Police officers and security experts say that carjacking is preventable if one stays alert to their surroundings. In many cases good situational awareness will save your life at home, in the workplace, in the vehicle and in other public places.

Here are some things to be aware of to try to prevent a carjacking…

Before You Get To Your Car

• Be aware of your surroundings when entering and exiting your vehicle.  Notice who is around you or if you are potentially being followed.
• Try to walk to your car with another person if possible especially at night or in an unfamiliar area.
• Avoid parking near objects that someone can hide behind, such as dumpsters and large bushes.
• Trust your instincts!  If an area feels unsafe, it probably is.
• Avoid parking your vehicle in areas that aren’t well lit.
• Once in your Vehicle, keep your windows up and doors locked… ALWAYS!
• When stopped for a traffic light or other reasons, carefully observe what is happening around your car, via your side and rear view mirrors.
• Keep your purse, laptop and other valuables out of view while driving.
• Drive in the center lane to avoid being pushed over to the shoulder.
• Don’t stop at isolated cash machines or other isolated areas.
• Don’t stop to help a disabled motorist or pedestrian. Stay in your locked car and offer to call a service station or the police from your cell phone.
• Don’t open your window for someone approaching your car asking for directions or trying to sell your something.
• Another ploy is someone with money saying that you dropped it. This is a popular thing to do at convenience stores and gas stations.
• Don’t park your car in an isolated area.
• If you can’t drive away from a bad situation, stay in your locked car and yell and honk your horn repeatedly. Criminals don’t like noise and they tend to run away to avoid attention.
• When the victim is stopped at a traffic light.
• The carjacker pretends to be stranded.
• The carjacker fakes an accident to get you out of your car.
• The carjacker attacks the victim as they get in their car in parking garages, shopping mall and complex parking, and driveways.
       
• The best defense against a carjacking is having more than one person in the car.
• Always have your cell phone charged and a working charger in the car. Get in the habit to plug your phone into your charger when you get into your car.

Once You Are In Your Car

Areas or situations where carjacking takes place most…

Dealing With An Armed Carjacker

This is something that more and more people have to deal with. In today’s world statistics show that an armed carjacker with a gun will most likely use it and try to kill you once they have taken you out of the car. You are literally being put in a life or death situation.

IF YOU DO NOTHING, MOST LIKELY YOU WILL BE KILLED. YOU MUST ACT & ACT QUICKLY!

So you need to do all you can as fast as you can to save your life.

Here is an excellent video on how to defend yourself against someone with a gun utilizing Krav Maga Techniques. For those who do not know, Krav Maga is an Israeli Martial Art specifically created for the Israeli army’s Special Forces.

Carjacking Defense - Krav Maga Technique - w/ AJ Draven - https://youtu.be/V585rdvPDAA

Watch this over and over again and play it through your head often. When you pull up to a stop light, play the scenario through your head and practice the hand movements while waiting for the light to turn green.

What you are doing is mentally conditioning yourself and your sub conscious to react to an armed carjacker. By doing this training in your mind, your brain will go into action if you ever have to protect yourself in this life or death situation.

Just about any scenario that you will face in your vehicle can be correlated to a carjacking of some sort. So if you have all the bases covered to prevent a carjacking, you have covered many of the ways to protect yourself while in your vehicle.

The biggest lesson you need to take away is something we used to say in Ops all the time “ Stay Alert – Stay Alive.”

Weapons To Keep In Your Car

Again, you need to check the laws in your state. Many state come down pretty hard on people who keep concealed weapons in their car, so really do your homework.

Here are items I would recommend…

Cold Steel Inferno Pepper Spray – This is a great go to weapon that you can keep in the middle console, in the coffee cup holder, there are a lot of places you can keep it where it is quickly assessable.

One warning though, and I speak from personal experience. If you live in a really hot climate, do not keep these in your car. The summer heat will cause them to leak or explode. I used to keep the 1.3 ounce in my car and mind you we lived in Texas. Well, I got in my car one day and heard a slight hissing sound. I looked in a little compartment that I kept my Cold Steel Inferno in and sure enough it was starting to leak. I quickly got it out of the car and then sprayed it into a weed bush. It gave me a chance to shoot it and see the foam in action. The stuff covered the weed bush I sprayed it at and I got good coverage at 8 feet away. I had to use this pepper spray up right then and there, so I turned it into a learning lesson.

So if you are going to use pepper spray, keep it in a somewhat cool environment and not in the Texas or very hot environment.

Cold Steel Inferno 2.5 oz / 70 grams - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Cold-Steel-Inferno-70grams

Zap Million Volt Flashlight – I have talked about this stun gun in other chapters. I love this thing and in fact I own other Zap products. I have been impressed with them and my Zap flashlight is over 5 years old and still shocking big time. The key to having this as a car weapon, you need to make sure you charge it.

