Within the Confines of Your Car!

I started a new thread on the Gunsite forum (www.gunsite.co.za) a couple of days ago entitled ‘Within the Confines of Your Car’, the answers to which have supplied some very pertinent ideas for additional research with regards to fighting both in and around your car … Here is one of my posts:

Hi guys,
Sorry about my delayed response … I had to do quite a bit of travelling yesterday and am currently in Polokwane on business (EISH!)
Thanks to everyone for the VERY pertinent points raised thus far – Man it is a pleasure to belong to such a great Forum! 

Here are a couple of other things that I have picked up along the way which I believe may also prove to be beneficial:
Keeping the window/s open (a fraction) may help alleviate the problem of it ‘crashing in’ on you in an attempted ‘smash and grab’. If you have some additional money I believe that it is a wise thing to have some Protective film installed. This protective film can also be tinted which besides making the window more difficult to break will ensure that it is more difficult to see the contents within the the cabin of the vehicle. An incident that happened recently in Sandton is that one of our ‘friendly’ window-washers (at a busy intersection) took the liberty of squirting acid through an open window directly into the drivers face! He then had a very easy time helping himself to the contents of the car (which were obviously lying around … Laptop bag, mobile phone etc.) … Needless to say this victim is blind and disfigured for life having acid squirted all over his face! 

Although there may be times that would call for the use of pepper spray, the ‘Fog’ version would probably not be the best thing to use whilst in the confines of you car (unless you could guarantee making a speedy exit of the vehicle!). Those that have done active training with pepper fog will know exactly what I mean – The effects are debilitating (to say the least!). I carry a 60 ml version which allows for a substantial portion of the canister to protrude from the base of my hand – Ideal for very powerful impact weapon use in confined spaces.

Being a short guy one advantage that I have found is that it is much easier to fight from within your car as manueverability is quite easy. I do not have much of an issue twisting my body away from the drivers side window and moving with my back towards the passenger seat. Another great idea (especially if the confrontation is unarmed) is to actually grab hold of the attacker (in the event of your driver window being either smashed or open) and pull him into the car … Use the leverage that you now have to deliver all kinds of hurt on the asshole in question – Bury those thumbs deep into the eye sockets, rip the ears, twist his head, pull his hair, use your elbows to smash him … Anything and everything – I am sure you get the idea …

Being an avid user of ‘appendix carry’ I have found it to be relatively easy to draw my handgun from concealment as the weapon tends to sit in the space created by the seatbelt (just to the right of my body). On the other side of my person, also at ‘appendix carry’ position is my trusty K-Bar TDI – Just draw and thrust, nothing fancy!! 

Another element which I have found to be critical is correct body positioning whilst seated in your vehicle. There are numerous advantages to this … One of them being that it will allow you to have greater control over your steering wheel in the event that some ‘tactical driving’ is called for. This should be investigated thoroughly. Also try to make it a habit to keep your thumbs pointing upwards when resting on the steering wheel … Dislocated, broken and bruised thumbs have resulted from motor vehicle airbag deployment (even with minimal frontal/side impact!).

These are just a couple of ideas which I am hoping will prove beneficial to you. All this being said and done there are two things which need to be put into play IMMEDIATELY:
1. ‘Pressure test’ your ability to fight within the confines of your car!!
2. Remain Vigilant, Constantly AWARE of your surroundings (This is Key!!)

Be Safe guys and as always, keep training as though your life depends on it!

All the other posts to this specific thread can be viewed here: http://www.gunsite.co.za/forum/index.php?topic=3383.msg40754#new