Are you familiar with the monkey fist, a non-lethal weapon consisting of a one-inch steel ball wrapped multiple times over in wire attached to a length or cord, commonly hung from one's keychain or key ring and used as a flail against an attacker's sensitive &/or strategic areas, such the trachea, temple or forearm?

Alternate uses of a monkey fist as a means of self-defense are to hold the monkey first itself in one's hand and flail one's key(s) at an assailant or , especially if one's attacker's especially quick, throwing the fist--cord, keys, and all--at at the perpetrator (which, depending on the circumstance, may require good aim and a boost of strength, the latter of which could accompany the stress of the situation at hand). Were you to use a monkey fist, or have already, in which way would you prefer to &/or did employ it?

Perhaps surprisingly, the monkey fist is not legal in every U.S. state (if any Canadian Tellwutters want to comment about its legailty in their province, please do!). Is it legal for you to own--and likelier more importantly, use--a monkey's fist where you live?

I'm asking about monkey fists because I recently got one. But my purchase was preceded by not knowing it was a monkey fist I was about to buy. I was told of an inexpensive, non-lethal weapon that might interest me by a fellow member of an organization to which he and and I belong. I then attended an event where I was told the person from whom I'd eventually buy my monkey fist was to have a presence. He ended up not being there , but someone else at the function told me of the name and location of the tactical supply shop he owns. Not many weeks later I got to his shop, where he introduced me to monkey fists. I purchased not one, and a canister of pepper gel (superior to pepper spray as a defensive substance because, unlike spray, gel can't as easily fly back into the face of whomever's dispensing it in windy conditions), too. Have you ever encountered a circuitous path to something that has benefited you, or you believe will benefit you...even if you never hope to have to use it , as is the case with the weapons I bought?

This question may be especially relevant to the numerous Tellwutters who have posted surveys and comments opposing the constitutionally-guaranteed (at least in the US) ownership of guns--and other potentially lethal weapons?--by private citizens not employed in professional law enforcement nor military service. If you don't already own a monkey fist to protect yourself , and possibly others dear to you and in your care, would you be comfortable owning one and, as the occasion would arise, using it as means of self-defense? Feel free to answer the same question in regard to pepper gel &/or spray as well.