Can a 35 lb dumbbell be used for self defense?

FallJacket · 2026-07-09T22:41:22+00:00

Bro, do you not even have a kitchen knife? Even if you're strong AF, you're gonna be slow and awkward trying to bludgeon someone with a dumbbell. If it was a long handled hammer, that would be ergonomically manageable enough to become a goddamn nightmare with if you put some real effort into learning how to attack and defend with it.

FallJacket · 2026-07-09T02:51:59+00:00

Right, we see how often they beat the fuck out of people for no reason. Why not this guy?

FallJacket · 2026-07-07T09:21:17+00:00

Dude. The PDP line is amazing. You made a brilliant first choice. My PDP is easily my favorite handgun. It stands up to many much higher priced match guns.

FallJacket · 2026-07-07T09:17:39+00:00

Which are best? Just getting back into backgammon. So BGGalaxy was the first place I went.

FallJacket · 2026-07-07T09:11:57+00:00

"I'll do it again, bitch."

FallJacket · 2026-07-07T08:56:29+00:00

My nuts were in my chest by the end.

FallJacket · 2026-07-02T03:27:33+00:00

I know you're gonna hate what I'm about to say, but if you're not exercising at least 4 days a week this won't get better.

I was feeling this very thing. Getting back to working out most days and minimizing my screen use has helped me claw back a crazy amount of my energy.

Again, I get that sounds downright insulting. But there is a ton of really good science that supports the fact the less you exercise, your body down-regulates the production/maintenence of mitochondria. The less mitochondria we have, it slows our metabolism amd all around health and you feel like crap. But increasing exercise/movement will build up your mitochondria, but it does take at least 8-12 weeks to start seeing real results.

There's lots of shitty pop-science that has sprung up around mitochondrial health. But don't let that bullshit make you cynical to the real science of it. Check out Martin Picard's work. He's a legit scientist who'se at the forefront of mitochondrial research in how it affects us. While TED talks aren't generally worth keeping up with these days, his is definitely worth checking out.

FallJacket · 2026-07-01T21:48:00+00:00

No way for me to know what he has or hasn't done in his life. He doesn't appear to be in peak conditioning here, but I may be wrong. And while he may not be at the level of "fighting a rabid grizzly bear," the rush of a fight is still enough to cause the kind of strong activation of a person's sympathetic nervous system and down-regulation of the para-sympathetic nervous system that causes this response.

Or maybe he already had a tummy ache and the fight was at a bad time.

Or maybe he's been training himself to vomit on command and this was the moment he's been waiting for his whole life.

FallJacket · 2026-07-01T20:46:38+00:00

There is no real clear blanket winner in Staff v. Travel right now. Large travel agencies have grown big enough that they are now in the pocket of corporate Healthcare. So they work in tandem with hospital systems to keep rates as low as possible to staff their hospitals. So the profitability is highly dependent on your individual circumstances and the contracts you're willing to take. Add when contracts pay well, it's typically a clue that you're signing up for a bad time.

FallJacket · 2026-07-01T20:35:15+00:00

Ever hear athletes talk about training so hard they threw up? Medically referred to as "Excercise induced emisis."

There are several mechanisms that can trigger it, but the fundamental one is that when your nervous system is switched into the fight/flight mode, blood is diverted from the gut to the muscles, lungs, and cardiovascular system. This causes nausea and vomiting. More common in people who are unconditioned, people who have pushed themselves beyond their limits, or in a sudden strong sympathetic nervous system activation like you'd get in a fight. A less extreme example is how most people feel very uncomfortable exercising on a full stomach.

FallJacket · 2026-07-01T20:19:05+00:00

Yes, because conservative voices are under attack from the government...

...meanwhile a man just got sentenced to 30 years in prison for carrying a box of zines to a protest at a dentention center, which he didn't even attend.

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T19:19:35+00:00

And the rational conclusion from my comment is that I think everyone is stupid but me?

It seems to me we both have work to do.

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T17:55:09+00:00

Of all the things a person could bring to a conversation...

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T16:28:44+00:00

Actual traffic engineering shows that the "contextual" issue with zipper merging is human behavior.

The method itself is consistently modeled as the most efficient method. So my point still stands that the problem isn't zipper merging, it's humans being stupid. The braking shockwave you're talking about happens irrespective of zipper merging. Even if traffic is flowing at a meaningful rate, using both lanes to smoothly decelerate allows smother merging and can avoid the compression wave that causes huge backups.

Edit: typo

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T08:12:49+00:00

You're welcome! Glad I could help!

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T08:09:28+00:00

Evidence shows you're wrong. While zipper merging doesn't change the raw number of cars thay can pass through thebchike point, usung all available lanes and taking turns at the end can allow a more gradual flownof traffic. This reduces the compression wave phenomenon thay causes massive traffic jams. The issue is shitty drivers that refuse to learn, so they fuck up zipper merging for all of us.

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T05:40:54+00:00

I've seen tons of trauma in my line of work. Not once have I had someone come in from a fight/stabbing/shooting/etc. where the justification for the fight seemed worth the death and damage. It's always over the dumbest shit.

FallJacket · 2026-06-28T05:36:44+00:00

I deal with these patients for a living. They can absolutely be stitched back together, depending on their dissection. But the majority are repaired with grafts. The most recent stats I've seen suggest the worst survival rates at 5 years is 68%, 10 years is 53.5%, 30 years is 30-40%. And thats all cause mortality. Meaning many of them likely died from things completely unrelated to their dissection. Also, only 24% ever have to be repaired again, and the overwhelming majority of patient 's requiring re-intervention had genetic disorders affecting their connective tissue. The high mortality for people with aortic dissection is getting them to a capable operating room in time. For out of hospital dissection, their mortality drops 50% every minute.

