https://peacekeeperproducts.co...ges/choosing-the-rcb

This is the only collapsible I have carried or would carry. That being said, they’re heavy bastards.

Useless.

I ditched mine a long time ago. Nothing like a good piece of hickory.

Luckily they allow us to carry a straight wood baton as well. I have that instead. It actually works.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KevinCW,

quote:

Originally posted by Paddy314:
The only thing I ever used mine for was poking things I didn’t want to touch otherwise. It’s mostly useless as an impact weapon, but it will break glass. I’d rather have a blackjack.

It's a shame they are not legal in most places.

Useless. Forced to carry it due to use of force continuum. It's supposed to legally cover the agency in case a physical altercation turns into a shooting. You can either risk being overtaken while trying to use the Asp ineffectively, or be damned for going to the pistol first. There is also the option of the Taser, which is carried "weak" side. Good luck trying to get it out while entangled in a fight.

I am glad I am not the only one that thinks the thing is totally worthless.

I hated mine and the only reason it was on my belt was because it was required.

I loved the PR-24 and the Monadnock, and prayed they would give us the choice.

I remember the instructors at the Academy telling us how quick it was to deploy the ASP in an altercation. I laughed.

I always carried a Maglite or a Streamlight XL 20. I walked a lot of foot beats for my first agency and that entailed walking every alley in the City. There is no way you can tell me that if someone jumped out at me that I would be able to deploy my expandable baton faster than if I had a flashlight in my hand.

This was re-enforced by numerous retired Richmond City PD officers I worked with and around during those rookie years.

I would say that you would be better off with a good can of OC, bear mace or even a nice flashlight.

Another useless vote. The Asp was most effective when placing it in the spokes of a fleeing bicycle, the concrete and gravel did the rest. Upon taking control Trump tower at the beginning of the Chicago shit show, Asps were nowhere to be seen as the wooden baton stood tall. Unfortunately we are equipped with a smaller wooden baton when compared to the State Police and is somewhat less effective. Mass x Velocity x (officer capable of lifting more than paperwork) + direct hit to vital area (shin, forearm, meaty part of thigh or kidney) = Banshee scream, liberal tears and possible piddling in the pants of the now compliant offender.

Worthless. I now carry a sap or knuckles as impact weapons. Usually I don't carry them at all because, in my jurisdiction, it's perfectly reasonable for an old, not healthy man to shoot a young thug when threatened. From the cases I've seen, the prosecutor would not take it to indictment, and most likely I'd be interviewed and released after my weapon was seized, at which time I would go home and get another. Now they can't even prevent you from carrying without a court order, because we have constitutional carry.

My sap replacement:
Mean Gene Leather Hot Tamale "coin pouch".
I also have a Todd Foster Travel Sap.

26" of Hickory please. No thank you for an ASP or a PR-24 whirlybird..

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

2. Reaching across the patrol car to adjust the mirror or ac vent

The actual reason I have an "extra" in the map pocket of my assigned vehicle. I might tell the story that it's a spare/back-up, but in reality it's to adjust the mirror if it gets folded in the car wash, etc.

The one thing I have learned about ASP baton...they don't work that well if used according to the LEO training. If you swing them like you would a big piece of Hickory wood, they are not very effective. I use mine like a rattan stick in FMA (Filipino Martial Arts aka Kali, Escrima, Arnis, etc). Quick strikes to certain targets works great. I also have options for different control techniques using the ASP and my FMA training.

Go into a truck stop and buy a Tire Thumper. Truckers use them to hit the tires and listen for the sound of an aired up tire vs a low or flat tire.

I kid you not. Check it out.

Years ago I thwacked a guy with an Asp 21" across the back of the thigh. He said "ouch". it stayed in my locker until I retired.

I know other officers who have whacked people, some with full force, and it wasn't effective. I've never whacked anyone for about the 20 years I carried one, but I have intimidated the heck out of a few people over the years when I have expanded it in a quick jerk to make maximum show. I then held it in a very aggressive stance and would aggressively challenge the bad guy who had challenged me. I got compliance each time without ever having to whack them.

Same thing with my taser. I would remove the cartridge and give the bad guys a lightning show. The lightning and the loud clicking got me compliance without ever having to tase anyone.

To add, an expandable baton is as others have said - mainly utility/worthless as an intermediate weapon. Every day, officers have to knock on doors, and sometimes knock really hard. I would use my baton as a door knocker by holding it flat against the door, then lift one end and then bring it down hard against the door. I'm sure the occupants were never amused, but at least it announced my presence and saved my knuckles.

Thinking back, before we were allowed to carry them, we had some officers who were tasked with testing them first in a trial run. They were dealing with a bad guy one night and then got into a foot pursuit with him. As the one officer was gaining on him, he whipped out his expandable and the bag guy stopped in his tracks. He later told the officers he stopped because he thought the sound of the expandable baton deploying was a shotgun racking....true story!

I still have mine, but it sits in my nightstand drawer. I told or gave away things when I retired, but I kept that thing for some reason.

Sorry, but another anecdote about batons. For some reason, they aren't good for breaking vehicle windows. I have had to break windows out over the years, and I have whacked windows with a lot of force and they didn't break. I then started holding onto the blade and using the handle's end to break them. Also, one night, my buddy flipped his unit following me to a suicide in progress call. I turned around and got there moments later. I tried to break out the windows, but the dang thing just would keep bouncing off. That was back in the early to mid '90s so I don't remember now how I finally got him out of the unit.

Strangely, collapsible batons (tokushu keibo) were recently removed from standard equipment of Japanese police, where the weapon originated, due to numerous serious injuries during suspect arrests.

IMHO useless..great for poking snakes or "is iit dead" animals though.

Give me the old hardwood batons or my real preference; the PR-24.

Chicagosigman, check your email...or the junk file.

I never saw a co-worker use a collapsible baton effectively as an impact weapon. For my 30+ years in LE, I used a solid baton made of either polymer, aluminum, or wood (cocobolo). Mostly an AL-24 (24") aluminum side-handle baton, which was very effective. IMHO: The collapsible batons were created to look less offensive on the hip of officers and to provide a small/unacceptably false sense of security to the officers that were carrying them, either due to choice or mandate.

It has been said over the years that the reason expandable batons weren't seen as effective as they would appear is that most people struck with them were either intoxicated or had some other mental state where pain inflicted by the baton wasn't effective.

quote:

Originally posted by 4ftty4:
https://peacekeeperproducts.co...ges/choosing-the-rcb

This is the only collapsible I have carried or would carry. That being said, they’re heavy bastards.

The only collapsible baton worth a crap. I am going to get one. Buddy of mine has one and swears by it. Heavy, but the weight is where you want it to be effective. ASP’s are pretty good at breaking out windows, striking not so much.

When I started we were issued collapsible PR24’s. They sucked. Took up a ton of room on your belt and always got snagged on something. I extended one out so hard at the academy during training the polycarbonate baton part that came out to do the striking snapped off and helicoptered over my instructor’s head.