Using a sports device or tool as a weapon can be effective or ineffective. A certain method may be effective in one context and ineffective in another.
Effective uses of bats, in general—meaning over 75% of incidents recorded—involve:
-1. a large batter against a smaller individual who is either unarmed or armed with a small hand weapon like a knife or bottle, or
-2. a bat being used by a member of an aggressive group against a lone target.
Ineffective uses of a bat almost always fall into one of the following categories:
-1. brandishing or threatening,
-2. use by a small individual against a larger individual,
-3. a lone batter taking on an unarmed group, or
-4. a lone batter attempting to deal with a trained and experienced and generally more athletic individual.
Use of other heavy or poorly balanced extension weapons, such weapons being as long or longer than your forearm and hand, essentially an ancient cubit or more long, conform to the dynamics and results of bat use in general.
Specific uses of bats actually used in criminal and spontaneous combat, and excluding, ritual match fights between trained fighters, include:
-Brandishing, always ineffective,
-Full downward swings, which, with wooden bats result in them breaking on the top of hard heads at a disquieting rate, a clear roll of the dice begging to be waist-tackled or grappled,
-Short, chopping strokes to disable and terrorize, with full strokes held back until the target is grounded and immobile, almost always successful and almost always employed by huge men or groups against smaller individuals,
-Full baseball style swings, which either end in disarms and disaster or kill or maim, usually against poorly prepared and unaware targets, a poorly controlled crap shoot,
-One handed strokes, always successful and used only with sawed-off bats and miniature bats, and always by groups.
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The types of bats used are as follows:
-Fielding practice bats, a longer heavier and less barreled bat which does not break like a game bat,
-A wooden game bat, highly prone to breaking as it is unevenly machined to achieve the barrel.
-Stick-ball bats, which are the most effective and wicked of the wooden bats in open combat with groups, but not as deadly as the fielding bat.
-Aluminum bats, highly effective,
-Aluminum T-ball bats, the easiest long bat to handle,
-Fish bats, the perfect short-range club,
-Sawed off bats, the most effective concealable club,
-Souvenir or miniature bats, the most concealable bat that needs to be used against hands and the side of the head and will fail against the top of the skull.
In the second part I will take the above, violence survey behaviors and outcomes, weapons forensics and my experience stick fighting, training with bats and clubs, and actually fighting with a light stick against a bat, to present a bat combat doctrine.
For more information on the blunt weapons survey read my 2011 Paladin Press book Logic Of Force, now available as a PDF on this site.
How would you rate a heavy metal flashlight where you sharpen the crown?
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Excellent though most will turn down out of the hand on a hard missed forehand stroke. the thinner the grip the better unless you have huge hands.
I use a Maglite flashlight, the 3 C cell version.
Much easier to hang on to.
Forgot to mention, hold the flashlight cop style, with the light pointing out of the bottom of your fist. Helps with maintaining grip.
Good for hammer-fisting too.
Tanks.