I'd also think about what I might do if there is more than one assailant. A collapsible baton of any other stick will be less effective in that situation. Walk with a cane & find a Hapkido school (most Tae-Kwon-Do schools have somebody who studies it) to teach you how to use it. Don't expect to be able to defend yourself using it for about six months though.

Ultimately an assailant with a gun will win though. The safest alternative is to not be in that situation without at least one other person. It's actually better to have someone of the opposite sex with you. There have been psychological studies that show that criminals are a little less likely to attack a couple (not saying it doesn't happen) becasue they expect the man to fight harder if he's protecting a woman. IT might have soemthing to do with quite a few folks being KO'ed by a stick weidling girlfriend when the guy's are distracted by fighting as well.

Yeah I would say do your level best to avoid the situation, but I know how sometimes you have to walk. Just try to make the walk short and walk in the safest areas/streets you know how.

For instance I sometimes have to walk from campus to my neighborhood about a half a mile a way. Scratch that, I always have to walk, but sometimes its 3AM on Thursday night or whatever. When that happens I don't actually carry anything around but I definitely do what some people do (which I consider stupid). These things include:

1) Listening to your iPod.
2) Looking down at the ground instead scanning left to right and looking far ahead
3) Not checking behind you every once in a while.
4) Not pretending to talk on your cell phone if you feel especially threatened.

The studies show that that's the best thing you can do if you're alone. Pretend to talk on the phone (or don't pretend at all... call someone). Because if you do this and get mugged, the word will get out immediately. No good. So if you do talk to someone you actually know, tell them where you are at the beginning of the conversation.

And of course if unfortunately you have to walk past someone coming the other way on the sidewalk, don't do anything funny. I would say don't look them in the eye, but don't act shy either. Definitely don't cross the street. Just puff up your chest and be ready to run.

And of course take martial arts as a last resort.

But the biggest lesson of all that I have learned ( you already know most of this apologies if you do):

If someone is asking you to give them your money, just do it. Especially if it seems they might pull something on you. And even more especially if they already have.

If you find this happening to you often, carry less cash. If they are jumpy and ask for your whole wallet without looking, you may want to consider either A) having a decoy wallet with little to nothing in it or B) keeping your ID in your backpack or another pocket so that you don't lose it.

Krav Maga I have found is a great martial art by the way, very practical. And fun. But of course the first thing to do is run, only fight if you can't run.

My neighboorhood is relatively safe, but inbetween my subway stop and house is your typical big city ghetto. I'm usually the last person out at my job, and most of my coworkers and employees don't own cars.

The situation is that I've grown a tail three times in the last six months, and last night had a guy try to sneak up on me twice. I pay attention to my surroundings, and the street I walk down is well lit (last night it was the guy's shadow that gave him away), so I've been able to meet them head on and force them to either try me face to face or keep walking. So far I've made it home without incident, but my luck with that is bound to run out. I don't know if these guys are hopped up on drugs or carrying weapons themselves, so it's a situation where I want to be able to quickly neutralize them without using deadly force. Obviously, if the guy has a gun in his hand I'm fucked, and would give up everything I had without a fight, but it's generally just guys who are banking on size advantage. Last night I would have had a six inch and 50-75 lb disadvantage.

then what about speed advantage, do you carry a lot of things with you?

if so, you might want to be ready to drop it and run if you need to, if not, just run, or consider carrying less.

if you don't run very fast right now i highly recommend doing just a bit of running on a regular basis, even this small amount will give you more speed and endurance than your average person. especially people bigger than you.

i dont know man.... there's no alternative route to your place? if not, like i say, you can reduce chances a lot by talking on a cell phone. how many people are usually out on the streets at this hour? enough for there to be other people around?

@ Thucy: When I first noticed the guys shadow and turned around, he was about five feet behind me, wearing a hoody pulled so tight that I could only see his eyes and nose. I immediately crossed the street and and entered 911 on my phone so I'd only have to press send. When I reached the far corner I stopped and turned to face him as he was crossing. He walked by me and kept going down that street. I watched him walk for a few seconds then continued home. Halfway down the next block I turned around and there he was coming around the corner. At that point I was only a block and a half from the street I turn on, so I walked at a high pace and was ready to run like hell when I reached the corner. Luckily, a cop had a car pulled over the next block down, so if he did reach that corner, I'm sure that stopped him in his tracks.

