Improvised weapon

An improvised weapon is an object that was not designed to be used as a weapon but can be put to that use. They are generally used for self-defence or if the person is otherwise unarmed. In some cases, improvised weapons are commonly used by attackers in street fights, muggings, murders, gang warfare, during riots, or even during insurgencies, usually when conventional weapons such as firearms are unavailable or inappropriate.

Rocks being thrown in 2005 Belize unrest

Improvised weapons are common everyday objects that can be used in a variety of defensive applications. The objects are not physically altered in any way in an effort to make them more functional as weapons. They are generally used in their normal state.[1]

Examples

A spinlock adjustable dumbbell

Other than items designed as weapons, any object that can be used to cause bodily harm can be considered an improvised weapon. Examples of items that have been used as improvised weapons include:

• Sports equipment such as baseball bats,[2] golf clubs,[3] cricket bats,[4] hockey sticks [5] and dumbbells[6]
• Objects made of glass, such as beer bottles[7]
• Tools such as sledgehammers,[8] tire irons,[9] shovels,[10] fire extinguishers[11] and hammers [12]
• Construction materials, such as 2×4s,[13] pipes[8][14] and bricks[15][16]
• Natural materials, such as rocks[17]
• Garden tools, such as axes,[18] sickles,[19] machetes,[20] pitchforks[21] and pickaxes[22]
• Kitchen utensils, such as kitchen knives,[23] meat mallets[24] and ice picks[25]
• Livestock herding equipment, such as lassos[26] and whips[27]
• Maritime equipment, such as grappling hooks,[28] fishing nets,[29] boat oars,[30] spearguns and docker's hooks
• Recreational toys, such as slingshots[31] and slings
• Furniture, such as chairs[32]
• Vehicles, including rental trucks,[33] light aircraft, such as a Piper PA-28-236 Dakota[34] and airliners, such as the Boeing 767[35]

In martial arts

Modern factory-made machete, US Forces issue

Throughout history, common tools were used so often as weapons in self-defense that many of them have evolved specifically into weapons or were adapted with the secondary purpose of being used in self-defense, usually by adding modifications to its design. Well-known examples include the Irish shillelagh, the Japanese bō and hanbō, which were originally used as walking canes and the Buddhist Monk's spade, a shovel monks used for burying corpses and often had sharpened edges to defend against bandits with more ease.

Many martial arts use the use of common objects as weapons; Filipino martial arts such as Eskrima include practice with machetes, canes, bamboo spears, and knives as a result of the 333-year Spanish colonization that in the Philippines that prohibited the ownership and use of standard swords and bladed weapons;[36] Chinese martial arts and some Korean martial arts commonly feature the use of improvised weapons such as fans, hammers and staves. There are even some western martial arts that are based on improvised weapons such as British quarterstaff fighting and Irish stick fighting.[37]

After the German Peasants' Wars during 1524-1525, a fencing book edited by Paulus Hector Mair described in 1542 techniques how to fence using a scythe.[38]

Legal issues

Improvised weapons of the British Home Guard, prepared against the possibility of a German invasion in WWII

Because of the use of common objects as weapons in violent crimes, many countries have laws that prevent the use of some tools and other non-weapon objects to be used for causing harm. It is possible for a person to be detained or even arrested by a law enforcement official or security personnel for carrying a potentially-harmful object if there is no reasonable use for it. For example, it is legal and perfectly understandable for someone to possess a kitchen knife or a hammer and keep it for use in one's home, but it could be judged suspicious for someone to carry a kitchen knife or a hammer concealed on his/her person or in plain sight when walking down a city street.[39]

There are places that prohibit people from entering with objects that may be used as weapons. Most public schools in North America do not allow their students to bring pocket knives, butter knives[40][41] or chain-wallets,[41] sometimes with harsh zero tolerance policies. Airports typically prohibit objects that could be used as weapons from being carried as a carry-on or in a carry-on bag into the aircraft cabin. The security repercussions after the September 11 attacks saw restrictions widely extended to cover even objects like nail clippers and spiked wristbands.[42][43]

Makeshift weapons

A Finnish soldier with a Molotov Cocktail during the Winter War

An Improvised tire puncturing device (slang term ‘Ninja’) comprising an iron nail inserted into a rubber disc (from used tire). Many of these makeshift weapons were scattered by Palestinians on main roads in the occupied territories of the West Bank during the First Intifada.

