Take that !!!!

[Prepaday]

My son was shooting me with his water pistol when I had a thought....Can you fill one of those long rage powerful water pistols with something that would blind/harm someone who was attacking you?
Could I fire something from a caterpult that could help defend myself? Shards of glass maybe? Does anyone have any alternative means of defense other than shop bought wea pons?
I'm trying to think back to how the Romans ETC defended places, moats etc.

[NorthernRaider]

Dunno about water pistol they are likely to blow spray back at you, but as for Catapults and sling shoots if you look in the hunting section W & C has done numerous articles on using them as self defence kit.

[Hrusai]

its easy enough to make your own bow and arrows, and with practise you can make something exceptionally deadly!

but yes there are lots of things, the easiest is just training your throwing abilities, getting more powerful and accurate!

as for actual tools to do so, you can use anything as a potential weapon, even car keys, just put it in your fist like its a push knife, that'll do some damage!

you could fire catapults, slings, use a bit of stick as a spear thrower, or traditionally an atlatl

spears, homemade crossbows, etc. etc.

the possibilities are endless, essentially anything that can hit with some force will do, even if it simply makes an attacker recoil it'll buy you a few seconds, obviously the more damaging the better, shards of glass would cut too and afford you even more time to get away.

you could get a water pistol to fire something flammable and have a lit match after the nozzle but i honestly wouldnt recommend it at all, the pressure behind it is nothing like powerful enough, and if the water pistol's tank got eaten away by whatever chemical you use, it could result in a nasty situation.....vinegar might work though, although long term it would eat away the parts, but get some vinegar in your eye and it would definately hurt....alternatively you could do a homemade take on pepper spray, either using simple chilli powder or if you want something really powerful, grow yourself some dorset nagas!...sun dry it, crush it down to a fine powder, mix it till its properly dissolved in water, and shoot that....the chilli powder will irritate eyes quite alot, but the naga should have them crying and rolling around on the floor ...but i would take caution with any of those approaches myself.

the single best defensive tool you have though, is your own body. you can train it up and make yourself able to take down someone twice the size, if your interested in defence look into martial arts, cliche yes, but also very effective...personally im planning on taking up eskrima in the next year or so, the philipino martial art that revolves around knives, sticks, improvised weapons and simply damaging an opponent so badly they cannot fight anymore.

[Prepaday]

Next week, I am going into the garden to try and make a bow and arrow, My other half thinks I'm barking mad and to be honest, Getting sick of the mocking from him grrrr.
I want something I can fire so to speak from my bedroom window in case the looters come, I will be bugging in for a while should TSHTF as I have no where else to go.
I don't get out much and this town has nothing in the way of woods or fields.

[Hrusai]

ok well heres a little bit of reading material that should be useful!

http://www.primitiveways.com/bow_and_arrow.html

http://www.primitiveways.com/sapling_bow.html

http://www.primitiveways.com/arrow_straightening.html

well to be honest most of this guys articles on bows xD

http://www.primitiveways.com/#anchor696518

theres plenty more information out there, im fairly sure there are more than a few older threads on the forum about this sort of thing
just make sure you dont use any string thats stretchy, it wont work, and non cured wood will generally deform rather quickly (i used to make alot of bows when i was a kid )


if he keeps mocking, just punch him in his fat head xD that tends to stop ribbing where i come from!...

...also try using google maps and google earth, and the streetview function, if you dont go out much, or dont have much transport, its a fabulous way to survery the local area and pre plan routes, scanning for population clusters and visible water and wildlife even!

[Tibbs735]

Make some formaldehyde or chloroform. They will burn like F*** if they get in the eyes or mouth. Better yet, buy a spray nozzle and attach it to the smallest water bottle you can find. That way you can focus the squirt into a single burst, not a mist that will blow back in your face.

[Skvez]

(2 August 2012, 15:30)Hrusai Wrote: you could get a water pistol to fire something flammable and have a lit match after the nozzle but i honestly wouldnt recommend it at all.

I agree with Hrusai that this is a bad idea. I heard of a child who filled a water pistol with petrol to make a flame-thrower.
The plastic water pistol slowly dissolved in the petrol and the child discovered they were holding a ball of sticky burning petrol, they were very lucky not to loose their hand.
Perhaps adding pepper to the water to make it like (weak) pepper spray?
Filling it with urine might be enough to use as a deterrent if you just want people to stay away from you.

Quote:Could I fire something from a caterpult that could help defend myself? Shards of glass maybe?

It's hard to beat the typical stone or ball-bearing that a catapult normally fires.

If you check "the slingshot channel" on you-tube you can see just how lethal a catapult can be. I also like the idea of multi-fire slingshots so you can fire a warning shot and keep your target in sights and aware they are under threat without having to 'stop' to reload.
But then I do like to give a warning first. Some people on this forum are 'shoot first' sort of people.

[Hrusai]

(2 August 2012, 17:46)Skvez Wrote: Filling it with urine might be enough to use as a deterrent if you just want people to stay away from you.

i tihnk filling ANYTHING with urine will keep people away from you xD

but slingshots are probably the way to go, pretty compact, easy to carry, and when your good with them, they can be bloody lethal....not to mention be used to hunting!

[bigpaul]

(2 August 2012, 18:00)Hrusai Wrote:

(2 August 2012, 17:46)Skvez Wrote: Filling it with urine might be enough to use as a deterrent if you just want people to stay away from you.

i tihnk filling ANYTHING with urine will keep people away from you xD

but slingshots are probably the way to go, pretty compact, easy to carry, and when your good with them, they can be bloody lethal....not to mention be used to hunting!

store the urine for a while before using..it goes almost crystaline, did it about 13 years ago was going to pour it under some prats door but changed my mind at the last moment!

[Bucket]

try using vinegar, especially in the face- keeps animals (and locals) off my garden.