@ trip: First of all it's really sad that you can't feel safe in your own town/city. That sucks. I'm really sorry to hear that it's such a threatening environment.

You mentioned your subway stop. Is it possible to get off at another subway stop, a little further away, but where your walk home from that stop would not be through the dangerous part of town?

@ Crazy Anglican: "2) A cell phone with 911 on speed dial. (call when you see someone coming your way, don't wait until they get there)."

When you're out at night, you call the police every time someone walks towards you? How many times have you been booked for wasting police time?

@Trip:
The other thing to remember is that whatever happens, you will have to use the same route again, and your assailant might remember that.

It looks to me that the combination of a sham wallet with a 20 and some cheap cards in it (no personal ID), a mobile phone you can afford to lose etc. (- the more serious the weapon he pulls, the more of your bag and pockets he can force you to reveal.) PLUS the advice to get running fit will work best.
I also like the idea about the mace, that will give you a big advantage combined with running.
Start by running in the daytime through that same area for mile or two, getting to know all the dead ends and the ways out and where they lead to.
Lol OJ Simpson used to do that as a kid and look how far he got when he was on the run!!

If an incident takes place, start to run until you know for sure the guy is not bluffing you and will pusue you. If he corners you chuck your wallet (even drop your bag) at him and try rolling out of the situation and run like fuck!! Don't laugh, rolling is taught in all armies as a key way to get out of a corner. Practice at home, place a large obstacle in the middle of the floor and roll to either side of it until you can find the angle which suits you. You can come back later with the police to search the area for the bag.
The point is the thief is out to mug you for a few bucks, not necessarily to kill you or take your books and spare clothes!!

One final point: the other posters above have indicated a fighting style might be worth learning. It is very dangerous to take on more than one attacker with a martial arts tactic especially if they possess weapons. Why? Because it's a documented fact that martial artists trying their skills in a gang mugging tend to get killed, primarily because the gang realises they have a fight on their hands, so a simple beating turns into a vicious fight in which the victim gets hit on the head or stabbed etc. People like that often hate their victims enough to not expect them to fight back. They have nothing to lose, you do.
Besides you don't sound like the type who has the body or the personality to for street fighting!!

@ Jamiet: It's not that I don't feel safe, or that it's a threatening environment, it's just the once in a while occurances that come with living in big city. Trust me, the good far outweighs the bad, otherwise I'd move. I just think that having some kind of personal defense wouldn't be a horrible idea.

Oh sorry, I forgot:
The police advice is to not carry a weapon unless you are extremely confident with it. The advice also relates to the fact that you could be accused by the guy who tries to mug you of attacking him, to get himself off the hook.

The reason is this - what if the assailant takes the weapon off you? If a big guy confronts you and you pull the weapon, the chances are he will see through your bluff and if you hit him you are letting him know straight away how strong or weak you are. This helps him decide if he should tackle you. And now you have gone and hit him and he is looking to get you back........

@ Thucy - You go to UT Austin right? Why don't you own a gun yet. Texas is in the top five of easiest states to get a license to carry a concealed. Best defense possible.

@ Trip- Screw mace. Get pepper spray. Some people are actually immune to mace (not sure why, but my cousin's security guard at a very ghetto mall and he swears this is true) but no one is immune to cayanne pepper in their eyes. Also, the range on pepper spray makes it far more useful than any stick, knife etc. It also doesn't take any strength or training to learn to use and it incapacitates poeple for longer than hitting them with a nightstick does.

@ theVerve: I would never pull out a weapon if I didn't intend to use it. Only assholes carry weapons for bluffing.

I'm in my mid 30's, so I don't view fighting as something to do on the weekends when I'm drunk, or afterschool because somebody talked shit on me. I view a fight as a threat to my life. That means I will stick my thumb in a persons eye, or try to break their arm or leg.

If the guy wants to try and find me after he learns to walk again, so be it. I also wouldn't hang around and wait for the cops to show up.