A makeshift weapon is an everyday object that has been physically altered to enhance its potential as a weapon. It can also be used to refer to common classes of weapons such as guns, knives, and bombs made from commonly available items.[1]

Examples of makeshift weapons include:

• Millwall brick
• Molotov cocktail
• Pipe bomb
• Shiv
• Improvised firearms
• Chainlock (improvised flail)
• Garrote
• Stink bomb
• Smoke bomb
• Blackjack/Sap
• Improvised explosive device

The improvised Molotov cocktail was used with great success by the heavily outnumbered Finnish forces in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The mixture of flammable petroleum, often thickened with soap or tar, was so effective against the Soviet tanks that the Finns began mass producing Molotov cocktails, and issuing them to their troops. While the first documented use of such improvised incendiary devices was in the Spanish Civil War, their use in the Winter War was much more prevalent, and it was at that time they were named after the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov.[44]

See also

• Insurgency weapons and tactics
• List of criminal enterprises, gangs, and syndicates
• List of riots
• TM 31-210 Improvised Munition Handbook
• Suicide attack
• Suicide weapon

References

1. Zorn, Steve. "Defensive Use of Improvised Weapons". USA dojo. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013.
2. "Baseball bat as used was a deadly weapon". Archived from the original on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
3. Mayorga, Carlos (May 10, 2010). "N. Ogden man charged in golf course assault with deadly weapon". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
4. Sturcke, James (December 14, 2009). "Self defence or malicious revenge? Jail for brothers who beat burglar with bat" – via www.theguardian.com.
5. Banker, Andy (December 12, 2012). "Hockey Stick Used To Break Man's Jaw".
6. TribStar.com (February 6, 2008). "Wabash Valley Correctional Facility inmate in critical after attack". Retrieved 5 June 2010.
7. Ratcliffe, Michael J. (August 2008). "Police say broken bottle was wielded as weapon in Princeton robbery". Retrieved 5 June 2010.
8. "The Lawyers reports annotated, Volume 21" Page 506
9. "Carson City deputies arrest three after fight with tire iron". Carson Now. May 19, 2010.
10. "FM 3-25.150 Chapter 7". www.globalsecurity.org.
11. WGHP (2006). "Weapon of choice: Fire extinguisher". Retrieved 5 June 2010.
12. Rasmussen, Cecilia (August 8, 1994). "Clara Phillips was never one to mask..." Los Angeles Times.
13. "The Lawyers reports annotated, Volume 21" Page 504
14. McCoy, Cara (April 5, 2010). "Man accused in fatal lead pipe beating pleads not guilty - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". lasvegassun.com.
15. Times on line (February 2010). "Mayfair partygoers throw bricks at riot police". The Times. London. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
16. Gregory, Chris (May 2010). "Attack happened in Kings Furlong". Retrieved 5 June 2010.
17. Hadad, Shmulik (May 2010). "9 officers hurt in east Jerusalem riots". ynetnews.com. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
18. "Mary Farmer Murders".
19. "The Sickle | The Occult Revival".
20. "Life Hack: Using the Machete as an Effective Weapon". July 10, 2019.
21. "Medieval Men - Medieval-Period.com". medieval-period.com.
22. Verhovek, Sam Howe (February 4, 1998). "EXECUTION IN TEXAS: THE OVERVIEW; Divisive Case of a Killer of Two Ends as Texas Executes Tucker" – via NYTimes.com.
23. "Susan Wright | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers". murderpedia.org.
24. Services, ADI News (July 27, 2013). "9th Circuit calls for new sentencing hearing for Arizona death row inmate". Arizona Daily Independent.
25. Ruderman, Wendy (August 31, 2012). "Ice Picks Are Still Used as Weapons" – via NYTimes.com.
26. Maenchen-Helfen, Otto; Helfen, Otto (January 1, 1973). "The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture". University of California Press – via Google Books.
27. "Whips in Combat | The Bullwhip FAQ".
28. "Have hired guns finally scuppered Somali pirates?". February 12, 2013 – via www.reuters.com.
29. "Retiarii". www.tribunesandtriumphs.org.
30. [e-mail], JOHNATHAN HOGAN. "POLICE: MAN BEATS WOMEN WITH BRICK AND BOAT OAR". Idaho State Journal.
31. "This Woman Shows Protests Are Ageless". HuffPost. June 12, 2013.
32. "Woman Charged with Assault after allegedly Throwing Chairs".
33. Ottley, Ted. "Imitating Turner". Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols: Oklahoma Bombing. TruTv. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
34. "Austin American Statesman Coverage of Plane Crash". Archived from the original on June 27, 2013.
35. "Twin Towers Demolished, Pentagon Hit in Terrorist Attacks". Foxnews.com. 2001-09-12. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
36. "Escrima - The Filipino Martial Art". Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
37. Hurley, John W. (2007). Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick. Caravat Press. ISBN 1-4303-2570-4.
38. Digitale Bibliothek - Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum
39. Staff, PageSix com (April 4, 2010). "Keith McNally's new chef, Nate Appleman, busted for possession of a pocket knife".
40. May 24, Scott Burton /; Comments, 2010 / 29 (May 24, 2010). "One Nation Under Arrest: The End of the Pocket Knife". The Daily Signal.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
41. "Girl arrested for butter knife in backpack".
42. "Post-9/11 Airport Security: Do You Know Where Your Dignity Is?". World Hum.
43. "What Can I Bring?". Transportation Security Administration.
44. History of the Molotov cocktail

External links

• Improvised Self Defence Weapons