsy weapon when things get busy and you're in a very close proximity to your assailant.
T-Ball and Youth bats will have a 2 1/4" barrel diameter and the lengths will range from 24" to 32". A bat in this range will give you something that anyone in your family or group will be able to use effectively, regardless of their size or strength.
Additionally, when you have to deploy your baseball bat against an assailant, you are going to be "up close & personal". If your opponent is armed with a knife, his extended reach is limited to the length of the blade, so almost any bat will give you the advantage of a longer reach. Those few inches can mean the difference between life and death.
Weight
As a general rule, a heavier bat should have more of an impact on what ever it hits. The only problem is in what I call the "Swing speed vs reaction time". Call it physics or just common sense, but both will tell you that if you use the same amount of force for a light object that you would for a heavy object - the lighter one will move at a greater speed. Have you ever seen a boxing match where the boxer ducks out of the way of a punch? The same is true with the swing from a heavy bat. "Swing speed vs reaction time"
Length and weight combine for peak performance. A longer bat gives you greater reach, but that longer bat will be heavier, and the extra weight can slow you down.
Composition
What is the bat made of? When one thinks of a baseball bat, they automatically picture a wooden bat, but today we have a selection of materials to choose from. Each renders a very strong bat.
100% Wood bats - made of a hard wood material.
100% Alloy bats – made completely of aircraft grade alloys
100% Composite bats – made of composite fibers
Half & Half bats – bats that have a composite handle, and aluminum, alloy, or hybrid barrel
Hybrid Bats – Bats that have combined two different materials, such as alloy with carbon
Composite Baseball Bats
The Composite, Half & Half, and Hybrid are known as high-end bats. This means that they carry a hefty price tag, and since this is a self-defense item, there isn't any need to spend a lot of money to get a tool that will do the job.
- Metal vs. Wood -
Metal baseball bats significantly outperformed wooden bats, according to a recent study by a group of Brown University bio-engineers, confirming a belief widely held by players and coaches. The average speed of a ball off the fastest bat, a metal model, was 93.3 mph; the average off the slowest bat, a wooden model, was 86.1 mph. Only 2 percent of hits made with wooden bats exceeded 100 mph, while 37 percent of the hits with the fastest metal bat were more than 100 mph, according to Joseph J. Crisco, associate professor of Orthopaedics at the Brown Medical School. The findings were published in the October 2002 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
A Wood bat is usually the most economical. These can be found at any retailer that offers Sporting Goods. The only problem is that since they are made of wood, they can be broken.
"Remember, a wooden bat is a 100 percent natural product," says Bill Williams of Hillerich & Bradsby, makers of the Louisville Slugger bats used by Major League Baseball. The bat makers evaluate the wood from the exterior, but they cannot look inside the bat for minute structural flaws.
Hillerich & Bradsby inspects each piece of wood in the form of a 40-inch-long, 3-inch-diameter piece called a billet. "The best grade goes into the professional bats," Williams says. Those are billets with straight, evenly spaced grain, with no pin knots or knotholes, and a consistent color with no dark spots. Despite these indications, it's possible that an inferior billet may pass muster because its flaws are not detectable from its exterior. Sometimes even a good piece of wood will snap. Bats usually break in the handle area, where the diameter is smallest.
The Alloy bat was first introduced in the early 1970's. The principal metal used then was aluminum. Today, the alloy bat has remained pretty much the same, except for some minor adjustments to the amounts of zinc, magnesium, scandium, nickel and other elements. The end result is a strong bat. One that is very difficult to break, and since the alloy bat does not rust, it needs little care and should last you for many, many years, even under (heaven forbid) hard use.
The final criteria for choosing your club - I mean baseball bat, is the price. Even if, "money is no object", you still need to remember what you're going to be reserving your bat for. You don't need to spend a lot to get something that you can depend on to do the job.
It's not uncommon to find a T-Ball or Youth Alloy bat in the $15.00 - $25.00 range. With this small investment and a little practice, you can feel a bit more confident. Plus, if we should suddenly revert back to the Stone Age, you'll have the perfect tool to thump a dinosaur and put dinner on the table. Dino BBQ, anyone?
Speaking of which, if you're in the NY area, stop by the Dinosaurbarbque.
http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/
