5 Deadly Everyday Weapons Used in Desperation

At the end of last month, I reviewed 5 of the deadliest makeshift weapons I came across as I worked on Excluded & Ashland's Asylum. However, I felt I dwelled too much on (the questionably ingenious) prison-escape weapons and not enough on the everyday items people have used in the desperate name of survival.  For the most part, this entry is that: 5 Deadly Everyday Weapons Used in Desperation. 

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cROSSBOW

All right. Quite obviously this crossbow is not something you come across in most people's living rooms or almost anywhere for that matter. A few people pointed out the crossbow to me after the previous weapon post. To be honest, I thought about originally including it in the last post, but I felt it made too many top 10 lists.  On second thought, though, this thing is pretty gnarly and worth reviewing. 

OK. That's the last inmate creation on this list.

nOVELTY sWORD

Jesse Livingston of Tulsa heard a suspicious sound outside of his room one night. That sound turned out to be a burglar sneaking into his home. 

Maybe it was the only apparent equalizer in the room, or perhaps he underwent fierce deliberation, but Livingston snatched his novelty sword and approached the intruder, giving him an excellent whack at first sight.  As it turns out, those novelty swords can be quite useful in dire situations. 

oVEN cLEANER

You know those everyday cleaners and chemicals around the house you keep stored up high or locked away from small hands and pets? The same reason you don't keep them out in the open in those situations is almost the very reason these chemicals can be your best go-to self defense weapon. 

The story goes that employees from El Calor Taqueria Mexican Restaurant were confronted by a robber minutes before closing time. The employees battled with the robber for awhile before they ultimately took him down by spraying oven cleaner at his face. 

The robber suffered chemical burns, and the employees held him down until he was arrested by Salt Lake policy officers. So when in doubt, pick your poison. 

gOLF cLUBS

In California one Wednesday night, two men walked into a jewelry store and approached the owner about a repair mere minutes before one of them pressed a stun gun against his neck. 

Somehow, the owner managed to slip free long enough to reach the back of his store and trigger the security systems. The two men soon caught back up to the owner and tried to incapacitate him with the stun gun. In the midst of the commotion, the owner was able to snatch his lucky nine iron and begin swinging for both men, who soon fled from the scene. 

nOT A dAMN tHING

Sometimes, self-defense is a matter of creativity. 

To end this list, I want to cover one of my favorite stories about an 88-year-old woman who used her noggin and a little trickery to shake off an intruder before he could abscond with anything of value. 

Unfortunately, the woman had forgotten to place a chair in front of her door as a makeshift lock, and the intruder easily slipped in the house. When he reached behind her chair, he started to stab at her head. That's when the elderly woman started to reach over and ask, "Where's my gun?" 

The intruder didn't take a gamble and wait to see if she really had a gun. It was enough to send him running. 

That's all for this list. I'm not sure if I'll be covering this sort of thing again . . . unless I run across some truly wild stories. Feel free to point out anything you think should have been on these last 2 lists in the comments. 

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