Do you carry protection when running?

I am considering bringing pepper spray or mace with me as I venture further from home! Where can you go to buy this stuff, besides online??? Do you think Walmart or Target has it?

I bought mine at ****'s Sporting Goods

HAHAHAH they blurred ****'s Sporting goods! D-I-C-K's Sporting goods has bear spray!

I never have, but am looking to buy pepper spray that fits in the palm of my hand. I live in a quaint, usually-safe town and in a nice neighborhood, but you never know! Especially when I run on trails (old rail beds) they are very secluded and usually not well-used.
I'd rather be on the safe side!

I am considering bringing pepper spray or mace with me as I venture further from home! Where can you go to buy this stuff, besides online??? Do you think Walmart or Target has it?

I bought mine at ****'s Sporting Goods

HaHa! I got bleeped! Yeah, you know the place.

Always! Belly band with my M&P9C for the win! Also carry an extremely sharp folding knife. I do have to say though I am happy to see so many women (and men) carrying. It is better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it.

^^^ you basically just said what I was going to say, re have it and not need it, etc^^^

Also, my belly band is my favorite for running. My subcompact 9 mm fits nicely up under my rib cage in its belly band and doesn't move around much at all. An ankle holster is awkward to run with at first, but is helped if you wear the gun on the outside of the ankle and wear a weight on the ankle without the gun. For walking, any old holster will do really, belly band, ankle, shoulder, or belt.

I always have my dog with me and we've had several off leash dogs run up on us (which my girl does not appreciate), but I'm too much of a dog person to ever think about pulling on another dog. Even the mean looking one that was growling and way bigger than my girl backed down when I stood between them and yelled and glared and sent him the other way. The friendly clueless ones are more likely keep running up on you, even when you make sure you don't look friendly.

If I lived in the US, or any of the rougher parts of the UK, I'd undoubtedly carry something that was purely defensive.

I love that you assume all of the US is rough. We're not all cowboys and gangsters here. lol

I love that you assumed I assumed that.

Yeah this comment had me scratching my head. I was born and raised in South Africa, have lived all over the US, in London and Berlin, and now live in a major US city, and I have to say, I felt more unsafe in London, Berlin and my homeland combined than I've ever felt here.

Seems people haven't read the whole comment. I also said in rougher parts of the UK - London included.

How many of you who carry protection (especially of the lethal variety) run with headphones in?

BE HONEST. I never see runners without headphones.

It'd seriously suck to get ambushed and be the victim of your own weaponry.

:huh:

I run with just one headphone in my ear and not very loud either. Having situation awareness is key (and training).

I never have head phones on, running or walking. and someone trying to ambush me wouldn't see the gun how i carry it.

I don't have anything but want to get something. Seriously creeped out one time. I was running in bright colored clothing. A guy in an old car drove slowly up to me and said he liked my pants and kept asking me to come closer so he could see them. Once I realized this, I was thinking to myself that if he told my nice pants were nice then he can see them just fine from three feet away from me and still in his car driving. I know I could have outran him to find help if he chased me on foot because I wasn't that far from a gas station. Luckily for me as I ignored him, he finally drove away. I haven't been bothered by dogs or any other animals but have smelled a skunk.

I don't run outside yet but when I start I am carrying something. I live in Phoenix, AZ and the crime is pretty bad...and spreading.

For those of you who live in a "safe" neighborhood, criminals have cars and unless you live behind barbed wire...

You don't have to be on some secluded trail to benefit from carrying protection. A lady walking down the street in Phoenix was robbed and shot by a man that got out of a car a couple of weeks ago. A Good Samaritan riding his bicycle tried to help as the man with the gun was dragging her into some bushes but was shot as well

On Bear Spray:

Please note that this is more of a fog than a spray. The goal is to create a barrier between you and an aggressive animal. It will work for Cougars, bears, moose (more dangerous than a bear), etc.

**** BUT ****

You could harm yourself as much as another person if the wind is against you or if the person is too close. BE very careful with bear spray. It will put you in the hospital. I've sprayed it and it isn't pleasant even in a very very low dose that I got.

This is how I roll.




Oddly enough, I have never had a problem.

Totally kidding. I do like the idea though.

OMG I want that bike.

very few pics on MFP get me thoroughly excited.

this did the job.