Hallo friends,
I've been thinking about this the whole day and I got the idea from something happened to me tonight, when I had to face a guy with 2 knives.
I managed to calm him down so there has been no need for a fight, but this let me think to other bad situations I've been with and I tried to analyze them objectively.
Briefly: 
- I've been attacked with a knife and knocked down the opponend with a fire extinguisher;
- I've been attacked with a branch and knocked him down with a bottle of beer, I took some damage from the branch but it didn't hurt me while in fight, while the opponent fell unconscious from my blow;
- I've been beaten by someone's billy (iron I think) on my left shoulder, just a single blow but it hurted a lot even because it slightly touched my ear, I reacted throwing a stone which he avoided - the stone hit one of his companions in the face and even if he was wearing a closed helmet he fell down.
- I've used a steel chain to scare my opponent and this stopped him;
- at the job, my boss used a small hammer to scare two unarmed robbers and they ran away;
- sometimes I've found myself under launches of stones and bottles and have thrown bottles myself.

From these experiences I've found many things:
- when someone throw something at you, or you throw something to somebody, it's really unlikely that one of the two will challenge the other's aim trying to get closer. It's more likely that both will try to stay out of the reach and, if there's the need, get closer once the other has finished its ammunition. Meanwhile both try to discourage the other with shouts and insults;
- I've a sacre terror of steel blades and the sight of a fierce opponent wielding a long knife is terrifying; anyway a good hit from a blunt weapon has proven to be more effective everytime I received or given one than every knife me or my friends ever had to face.
- some kind of training, good breath, speed, reflexes and stubborness (I mean keep beating until the opponent is knocked out) make the difference between harming or being harmed.

So the questions are:
which do you think is the best weapon for a brawl? 
Which the most effective? 
Which the one with the most intimidating power? 
Which causes the most phsicological effect?



Please note (and read this CAREFULLY):
neither me nor this topic are willing to promote violence in any form.
Always remember that there're no winners in a fight, only losers.
The best thing to do is absolutely to avoid any fight, always.

The aim of this topic is to collect people's experiences in order to estabilish if there's a weapon which is objectively better than another for a fight, so that these experiences can be used by me to suppose if there were preferred weapons in the Iron Age, a period where (in the context I'm studying) warfare was limited to one-on-one fights, with throwing weapons, knives and maces, which were similar to today's brawls.

So I'd like it if only people who actually had serious fights would post their experiences (I mean real fights, not competitions or any martial art's training).
If you don't feel at ease writing your experiences here, PM me if you want and only I will read them.

The topic will be locked and removed if it causes discord among us.

Greetings,
Mauro.

There's really no such thing as the 'Best' weapon, only better ones for each individual and the situation at hand.
I personally haven't been in a physical altercation. I know how to calm people down and I generally don't go places where I could be attacked. First line of defence once you are actually in a bad situation is always the verbal judo, its often effective and worth a shot in most situations. Second is a good pair of shoes, walk away.

Those are mainly for street defence, if he's in my house, all bets are off.

I have read many SD stories and some of my older friends (adults) have been in fights.

To answer your questions though:

Gun
Gun (if the effect is to get you out of there alive, almost any gun will do)
Gun (Browing M2, jk)
Gun (pump action Shotgun)

Is this for street defence or home defence? What gun do you feel comfortable carrying? Which grip angle do you like the most? What is the largest pistol you can conceal carry and are willing to carry on a regular basis? What can you carry legally? What can you afford?

This are all questions you should ask yourself (whoever), before buy you Concealed Carry gun.

Thats my 2 cents, if anyone wants some suggestions as to what guns you should look into buying for CC, feel free to send me a PM.

