Creating the Defender Ring™ (2) - Analyzing the Self-Defense Product Market

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People around the country were upset and angry over the murders of Vanessa Marcotte and Karina Vetrano.  The founders of Defender Ring™ took action by exploring and analyzing the current self-defense market in the United States.  

• What are the most popular self-defense products?
• How effective are they?
• Why don't more women buy and use them?
• Is there a need for better self-defense products?

As we analyzed and explored these questions, one thing immediately became clear; the self-defense product market was fragmented and outdated.

The market was fragmented, split up into several different categories of products ranging from guns to pepper spray.  No one product or category stood out for being the best self-defense product for women.

The market was outdated containing very few products for the modern day woman and her busy lifestyle.

What are the most popular self-defense products?

The most popular self-defense products were:

1. Guns
2. Knives/Blades
3. Pepper Spray
4. Stun Guns

Guns

Yes, guns are one of the most, if not the most effective self-defense weapons on market.  The first guns or predecessor to guns appeared in China in the 10th century more than 1000 years ago.  After gun powder was invented, it was used in combination with barrels or devices and certain discharge ammunition such as lances, pellets or debris, and used in wars.

Nowadays, guns are an important part of deterrence, law enforcement, and personal security.  They are powerful, long-range, and accurate. 

However, if we take a closer look at the practicality of a gun for the modern day woman, we can begin to see several challenges and barriers to it being an effective personal protection device for women.

• Guns, owning a gun, and storing a gun are very dangerous especially if you have young children or teenagers
• Guns and ammunition are expensive
• Guns require training and a license
• The legality of guns varies from state to state but there are laws prohibiting guns from being carried in public
• Guns are heavy
• Guns are bulky
• Guns can take a long time to access and retrieve
• Guns can take a long time to load and arm
• Guns can be knocked out of a woman's hand
• It would be impractical for a woman to carry a gun while running, going to work, or in many regular day to day activities

Guns are not the answer for personal self-defense for the modern woman.  There are too many obstacles for it to be a practical everyday solution.  We're not saying we wouldn't recommend people buying guns; it's every citizen's right to bear arms and it would be very useful if an attacker were to try to break into your home.  However the modern woman needs a more practical self-defense product.

Knives / Blades

Knives and blades come to mind when someone thinks of weapons.  They are extremely sharp and lethal, and can be used to defend oneself.  However, the question then becomes, why don't more women carry knives with them for personal protection?  The following are reasons why knives aren't carried as self-defense weapons:

• Knives are bulky
• Knives are unnecessary as an additional item in a woman's bag, especially if she doesn't think she'll ever have to use it
• It would take a long time to look for and retrieve a knife in a woman's bag or purse
• Knives can be knocked out of a woman's hand

While knives and blades are very effective and lethal, they're not practical.  It's impractical to carry it in a bag or purse every day, and if they were to be attacked, it would not be accessible.

Pepper Spray

Pepper spray is a product that's used for self-defense or incapacitating purposes only, as opposed to knives which can be used for other functions such as cutting food.  Pepper spray was mainly created to incapacitate someone without lethal force.  We've all seen movies, television shows, or news stories where someone gets hit with pepper spray and they grab their eyes in wincing pain.  It's clear that pepper spray can have tremendous incapacitating effects on someone.

The recurring question about self-defense products is why doesn't every single women or person carry pepper spray?  Here are some obstacles with the product:

• It's used for only one purpose and that's for self-defense.  Most women think the chances of them being a victim are low, so they wouldn't buy and carry a product that might never be used.
• Pepper spray is bulky and heavy
• Pepper spray is carried inside a bag or purse and may take significant time to find and retrieve
• Pepper spray may also take significant time to arm
• There is the chance that the pepper spray doesn't work.  It's a device that blasts a product, however, you'll never know if it works or doesn't work until you have to use it.
• Pepper spray requires training to know the distance to use it, how to properly use it, how the pepper spray is dispersed, etc.
• Pepper spray fluids may run out or become depleted

Stun Guns

Stun guns are similar to pepper spray as their main use is for self-defense or incapacitating purposes.  A stun gun works by shooting prongs into an individual and sending electrical high-voltage surges into their body.  Stun guns can be very effective at incapacitating individuals.  At the self-defense level, the voltage isn't high enough to necessarily kill someone, although under certain circumstances it would be possible.

Stun guns face the same challenges as other self-defense products like pepper spray.  If they're so good at incapacitating an attacker, why don't more women carry them for self-defense?  The answer remains the same.  Stun guns serve one purpose only and woman don't want to carry one in her bag in case she has to shock someone one day. Additionally, here are some challenges:

• Stun guns are bulky
• The user must search for the stun gun in her bag and arm it, which may take a lot of time
• Stun guns require training
• Stun guns may malfunction since it is operating on electricity

Current Self-Defense Market

As you can see from our post, there are several very effective self-defense weapons on the market.  In fact we can agree that guns, knives, pepper spray, and stun guns are all more effective than a self-defense ring.

However, all of these products serve only one purpose and that's personal protection.  Women don't want to carry a product in their purse that takes up valuable space that she may never use.  It's a waste of space and very burdensome.  All of these products are relatively bulky and heavy.  They all require a significant amount of time to retrieve and arm; time that she doesn't have in a sudden attack.

We found that there were no practical self-defense products on the market for the modern day women.  Nowadays, people are downsizing.  Everyone likes items that are small, light, and multi-functional.  

Guns are powerful, lethal, accurate, and effective.

Knives are inexpensive, easy to use, and effective.

Pepper spray and stun guns are effective.

Yet, if you're a young female professional who lives and works in a big city like New York City, it would be impossible to carry one of these items with you regularly.

Defender Ring™ is Practical 

We came up with the Defender Ring™ because it's different.

We know what you're probably thinking "Yea, sure, that's what everyone says."

So how are we different?

You can purchase Defender Ring™, never use its self-defense capabilities, and still enjoy the product for its main purpose as jewelry.

In fact, we hope that you purchase Defender Ring™ for its self-defense capabilities but never have to use it in your life, and instead wear it and receive compliments on the design.

Furthermore, we hope that you purchase Defender Ring™ because you like the ring design and want to wear it for style only!

That's the difference between Defender Ring™ and all other self-defense products on the market.

We want you to buy and wear Defender Ring™ for it's jewelry appeal.  In the back of your mind, you'll always know that in a sudden dangerous situation, you'll have a small blade attached to your fist that will 100% be better than not having a small blade attached to your fist.  Especially if it makes contact with any part of an attacker's face.

Together we can change social injustices as long as we take it one day at a time.