Personal Safety

From some time now San Jose has seen some increase on crimes, violent crimes, not too along a clerk at Chek n Go was shot in the head when the place was being robbed around 1 pm, this happen two blocks from my house later the same week the neighborhood across mine was evacuated because someone had bomb making material, last week a woman was groped and almost sexually attacked in a hiking trail two miles away from my house, yesterday a woman was sexually attacked at San Jose State University, this got me worried since my wife attends some classes at night.

My neighborhood used to be real quiet in the past, but with the economy the way it is has allowed a lot of people that didn't have the means to move in, I don't like to be prejudicial but sometime you can tell by the way people carry themselves that they are up to no good.

This got me thinking on what We can do to protect ourselves when We are out there, since California sucks and We can not carry firearms to protect ourselves what other means are there for the law abiding citizen.

Pepper Spray.
http://www.safetygirl.com/pepper-spray-keychain-mace.html
This is something that at least every woman should own, my wife carries something similar but hers has a blue dye that it takes weeks to wash off, in case of the attacker getting away He can be identify later.

Knives.
Although I disapprove the use of any knife as a defensive weapon sometimes just brandishing one can make an attacker think twice about engaging you.
One of my favorite knives is the Kershaw Cyclone, it has assisted opening, a 3.75 inch blade, when you deploy the blade it makes a very intimidating noise when it locks up.

Also I carry a Ka-Bar TDI LDK knife attached to my boot laces, this is a last resort knife, the only function is to defend yourself.

This is pretty much all the legal options you have to defend yourself in California, the best self defense is try to avoid the confrontation and call the police.

As it goes trust your instincts, if you feel awkward or you feel uneasy the best thing is to listen to yourself and keep safe.