NOTE – Follow the instructions when it comes to charging your zap flashlight. They do not recommend charging it over 4 hours. I have been pretty religious about that and mine works great. They also recommend that if you have not used it, to charged it every two months.

Zap Million Volt Flashlight - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Zap-Million-Volt-Flashlight

Blackhawk Tatang Knife – Again I wrote about this in detail regarding my bug out bag / get home bag. This is a good knife to keep in the car as well. There are so many things you can use this knife for in a survival situation; so purchase a second one and keep it in your vehicle.

Blackhawk Tatang Knife - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Blackhawk-Tatang-Knife

Cold Steel Kobun Tanto Knife – This is a great little boot knife, pretty flat and will fit nicely up under the visor of your car. I have one that I keep in my car and it fits perfectly. I do not keep it in the scabbard and I have it positioned so that I can easily reach up there and by pulling the visor down, it falls naturally into my left hand in an “ice pick” grip. This way I can flip the visor down, the knife falls into my left hand and I can instantly go into an ice picking motion stabbing the assailant in the face, upper body, hands, where ever the knife can make contact with his body.

This is a technique that you need to practice so that you have it in your mind. Also have to remember not to use your visor like you normally would. Having a sharp tanto knife dropping in your lap while driving would not be fun.

To train doing this and not get your hand all cut up, Cold Steel has the Kobun in their nightshade series. This is a nylon knife with a kraton handle, the same type that the real Kobun has so that you can get used to the grip.

Using this trainer, which can also double as a pretty effective weapon in and of itself, you can train dropping the knife into your left hand and then going into the “ice pick” motion. If you happen to grab the blade by mistake, you will not put a nasty cut into your hand.

Once you have trained with the Kobun trainer, you can then practice with the real blade by putting some duct tape over the blade. This way you get the feel and weight of the real blade dropping into your hand and then going into the “ice pick” motion.

An alternate idea is to rubber band the Kobun to the visor. This way if you forgot about the blade being there, it would still stay in place, and could still be accessible. The negative is that the rubber bands would defeat the ice pick technique spoken about earlier.

The key is really training at this technique. So you may wish to keep your kobun trainer in the car with you and do some quick training while waiting in your vehicle or at a long stop light.

Cold Steel Inferno 2.5 oz / 70 grams - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Cold-Steel-Inferno-70grams

Cold Steel Inferno 1.3 oz / 37 grams - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Cold-Steel-Inferno-37grams

Zap Million Volt Flashlight - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Zap-Million-Volt-Flashlight

Blackhawk Tatang Knife - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Blackhawk-Tatang-Knife

Cold Steel Kobun Tanto Knife - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-CS-Kobun-Knife

Cold Steel Kobun Trainer - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-CS-Kobun-Trainer

Always Keep A First Aid Kit / Blow Out Kit in Your Car

In case you are assaulted, it is good to have the means to administer first aid to yourself or a passenger. Having a blowout kit ( a kit specifically for gun and knife wounds) is also a very good idea.

Here is a little personal story about the importance of having a blowout kit in your car.

One day Tracye and I were at the park and I had a brand new knife that I was working with, learning how to deploy it and close it up with one hand. Well, in the process of practicing, I closed the knife on my right index finger and sliced it pretty bad. Luckily enough, I had a first aid / blow out kit in the car and I was able to administer first aid to myself and stop the bleeding. From lessons past, I have also keep multiple bottles of super glue in my blow out kit as well. These are great and have come in handy many times. If you like to collect and work with knives, you will eventually get cut. Super glue is basically what the hospitals use to close up cuts like this.

I was able to stop the bleeding, and yes it was spurting out, but I applied compression long enough to stop it and apply the super glue. I wrapped it up and in 24 hours the cut started to mend itself.

If I did not have a first aid / blow out kit in my car, I would have bled all over the place and would not have been able to stop the bleeding.

These are items I recommend keeping in your vehicle at all times…

Israeli Compression Bandage - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Israeli-Compression-Bandage

Military Issue Combat Application Tourniquet - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Tourniquet

Quick Clot Blood Clotting Agent - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Quick-Clot

Super Glue Single Packs - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Super-Glue-Single-Packs

Coleman First Aid Kit - http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Coleman-First-Aid-Kit

Tools To Defend Your Vehicle

SPECIAL NOTE - In many states it is against the law to conceal weapons in your car. If you are caught, you could be arrested and jailed for having a concealed weapon. You need to check your state’s laws and determine what you can and cannot carry.

In some states, like Texas for example, the “castle law” extends to your personal vehicle. So you are allowed to carry weapons to protect yourself while you remain in your car.

So you need to weigh the pros and cons of what you will and will not carry to defend yourself while you are driving in your car.

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