LJ, perhaps being hopped up on drugs helps against mace?

I agree, mace or pepper spray would be better than a stick. I would imagine they would work better as a deterrent. A mugger may not care if you get a hit in, but would be more concerned about getting a spray of something in the face.

Regarding a fake wallet with a $20, you could also use a money clip with five one dollar bills. Throw it one way and run the other making the mugger choose. Make sure you don't throw it the way you are wanting to go.

And definitely get your running stamina up. If you do some jogging on your way to the subway during the day, you'll increase your distance every week to the point where you could run the whole way if need be.

I'm thinking an open-carry suicide bomber vest is probably the most effective way to keep criminals away from you. There are a few drawbacks, however...

But seriously, trip, I think the best way to avoid trouble is to stay out of his domain. I've lived in some pretty rough neighborhoods and like to walk to grocery stores and the like. I never had a problem if I stuck to walking along heavily trafficked streets - the handful of close calls I had like the one you describe all happened on side streets.

@trip: makes sense, but your question did suggest you were bewildered and lacking experience.

I've had a few incidents in the past and I'm much the same age as you are, so all I can say is there's no easy solution if you are not willing to pull a handgun. I don't live in a country where it's legal to carry a pocket firearm, but you do. If the problem is junkies expect a very serious level of violence.
Somethig else, the fact that you've been cased on several occasions strongly suggests you are looking like a soft target in some way or other. As a mature individual its up to you to figure out why that is. Experienced crooks figure out the habits of their intended victims. This means you could be the target sometime when he's got no other target.
Come up with a plan to get yourself out of the situation; use it the minute you are in doubt. Make the 911 call if your tail starts to pursue you. Start observing the people in the area you walk through, so you can tell who's a regular and who's not.

Above all, don't take anyone elses advice 'cos there's a lot of loolas out there willing to give you all the wrong advice!!!

Honestly, of all the advice I've heard here, I like running the best.

Nothing suggested here is going to protect you from a group of thieves, or a gun, or someone on PCP.

Why not just run to the subway stop? It doesn't have to be an "OH MY GOD" panic run, just a nice jog. It will keep you out of harm's way and it will be a nice form of exercise that you may not otherwise get.

get a body guard?

i usually run/jog places at night it makes you a less desirable target as it snt very sneaky to start sprinting after someone it also gets you from A to B a little quicker.

it's probably been mentioned but keys inbetwen the fingers work well if needed, as does a nalgene on a clip. who ever mentioned having a decoy wallet was right on as well, also carrying valuables in your front pockets instead of back pockets.

one last weird piece of advice(not sure if it has been shared) but walk the route during the day sometime noting different escape paths, barriers, possible "bad" guy hideouts or a shop easily found to go into

yeah whoever said never fight more than one person and even then as a last resort has it spot on.

because you can bet a mugger has been in more fights than you have.

I would say that weighted knuckle gloves may be a good choice. The knuckles are weighted with lead powder. The force is evenly distributed so a solid punch causes a knockout rather than a death or serious injury that can be held against you.

You could also try developing nuclear capabilities.

Mace is still probably your best bet against one person. Just remember that you're going to spray and then leave immediately. Pepper spray is similar so I think of them as roughly equivalent. The idea is to inhibit his chances of following you when you run. A telescoping baton or any other small stick has do physically harm the other person, leaves bruises and contusions, etc. Also more than one strike may be necessary. A good spray of mace will makes his eyes water and affect his breathing. Two things that work in your favor if you're running from him.

**has to physically harm**

Carrying a cane gives you the advantage of a longer reach and sweep. My instrustor is fond of telling the story that he had two elderly ladies come in to his class for classes. They weren't physically able to do most of the techniques so he focused on teaching them the cane. About six months into their training they actually did have a guy break into their apartment and they were ready for him. Apparently by the time the police showed up he was more than happy to leave with them. If you watch the news its not too uncommon to see a story of an elderly person fighting someone off with his/her cane. If that's possible for them what could you accomplish with it. A determined person with a cane can be a fearsome target. The whole idea is to be harder to mug than the next person.