How useful are stun guns?

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Oct 20, 2000
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There are numerous types of such devices in the market.

I have seen and held one that looks and feels like a torchlight.

Then there are the taser types. Apart from security guards who may use it in their course of work, I don't really think it's that popular among the ordinary folk.

I don't know of any women who walk around with a stun gun in their handbags.

Are stun guns really that great? Some people tell me that they can be rather clumsy if you don't know how to handle them or shoot straight.
 
I have the most powerfull experience possible for this type weapon, I've actually been hit by one! I can't speak much on their practicality, or usefullness, but I'd rate them as extremely effective.
In a nutshell, they hurt like hell. I took it to the arm trying to block, and my knees gave out immediately. Once down, I was slow to get up due to pain, and unreliable nerves. It was a good portion of an hour before I felt steady enough to fight again, and I had shakes the reast of the day. Overall, I concider it an experience I'd rather not replicate.
 
I wish I knew where the thread was, but there were a few folks who tested stun guns, some compliments of 1SKS, and found there to be very little pain involved. One guy, if I remember, let his daughter zap herself to little avail.
 
Do a search: you'll get a lot of people who don't trust them. I'm one of those people now.

I got one a while back because there were dogs in my neighborhood attacking other dogs. I decided to try it on myself and got a third party to shock me with it. He used it near my hip/love handle area since the companies advocate that as one of the most effective targets. It didn't do jack. There was some pain and some discomfort but it only pissed me off. It would certainly anger someone. The ones that are affordable suck. They run off of 9-Volt batteries and don't do anything to interrupt signals through the body. The thing numbed my stomach a little bit but it was really no big deal. I wouldn't trust it for anything.

There are some that are geared more towards LEO that are supposedly much more effective. These cost hundreds of dollars, however, and are not small.
 
For that matter, how effective is pepper spray, the type only available commercially? One of the more fun training exercises in the Marines was the room filled with CS gas, off the gas mask, sing the Marine Corps Hymn, and then exit. Most could have still fought, and actually only tended to piss most of us off, so that we wanted to fight...anyone. So what product is a viable deterent? Anyone know from personal experience? No b*llsh*t please.
rad148
 
Here are two of the threads from the original BFC Stungun tests...
Note that I started out as a "believer" due to an earlier experience with one (I believe it was a psychosomatic reaction.) but after reading the evidence and trying it for myself I am totally opposed to their use for self defense.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95120

and

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94616

Short story is, they're great fun at parties, but using one against an attacker is going to result in painful rectal insertion.
 
As far as I'm concern, stun guns are worse than useless as self-defense tools. I've shot myself several times, in the arms and tighs, and can attest to the fact that they're little more than annoying.

Leo
 
Does anyone have experience specifically with the Myotron stun guns, which the manufacturer claims to work differently?
 
While some stun guns may not be a viable self-defense weapon, please be aware that a Milspec model can be very effective.

In the gear-up for the aborted Haiti mission, some of the troopers in the 82nd were issued "high amperage" stun guns. They were about 8X3X2 inches (17.5X6.5X4.5 cm), weighed about 5 lbs, and had contact points a quarter inch (.5cm)thick.

Having been part of the "confidence training" I can tell you that every one of my 24-troop class did the funky chicken after application of the device. Three people recovered in 5-10 minutes, but most of us were far from combat-ready for over 15 minutes.

Perhaps a "subdual" weapon with a very limited reach is not a viable self-defense weapon at all, but they are not all as useless as some would have you believe.
 
I owned one when I was younger and me and the friends use to whack each other with it as pranks.It sucked to get hit by the thing cuz it did hurt.IMO it would never stop someone unless you grabbed them and held to their chest for a long period of time,in which you will feel it as well as the bg.Mine was a 60,000 volt unit.I would imagine the 200,000 volt plus units that take 2 9 volts must realy hurt like a sob.I still wouldnt trust my life on it.

What I realy wana know is if anyone has experienced the Air Tasers?
I would imagine if hit by it you could easily rip them out.
 
I've heard mixed reviews with stun guns. Tasers, the "electric" stun guns which work on a live wire, I've heard to be quite effective, even against nasty canines.
 
Tasers proved less than effective during the Rodney King incident. Due to his belligerent attitude after being stopped by the police for speeding, he got zapped not once but twice; his reaction was to just pull out the barbs and keep advancing towards the cops.
The rest, as we know, is History.

