The ultimate personal attack alarm thread

[css3456]

Thanks, Lucy, for the idea to research this. I looked at previous posts, but didn't find particular models/features that would be a good idea to look for before buying one.

Any suggestions from WGs who use these? Which one to buy, how to use it, etc.?

[amy]

This might be helpful.

I think you could be in danger of putting far too much faith in these, to be honest - they're good for momentarily shocking an attacker and hopefully giving you the chance to get away, but I can't be the only person who has read numerous reports over the years from testers who have tried setting these off in dark alleyways or car parks late at night and waited for the police to arrive, only for precisely nothing to happen. Most people assume they're car alarms and ignore them accordingly.

The previous suggestion of a household aerosol is a good one too*, provided you are not in a situation where you could wrongly spray it into your face or whatever - there are previous threads covering self defence methods if you are actually in a physical struggle, and most of them involve the use of weapons we all have (fingers, elbows, knees etc) which have the added advantage of not being able to be taken and used against you.


*Note; this is NOT an invititation to start a thread on the best brand of hairspray to have on hand in an attack situation.

[TS Tamzin]

Reading through the suggestions, yes an attack alarm with possibly stun for a few seconds but not much more than that, hairspray or deodorant (especially the cheaper brands as they completely take your breath away - let alone blind you lol)

I did see or hear somewhere that the best possible thing to do is to mark an assailant in the face (most distinguishable part that cannot be covered very easily when police make their enquires...!) This is probably going to sound disgusting but I would personally (if it was in a life and death situation) bite a chunk out of their nose, ear, lip or a poke in the eye to give them a black eye.

Also......Never turn your back on an injured assailant,  never gloat over the person you just floored. For all you know, he may be acting or taking a breather.

Hope this may help

Tamzin

[Dani]

Personal alarms dont really work. Not nowadays when people do nt want to get involved.

Your best option is to enrol In a self defence class, the best ones are the unarmed combat and grappling and hold ones.
If you have an army base near you they often run these or quite often a sports centre will run similar.

They are quite intense courses though but they do need to be as a little knowledge is bloody dangerous whereas alot is a damn sight better.

Without training NEVER try to fight with your attacker with any type of weapon including hairspray as it often ends up being used against you. Also remember if you egt anything out of a bag to spray/poke them with, you could end up being prosecuted as you purposely took it from your bag to be used as a weapon. Keys in your hand are always the best bet as you can then say you panicked and used them in fear

[Lucy Chambers]

While I would agree that alarms in the street would be next to useless, I do believe they have a place in your work room. They could alert your security buddy, your neighbour and possibly give you a few vital seconds to get away. The silent ones could also be a effective but unobtrusive way of letting someone know that you are in trouble.

That said, they are only one of the things that may or may not be useful! They are definitely not to be be thought of as your only safety net.

[css3456]

Of course, not my only safety net, but I think (am I right?) that it could be good in a hotel. Surely the hotel staff would come and investigate if something really loud was disturbing all of the other customers?

[Lucy Chambers]

Of course, not my only safety net, but I think (am I right?) that it could be good in a hotel. Surely the hotel staff would come and investigate if something really loud was disturbing all of the other customers?

That's the hope. No one wants their hotel to burn down with them in it, and indoors they sound like a fire alarm.

[css3456]

So I did some searching and found a few things that might be interesting:

Alarm that looks like a watch: http://www.c-p-p.co.uk/product/asp/ProdID/2200/CtgID/1006/af/page.htm

Not sure if I could get away with wearing that. But good if you have no clothes on!

Purse snatching alarm: http://www.c-p-p.co.uk/product/asp/ProdID/2423/CtgID/1006/af/page.htm

Could be useful to attach money bag to purse.

Ordinary alarm: http://www.c-p-p.co.uk/product/asp/ProdID/2364/CtgID/1006/af/page.htm

I guess this is what most people use.

[css3456]

Amy, so sorry, I didn't mean to ask a dumb question. I did google personal alarms. But most of the sites don't address their use in prostitution! I was wondering if there were any features, particular models, etc. that would be particularly useful in our line of work. I could, of course, try them all myself. Sorry if I wasted anyone's time with the question. I thought it could be helpful to others and didn't see an earlier thread on how best to use them as part of one's safety arsenal.

[Blue]

If you have a land line you could try the Yale Distress alarm, one press and it automatically dials 3 numbers until, if the base unit is in another room the client will not be able to hear it, so although it is not a panic alarm it could work if you don't want to panic the client if you fear he may become violent.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=227363&C=Froogle&U=227363&T=Module