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No matter who you are, where you live, or what you do, every woman and man should have at least one self defense product.

You may not think you’ll ever need it. You may live in the safest city in the safest country in the world. But violence can occur anywhere. People are unpredictable. Therefore, you should always have something ready to use in a worst case scenario.

Self defense products include rings, jewelry, pepper spray and stun guns, or lethal weapons such as knives and guns. Regardless of your preference for self defense tools, you should always have one readily accessible.

Young Professional in a Big City

An average young professional working and living in a metropolitan city would have self defense products that are appropriate for her situation. 

Her self defense collection should be readily accessible since she’ll be on the go often. They should be practical to fit in with her fast-paced lifestyle. And of course they need to be legally compliant to the local laws.

Young professionals working and living in a big city are always pressed for time, always on the move, and have limited space - their self defense weapons need to take into account these situational factors. They work long hours during the weekdays going from the boardroom to the coffee shop, and have to travel on foot or by public transport. Practical self defense weapons that are easy to carry or wear are the best options for young professionals living in big cities.

Urbanites need to be mindful of their local weapon laws before purchasing knives and guns for self defense. Bigger cities typically have stricter weapon laws. This is because metropolitan cities have larger, more efficient, and more reliable police forces than rural areas. This perceived increase in security, means that the city government wants the people to rely more on their police force than each citizen fending for him or herself.

Unfortunately, the decision of whether you want to defend yourself with a lethal weapon, or entrust your safety into the hands of the system, is made for you in a lot of bigger cities. Nevertheless, there are plenty of effective, powerful self defense products that people living in bigger cities can buy and use for protection.

Best Self Defense Weapons for Young Professionals in Big Cities

• Pepper Spray

Pepper spray is an excellent and powerful way to immobilize a potential attacker. Pepper spray can be relatively small so you can carry it with you in your bag or pocket. It’s inexpensive and you can purchase pepper spray online or in many pharmacies.

The downside with pepper spray is that you have to carry it with you every day and you may only have to use it once in your life! So you’re basically carrying something around 99.99% of the time that has no use whatsoever. Some might consider that too large a burden to endure for something that may never happen. Another downside is, like many weapons, pepper spray can be difficult to use. You may not be able to spray on target, the product can malfunction, or the attacker might not be incapacitates by the hot pepper liquids.

Nevertheless, pepper spray is one of the best self defense products that everyone should have, especially young professionals living in a big city. Pepper spray is legally allowed to be carried in the majority of U.S. states. Always check your local weapon laws before purchasing a product.

• Self Defense Jewelry

Self defense jewelry is jewelry such as rings or necklaces that are also weapons. Self defense jewelry is ideal for a young professional woman living in a big city for many reasons.

1. You can wear it simply as jewelry

The best self defense jewelry products are created primarily as beautiful jewelry. If you removed all self defense capabilities, women should still want to wear the self defense products as jewelry alone for its aesthetic appeal. 

2. It’s practical, light, and small

Compared to other self defense weapons like knives or pepper spray, self defense jewelry is smaller, lighter, and more practical for someone to carry every day.

3. It’s conveniently accessible since you’re wearing it and you don’t have to search through your bag or pocket to retrieve it

One deciding factor for weapons is their accessibility and how quickly it can be used. That’s why police officers carry their guns in a waist holster right next to their hands. They can access, arm and shoot in just a couple of seconds. This is a key advantage of self defense rings. They are located on your finger and can be armed and used in only a few seconds.

• Pocket Knife

A typical generic pocket knife is an excellent weapon for the modern day woman living in a big city. It’s inexpensive and can be powerful at disabling an attacker, or brandishing the weapon and deterring a would-be aggressor. There are however downsides to owning and using pocket knives as your weapon of choice. They must be stored in your bag and aren’t immediately accessible. They can be knocked out of your hand in a struggle and used against you. Lastly, there might be legal issues depending on where you live.

Middle-Aged Adult in a Rural Area

The typical middle-aged adult working and living in a rural area may have a set of self defense tools catering to her environment and lifestyle. Her self defense collection may consist of a large knife, a self defense ring, and a couple of guns.

A ruralite may have more land, more animals and more property, and therefore she owns more things that she has to protect. The rural culture includes hunting, self-sufficient living, and survival. Therefore the gun laws in these areas are more relaxed and many rural area residents have guns.

The lifestyle is more slow-paced than in a big city. There are less people and a lower density per capita, and hence smaller police forces. There is a greater emphasis on being self-reliant and protecting what’s your own compared to in urban areas.

Best Weapons for Adults Living in Rural Areas

• Large knife

Large knives are excellent multi-purpose weapons for adults living in rural areas. A knife can be used for many purposes including food prep, cutting materials and fabrics, first aid, various tool uses, and of course self defense. Many of these uses are needed in rural areas and carrying a multi-purpose knife is a great self defense weapon.

• Self defense ring

Self defense rings are an excellent secondary self defense weapon for adults living in rural areas. They are lightweight, durable, and inconspicuous so you can wear one whether you’re outdoors or relaxing inside.

• Gun

Many adults living in a rural area will own a gun for protection. Guns are also used for target practice, hunting, and survival. If you decide to use a gun for self defense, you should understand the seriousness of owning one and the consequences that can result of you using it improperly, or someone else coming into possession of your gun and using it improperly. We wholeheartedly support gun ownership as long as it’s responsible gun ownership. 

Differences Between Urban and Rural Self Defense Products

Why does the typical young city professional and the average middle age ruralite prefer and carry different self defense products?

It’s partly based on need and lifestyle. The typical young city professional has a fast-paced lifestyle with limited time, space, money, and even mental energy. Does she need a deadly firearm or even a stun gun device? 

In terms of a person’s hierarchy of needs, she probably doesn’t need these self defense weapons more than she needs to perform well at work or cultivate her friendships and relationships. Yes, one can easily argue that her physical safety is more or as important as keeping a job or fostering relationships, but let’s keep in mind that she’s not in physical danger regularly, every day of her life. If we were back in the caveman days, then carrying a deadly firearm or pepper spray would most definitely take precedence over a job or friendships since physical safety wasn’t a guarantee. But today we have strict laws, robust police forces, and an evolved society that does its best to protect an individual’s physical well being. Therefore in a typical young city professional’s hectic day to day life, one of the last things she wants to worry about is carrying a can of pepper spray.

How does this differ from the average middle age countryfolk? A woman living in a rural area generally lives a slower-paced, more relaxed lifestyle. There’s a greater chance that she has property and land, and possibly livestock and a farm. On the other hand a young professional probably lives in a small apartment with a doorman, has less property, and is within 1 mile of a police station. A woman living in a rural area has more land and property that she needs to protect with means like guns and and locals laws are undoubtedly more conducive to the local culture.

What Should I Really Carry for Self Defense?

If you are a young woman living in a large city, and you choose to get a gun license and purchase a firearm, then we would encourage you to do so. There are many women who take this path and this is how they feel most safe and protected.

If you’re a middle-aged adult living in a rural mountainous area and you hate guns and knives, but prefer to only carry a small can of pepper spray, then we would encourage you to do so. There are many people who live in rural areas that do not feel the need to own guns for protection.

The point is, whether you’re in a city or the country, you should arm yourself with something to use for self defense. Whatever you choose should be something that is practical, effective, and fits within your budget. You’ll have something that you can use for emergencies, and most importantly you would have mentally prepared for a worst-case scenario. That’s the key thing here. Simply putting in the time and effort to research and purchase a self defense product will put your head in the game and will keep you more prepared and alert if you never thought about it at all.

Everyone knows dogs are the best for pets and protection. How’s this for everyday carry?