A night-shift nurse returned to her car in a dark parking lot. A mugger was hiding under her car. As she unlocked the door, the guy rolled out from underneath and grabbed her ankle. Fortunately, the nurse’s keys were attached to a Kubotan, a nine-inch polymer stick with a metal key-ring attached to its end. Made by the same people who make the PR-24 nightstick for cops, the little hand-sized stick is practically indestructible.

Absolutely certain she was about to be shot, cut, robbed, or raped, the woman slashed repeatedly at the startled bandit’s face with her Kubotan-handled keys. Bear in mind that each key on the end of a Kubotan performs almost like a razor blade traveling at high speed. Did I mention that there were nine keys on the end of this nurse’s Kubotan?

Really angry about the unwanted invasion into her life, the nurse held the mugger captive against the hood of her car, threatening to give him yet another Kubotan sling if he so much as blinked.

By the time a patrol car rolled up, the desperado was actually glad to see the boys in blue. His first words were: "Get this woman offa me!" It took nearly 70 stitches to close up the guy’s face. Police charged him with attempted robbery. The nurse said they should have charged him with "inept robbery."

These deadly little nine-inch martial arts gems come not only in cop-black, but in decorator colors, like nurse-white.

The Kubotan is considered a defensive weapon and even has a training manual which is sold separately. The booklet describes fancy martial arts moves using the stick. Forget that! Most owners I know use the Kubotan simply as a handle for the real weapon-the keys on a ring at the end of the stick.

Please! Please! Remember-if you ever hit anybody with a Kubotan-or any other weapon-you must be able to show you feared for your life and acted in self-defense.