Leo
 
parreich,
Give me a couple nails, heavy guage wire, a broom stick, tape, and a car battery and I'll make you a stun gun from HELL!

But that's not really relevent. The limitations of the Stun Gun are not physical, but rather legal. Stunguns sold to Civilian Law Enforcement and private citizens are very regulated in the maximum output voltage and amperage so as to not be lethal to anyone. You could hit a guy wearing a pacemaker with a commercial stungun and 999 times out of a thousand not hurt him in the slightest. It's for that reason that commercially available stun guns will never be effective self defense tools.

STIHL,
The shock does not transfer from the aggressor to yourself if you're touching them. As stated in the threads I linked to, (Don't blame you if you don't read the whole thread, they're long.) I came up behind a female LEO and got her in a grapple that would allow her to reach back and hit me with the stun gun. The idea was to see which of us said "Uncle" first. She gave up long before I was ready to say "Enough!" and she never felt the shock at all, even though we were in close physical contact.

The test gun we were using was 250,000 volts and two FRESH 9 volt batteries. Note that the battery strength does not affect the power level of the "zap" but rather how often it zaps, as it takes longer to recharge the capacitor from a weaker battery. Once charged however, the capacitor delivers a full load every time.

As to how much it hurt, it felt like being "snapped" with a toothbrush handle. Annoying at first, but getting gradually more painful. It does eventually get painful enough to make you cry "Uncle" but it takes way too long to get to that point.
 
This is an easy one.
I used to attend the Secret Service Pistol Comp. almost every year. I would do a demonstration on all the latest greatest electronic stun items every year. My point here was to make sure that officers knew that a normal individual without preparation, mind/body altering drugs, or extreme emotional stimulus could defeat these items. What was important was to make sure when trying this device, the officer would not become overconfident and put himself in a precarious position.
Therefore I sure wouldn't risk my life with them. But think about it, there are people who withstand multiple gun shots and don't go down, why would anybody think that something less than lethal would work(efficiently).
You can try it, but you better have a back up plan!
 
Originally posted by CJ Caracci
This is an easy one.
You can try it, but you better have a back up plan!

couple nails, heavy guage wire, a broom stick, tape, and a car battery ??? :D j/k
 
I don't know what happened to me, then. Either it was mostly psychosomatic, or I got hit with an industrial strength model, possibly both, but it sure hurt at the time.
 
Anyone try one that run at 750,000? with brand new batteries? I mean one that acutally produces 750,000 volts I question some of the claims that the manufacture makes about how many volts are being sent out. I purchased one who is a soldier in isarel shall we say that it probably knock you down, but if your big enough you'll be able to get back up right away but kinda of weak in the knees. Anyone ever test the ones that they sale out there to determine how many volts are actually being fired off.
 
i would NEVER trust a stun gun - a bud of mine will take a 3 count from ANY one ya care to come up with,anywhere (cept crotch and face) for a BEER, not even a six pack lol - pepper spray works 200% better imho - and yes he has done this at gun shows the guys hate to see him coming - and i have shocked myself, other friends have too - conclusion - ya shock us and it will pi$$ us off and make us stick the stun gun ..............ya get the point - DONT trust one w/your life .......they dont work on many imho- and TASERS? anybody remember a guy name of rodney king?? nuff said


sifu
 
yeah rodney king went down but didn't stay down.. so they shot another one at him same thing happen. Wasn't he drunk as well? I would think that would kinda reduce how effective a stun gun is.
 
I gotta give my $0.02 on this.

First off, I have been stun-gunned. A friend thought it would be funny as hell to zap me in the kidney. In fact, he did it twice. I have to say it really startled me and hurt quite abit, but I was just standing by the barbeque at the time and was not in an aggressive mood. Even then it did not faze me that much and I was really cranky after I got up. I figure had I been in an agressive mood with adrenaline pumping it would not sufficiently effect me.

Considering this experience, and the fact that most stun-guns are relatively large, I question their usefullness.

IMO, if you want a detourant stay away from the stun guns, atleast untill they improve. I also had an experience with pepper gas and it was highly effective, is cheeper, has more range and is more available. Therefor I feel that it is a better choice.

[D]
 
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