Over the years I’ve made no secret of my affinity for self-defense canes. One of the manufacturers of my favorite canes, Charles Davis, offers something related, and of which I was reminded early this morning. I went out to my Corvette to fire up the old girl for the commute into work when I discovered that the temperature had dipped well below freezing. It’s winter, officially, here in Central New York. That means it’s snow brush and ice-scraper season. My preferred ice scraper is my Charles Davis Escrima Scraper, shown here.
The Escrima Scraper is just what you think it is: a sturdy 1-1/16 inch diameter, 28-inch long, fire-hardened rattan stick, inserted in a custom machined (and extremely sturdy) block of solid acrylic plastic. Whether the Escrima Scraper would pass inspection by a law enforcement officer is debatable. I think it would depend on the context of the stop and on your conduct prior to discovery of the implement. For my part, however, I carry the Escrima Scraper in my car without fear that it will get me into much trouble.
The heavy acrylic block is incredibly sharp. It scrapes well (although perhaps less well than a slightly flexible scraper, because it has no curve and does not conform at all to the surface of the windshield). It excels in scraping the more vertical side windows of the ‘Vette, for example.
More importantly, that block of acrylic plastic transforms the Escrima Scraper into something like an axe when used defensively. It hits HARD and cuts deep. It is not so heavy as to be unwieldy, but it lends enough extra heft that hammering and hacking away with it is very natural. I’ve no idea just how well the rattan handle is affixed inside the acrylic, but so far I have not managed to dislodge it.
You can use the Escrima Scraper for more traditional FMA/Arnis -type stick work, too, but given how top heavy the scraper is, you’ll want to reverse it and keep the scraper below your hand (where it will deliver ruinous punyo strikes). Held in this manner I don’t notice the extra weight at one end, and the entire stick feels very steady in my mitt.
Any weapon that can double as a utility tool and perhaps even pass for one is worth considering. In this case, adding the ice scraper to a rattan fighting stick makes the resulting combination more useful for striking. That’s rare in a combination weapon, because trying to do more than one thing well usually results in doing both things less efficiently.
Purchase the Escrima Scraper here, and be sure to tell them The Martialist sent you.
Hey Phil, great article. On a similar note, you might want to look into a weapon known as a dan-bong(short stick). I made one out of 1/2″ dia. steel rod, and I think it is one of the most underrated weapons out there. A relatively gentle strike is easily capable of shattering bones.
Phil, as it has gotten cold in Ohio recently, I had similar thoughts. I’ve always kept paired ice scrapers (in case one breaks) in the back seat, and have been known to do a few sinawali patterns with them. 🙂