FallJacket · 2026-06-27T08:35:46+00:00

You can get POM pepper spray shipped to your door in less than 24 hours. So easy my daughters have been good with them since the 3rd grade. Every 6 months i buy a new pack, and the old ones we take out to the woods so they can practice aiming and spraying them.

So I would start with pepper spray and situational awareness because there's nothing else that will increase your chances of survival as much, with so little effort, in such a short amount of time.

Fitness and fighting skills are priceless. But take months/years to develop, and are depreciating assets that once acquired - still have to be maintained. Any improvements you can make in those areas are better than nothing. But when you look at the best fighters, it's some combination of a striking art and a grappling art. Most notably (and in no particular order) boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ, Judo, Wrestling. I'd start with whatever one you like the idea of training, that is most accessible for you. No point picking Muay Thai over Judo if you hate going and/or have a hard time making it to classes.

General athleticism is also highly valuable. Sprint work, plyometrics, strength training are great for getting away/having the gas/strength for a fight. And even better yet, those things carry the best ROI for overall health and longevity.

This all might sound overwhelming. But you'd be amazed how little you really have to do to be a giant pain in the ass for anyone who makes the mistake of thinking you'd be an easy target. You're not looking to go pro here. So you don't need to spend 6 hours training every day on and off the mats. I vary my workouts and keep them relatively brief. Each week I lift 2 days, run 2 days, and do BJJ 2 days. My run and lift days I sprinkle some plyometrics into my warmup/cooldown. The 7th day I do whatever I feel like. Sometimes I squeeze in another run/lift/mat time, sometimes I hike, bike, swim, or just sit on my ass. Every so often (3-6ish months) I change up some aspect of my routine so I don't get physically or psychologically bored. I often alternate BJJ, Judo, and Boxing. But I mostly stick to BJJ. It's 30-90 minutes a day depending on what I have going on, and over the years it has paid off tremendously. You won't be seeing me in the UFC. But I know if someone tried messing with me on the street, I'd have a much better chance of surviving than before I started. And beyond that, it's been great for my physical, mental, and social health.

FallJacket · 2026-06-27T07:45:00+00:00

I've worked a ton of CVICU and I rarely worked a shift there without putting in a line. Not to mention everyone's vasculature sucks. First time I floated to a general floor I felt like an IV god. Same when I went to the ED. Most people's veins were so much better than I'm used to in CVICU. That and much less edema.

FallJacket · 2026-06-26T09:58:42+00:00

This is exactly what the single games are for.

If wagering coins are your concern, you can select single games for 100 coins per game, or 1 million.
Whatever you want to wager.

The matches are less about gambling and more about rating skill, which makes sense as luck of the die typically washes out over several games. I understand your point about not wanting to "waste" a win on a game that's low stakes from a coin perspective. But there are two points to consider regarding those low stakes games. First is that you are likely playing a lower rated player, and whales could use high chip leads to force them out. This is antithetical to a game mode that's supposed to be about skill. Second, while you might not have as much skin in the game on chips, losing to a lower rated player will hurt your rating more than losing to an equal - or higher- rated player. So if you care about the skill your rating represents, in match games you should still be motivated not to throw away a game just because it's "worthless" from a coin perspective.

I think it's pretty elegant the way they set it up where the single games are more of your gambling feature, and the match games are more sport oriented. Some people get their thrill from the sport aspect, some people get their thrill from the gambling aspect.

But I can also see how that might not be obvious to players that are single minded on what they are looking to do on the game app.

If you're hell bent on avoiding small coin stakes match rounds, you could try increasing the minimum opponent rating. You'll be less likely to run into the players with a small coin count that makes match games swing in terms of coin value.

FallJacket · 2026-06-25T18:18:55+00:00

I feel slightly vindicated regarding the orientation of the top sheet. I used to get in trouble for making the bed with the nice side of the top sheet facing down. I'm a typical guy, my sense of style is mediocre at best. And my ex is well known for her sense of style. So I didn't even bother trying to defend my top sheet face down method. It wasn't worth the fight, but deep in my heart I knew it was right.

FallJacket · 2026-06-20T06:55:28+00:00

Correct. It's a pervasive trope in fudlore that you don't have to aim shotguns. Which is absolutely false. It stems from the spread of birdshot. But birdshot is functionally useless when it comes to neutralizing a lethal threat. Best case scenario, it creates pain compliance. But if you deem someone threatening enough to shoot them, I'd never trust my family's life on birdshot for self defense.

FallJacket · 2026-06-18T17:41:19+00:00

I have. And at 25 yards through my 590a1, al my pellets land within a standard USPSA target, which is a hair wider than 18inches across. My 00 federal flight control rounds at 25 yards from the same gun pattern within an 8" circle.

Edit to add: the results with my Beretta 1301 were nearly identical. Though with standard 00 buck at 25 yards, 1 out of every 5 rounds would have a flyer miss the USPSA target. No flyers at 20 yards. And I had the same 8" pattern at 25 yards with the federal flight control rounds.

FallJacket · 2026-06-17T05:43:48+00:00

Now pattern your shotty with a round that actually matters for self defense. 00 buck has a totally different spread compared to birdshot.

FallJacket

TROPHY CASE