I don't belief there is such a thing a "best weapon" in a fight, in my professional experience of many years in blue we where given a baton and a gun and that is all we have to fight with , for obvious reason the gun is a very last resource ( I only shot it a hand full of times and always for intimidation) the baton of any kind, tonfa , asp ,straight etc once you know how to use it can be deadly,
that is why many country don't let civilian use them ,to handle them in a effective way is a skill that require a little training, to me the asp type was the one that closed a lot of idiots behind bars and the clang sound scare the poop out of many big boys trust me, now whatever you may choose to use as a form of defense make sure you have the knowledge needed to use it otherwise is one more weapon you give to a mug

Outside of america - handguns are very rarely carried by other than criminals and law enforcement officers.

Plus handguns are a really bad choice - unless you're intention is to kill.

Even the best shot can't guarentee that they won't nick an artery and have the victim bleed out.

Let's try and concentrate on weapons that:
1) can be carried and obtained easily worldwide (rules out guns)
2) are not usually lethal - obviously any weapon can be potentially lethal. But the object here is self defence not murder
3) possibly weapons you can make yourself.
4) things that can be easily carried and concealed as well as easy to deploy should you need to.
5) where possible the weapon should be legal to carry. In the uk that rules out: knives, extendible batons, tasers, any kind of firearm, air pistols, bb guns and just about anything else a drunken youth can use on another drunken youth.
You can still get away with walking sticks and combat umbrellas (I did not make that last one up).

Avoiding fights is generally the best option, though apparently not for mauro, who does seem to get into a helluva lot more fights than any other 100 people I know.

Even when i was at college and used to go out hunting muggers - I never managed to find one.
Some people are just born lucky

LOL I was not the average person in the past 
Greetings,
Mauro.

I've only been in one honest fight, and I won because the other guy was shorter and untrained. He just kept swinging at my face in these long sidearm motions. One quick jab to the upper chest (hit the throat, luckily) throat stunned him long enough for me to step back, and then I tripped him when he lunged at me by kicking his shin. Then I sat on him until our buddies calmed him down. He wasn't trying to hurt me, he just didn't know what he was doing.

CA, it has become evident that living in a country without guns has not made you an expert.

I'm very sorry you can't have guns, but the question was, IYO, what's the best weapon?
I answered. I personally can't carry a gun for SD but I'd advise anyone capable of legaly doing so to do just that.
I said in the begining of my post that it varies for everyone and that legality should be consideration when looking into firearms. If they are completly illegal, than its out of the question for you.

Regarding use in self defence here's a picture with some well known statistics.



Also, 70% of people here in the U.S. shot with handguns survive.

While its true that firearms can cause a substancial amount of damage compared to other weapons, Modern medicine is also quite capbable of fixing a lot of things. And as the picture says, Most of the time a gun is drawn it does not need to be fired.

In reference to using a gun at close quaters, if you live in the U.S. or somewhere that allows guns there are probably some training courses you can take nearby on their use. I'd highly recomend them.
Here area a couple vids of such schools/training DVDs that you can use to practice with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTr8xvkUWp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiimtICOW-c
And just a regular vid on CC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei8OK4WdoW0

A layered defence is also imporant, I'd also suggest learning some basic H2H (like Krav) to assist in your defence in addition to carrying.

I agree with Atlista...
Sorry for not getting the spelling right....
Anyway, being 13, living in the equelivant of a small town....
I have never been in an honest to goodness fight....
But i did go to school in a pretty nasty city for 2 years...
Best weapon= brain... Without it, No knives, etc.
But the best combat weapon for a street fight really depends on what your opponent's got..
My personal favorite is that good ole history book in my hands.
It will make people drop stuff. Expecially pinecones.
Anyway, I have only had one near-fight experiance.
There are teenagers that frequently do bad stuff near the front of my neighborhood...
Near enough to my slinging place that it worries me.
I usually just walk/bike past, but once one of them epicly thought that pulling a knife was a great idea when i had my trusty hornbeam staff.
carbon steel hunting knife+ Inhalants(guessing spray paint)+Hornbeam staff= Nice hurting head+broken knife+ Inhalants don't get rid of headaches.
Nice equation. Even a book would do the same thing.
I love books. Double as entertainment.
but a staff beats it for self-defense.