The following discussion involves the use of a carabiner and a bike U-lock for improvised defense and was posted as a comment and answer [expanded on here] in the following old article. I confused his comment with one by another reader from last year, discussed a different weapon, and ended up covering them both here.
First, I must admit that I thought I was referring to a bicycle U–lock, which is the commentary at the bottom of the page. The U-lock can also be used as an improvised punching weapon, like loading pennies in your hand or holding a bar to make the fist dense, like the old contact light bag glove, but giving you a wicked edge for a cutting hammer fist and protecting your thumb in case the punch comes off badly as a pronated blow.
Now, let’s get to the carabiner, which is an improvised weapon I have only played with once and was not impressed with. If the thing can fit over your fist, I prefer just using it as a fist load, without actually striking with it. This way—minus video—you can prove to the cop that you struck with bare knuckles while adding some density to your fist. The wide end would be on your thumb side, with one bar held in your palm and the other length resting behind your knuckles across the back of the hand, although manmy locks are two small for this use with good sized hands—but then you apemen don’t need an edge, do you?
My commentary for each video will be below the video in italics. DvF’s comments are in quotes.
“…internet scuttlebutt has it that the fact that you can improvise brass knuckles with a carabiner is not, legally speaking, a secret. If you punch someone with them, it's as if you had used a, probably illegal, set of brass knuckles.
“I know it's been a while, but here's what I've got. My own experimenting is basically covered by what this guy has to say:
link › youtu.be/RzGrAvB6ni8?t=352
The tool and the size of this man’s hand precludes my advice above, which is for a smaller hand or larger tool. The hook strike he opens up with would be a head shot, not as demonstrated. This would not do any good against the body but could kill to the head, so is legally iffy. His punching mechanics are not powerful, as he has no elbow-hip continuity, so he is not hitting nearly as hard as he could. The hammer fist is right on, and, as he notes, is the best use.
Now, for a karate type person, who does not have boxing level power, this tool makes a lot of sense. Be warned that it is going to cause bleeding. In a place like Baltimore, where about 25% of men likely to attack you are HIV positive, this is something to consider.
Ultimately, this attacks bone and skin, possibly causing death if you can really hit and score on the temple—which is bad—or just causing bleeding if he is a cave man—and that’s bad, because now you’re probably getting sloppy with a big, bleeding bastard.
“(I don't know anything about this guy other than this video.)
“You need one that fits and locks. It's not good for straight punches, because it rolls backward. The shock absorbing effect might even make a straight punch less damaging, but I can't say for certain.
“On the other hand, it seems to work effectively with strikes in line with the longer sides, that is, hammer fists and inverted hammer fists. Sometimes, in MMA, I've seen straight armed weaving hooks thrown that sometimes land at the ring formed by the thumb and index finger. A carabiner would work for that:”
Yes, perfect example of a shitty pronated hook that will snap your thumb off. I think I saw Dominic Cruz break his thumb like this. Based on the hair cut, maybe this is him. The carabiner would permit this kind of shitty punch and minimize thumb damage, but it is still a shitty punch. If he drops from this, he would have dropped without the tool in your hand, and if he doesn’t drop, because the punch sucked, he will be pissed that you are using a tool on him and might be bleeding on you as well. Believe me, a pissed dude who you can’t drop is not an easy outing.
The assessment below is for the improvised use of the bicycle U-Lock, which is a whole different deal. We will do a video on this.
I have experimented with one at the gym and would use it like a hay hook. I have a hay hook, by the way.
Hold the U-shaped end in your fist and rest the long bars and bolt end against your elbow, then throw a hook—and let me tell you, it's a hook! Your reach will expand by a foot and you can throw backhands and forehands.
My hay hook is part of my home defense weapon set, paired with a knife. The basic drill is:
Hide the knife in my left hand behind the hip
Hold the hay hook low in front and slap the face with a backhand
Look the back of the head or neck with the forehand
and then run his ass through with the daito, bowie, dagger, arbedo sword, CSA saber or dagger, depending on where I was in my room when he made the mistake of breaking in.
Will post as an article with commentary on the video.
If he is too close, and you have the U end in your fist you can punch with more density, and you can block with the outside of your forearm and hopefully ding his ape paw. But the real use is as a mid-range extension weapon that appears to have only close-range reach.
Hit the jaw, not the head, to cut down on blood and legalities—unless you are being swarmed by a mob or dealing with a killer, then take the side of the head as your primary target.
Thanks, DvF, you made some nice deductions and I apologize for screwing up the initial comment answer.
The Punishing Art
Thanks for the compliment and no problem with the U-lock stuff, that's interesting too.
Do loaded fists (e.g. with coins) have more impact just because of added mass, or do they add rigidity or something else?
The left hook guy is Kyoji Horiguchi (a karate guy) and in his defense, here's one of him actually landing with the knuckles:
fat.gfycat.com/JitteryUntidyBlesbok.gif
I think I know the punch that Cruz throws that you're talking about too. If I understand correctly, aside from hand damage, that straight armed "hook" doesn't generate much power because not much power gets transmitted from the core through the extended arm (as opposed to the far more rigid crook of the proper hooking arm). In the Dillashaw fight, Cruz was retreating behind those loopy punches that up until then, people had mostly been deterred by. After a short while, it became obvious that Dillashaw had decided they were worthless and just charged through, ignoring them.
Filling your hand with pennies is better then dressing it in hard light metal. Put on a pair of the old style 'classic" bag gloves, which are very light and have lead weight in the leather palm bar.
Tighter relaxed fist
more density
and more density at the end of the punching arm which helps you drive through
I like Cruz's style, it works for him but he is prone to thumb injury because of it. The hook that you want to through as an extended punch is not this over hand cutter and not the classic Philly, but the shovel hook
We will try and do a video on this.
take care and thanks for the intelligent queries. You raise my IQ
Thanks, man. I appreciate that.