Defence & Space

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

The Philippines Ordered 12 FA-50PH Block 20 Aircraft

The Department of National Defense of the Philippines has signed a contract with the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries for…

2025-06-04 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Karkonosze Program: A Game-Changer for the Polish Air Force’s Tankers?

The Polish Air Force has been requesting the acquisition of aerial refueling tankers for years. The program to procure a multi-role transport…

2025-05-23 | Sławek Zagórski | 5 minutes

Swedish A26 Submarine and Poland’s Orka Program

In early April, Saab organized a visit for representatives of the Polish defense media to the Saab Kockums shipyard, located in Karlskrona…

2025-05-08 | Przemysław Gurgurewicz | 16 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

The Philippines Ordered 12 FA-50PH Block 20 Aircraft

The Department of National Defense of the Philippines has signed a contract with the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries for…

2025-06-04 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Advancing multi-domain EW operations: Rohde & Schwarz unveils latest innovations at AOC Europe

Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates the next generation of SIGINT/EW systems, sensor fusion and signal analysis solutions, designed to meet the evolving…

2025-05-12 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

Iberian Blackout: Is Poland Prepared for a Similar Scenario?

The blackout on the Iberian Peninsula has prompted a few cautious questions about whether Poland is secure in the event of…

2025-05-02 | Krzysztof Zagórski | 6 minutes

IDET & PYROS 2025: KALAN Tracked Amphibious Vehicle as the Successor to the PTS

During the International Fire Fighting Equipment and Services Fair PYROS (held alongside IDET 2025 in Brno), the Czech company New…

2025-05-30 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Patria AMV XP 8×8 with TURRA 30 Turret

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2025 in the Czech Republic, Finnish company Patria Oyj showcased its…

2025-05-29 | Rafał Muczyński | 4 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

The Philippines Ordered 12 FA-50PH Block 20 Aircraft

The Department of National Defense of the Philippines has signed a contract with the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries for…

2025-06-04 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

IDET & PYROS 2025: KALAN Tracked Amphibious Vehicle as the Successor to the PTS

During the International Fire Fighting Equipment and Services Fair PYROS (held alongside IDET 2025 in Brno), the Czech company New…

2025-05-30 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Leonardo and Weststar Join Forces to Supply Helicopters to Malaysia

During the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Italian company Leonardo and Malaysian firm Weststar…

2025-05-20 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Iron Beam with new laser director

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense unveil new Iron Beam laser director. Company to Showcase Full High-Energy…

2025-06-05 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

The Philippines Ordered 12 FA-50PH Block 20 Aircraft

The Department of National Defense of the Philippines has signed a contract with the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries for…

2025-06-04 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Polish Minister of Defence Travels to the U.S. for Meeting with Pete Hegseth

A press conference was held at the 1st Airlift Base with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz…

2025-05-26 | Redakcja | 5 minutes

Another Meeting at the Polish Ministry of National Defence with a Delegation from South Korea’s DAPA

Polish Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda met with Deputy Minister of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA),…

2025-05-14 | Redakcja | 1 minutes

Airbus, CNES and VAST reaffirm commitment to strengthening EO capabilities in Vietnam

Airbus Defence and Space, the French Space Agency, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology have signed a Declaration of…

2025-05-26 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

ICEYE and IHI start cooperation to develop SAR satellite constellation in Japan

The Polish-Finnish company ICEYE and the Japanese IHI Corporation are beginning cooperation in the construction of a constellation of up to 24…

2025-05-22 | Redakcja | 3 minutes
Shooting

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Grand Power Showcases M4M1 Carbines for the Slovak Armed Forces

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2023 in the Czech Republic, Grand Power — a Slovak firearms manufacturer — showcased…

2025-05-28 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X and TLR-8 HL-X sub

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X flashlight with an integrated laser sight, producing a beam with up to 1,000 lumens of power, offering…

2025-03-18 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

Protective Rescuer Vest – BC Arms Archangel

The Archangel Rescuer Vest is the result of a collaboration between Polish companies Currahee and BC Arms. It was created in…

2025-05-16 | Mariusz Rams | 6 minutes

Direct Action Spitfire Plate Carrier – Part 1: Testing the Carrier

Nowadays, the market offers a wide range of options in the gear and load-bearing equipment category. One of the most basic…

2025-05-08 | Michał Gaweł | 14 minutes

Enforce Tac 2025 starts on February 24th

Enforce Tac is an international trade fair aimed at law enforcement officers, experts from government agencies, and representatives of the…

2025-01-30 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

POLSECURE: Holsters HPE Poland offer for uniformed services

At the 3rd International Police and Public Security Fair POLSECURE 2024 in Kielce, Holsters HPE Poland presented its offer for…

2024-05-01 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

MSBS GROT BULLPUP conversion now available

Fabryka Broni “Łucznik” Radom is introducing long-awaited conversion kits for the MSBS GROT S16 FB-M1 and S10 FB-M1 semi-automatic rifles,…

2025-06-02 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

IDET 2025: Grand Power Showcases M4M1 Carbines for the Slovak Armed Forces

At the International Defence and Security Technologies Fair IDET 2023 in the Czech Republic, Grand Power — a Slovak firearms manufacturer — showcased…

2025-05-28 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

Setting Up a Shooting Belt: An Example with Clawgear

To assist with shooting training and beyond, various belts and gear configurations have been developed and customized to suit individual needs. It’s…

2024-11-28 | Łukasz Kołodziejski | 14 minutes

Weapon light: a practical tool for everyday service. How to choose?

In the world of armed forces, where every second can determine the outcome of an operation, precision and effectiveness are…

2024-08-29 | Redakcja | 7 minutes

Over 100% increase in gun permits in Poland in 2024

The Polish Police have released statistical data on firearm permits issued in 2024. An increasing number of Poles now hold…

2025-02-20 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

Firearms In Poland 2023: Number of permits continues to grow

The National Police Headquarters has released statistics regarding the number of firearm permits and firearms themselves in the hands of…

2024-02-17 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

5 Best Value ATN Rifle Scopes Under €1500

ATN is a leading manufacturer of daytime optics, smart night vision, and thermal vision technology. The innovative features and ergonomic designs…

2022-11-11 | Redakcja | 8 minutes

MILMAG Visits Grand Power

Grand Power is a Slovak manufacturer of the acknowledged good quality firearms. Take part in our guided tour with English subtitles.

2022-05-23 | Redakcja | 1 minutes

Protective Rescuer Vest – BC Arms Archangel

The Archangel Rescuer Vest is the result of a collaboration between Polish companies Currahee and BC Arms. It was created in…

2025-05-16 | Mariusz Rams | 6 minutes

Direct Action Spitfire Plate Carrier – Part 1: Testing the Carrier

Nowadays, the market offers a wide range of options in the gear and load-bearing equipment category. One of the most basic…

2025-05-08 | Michał Gaweł | 14 minutes

EOTECH Holographic Sight – History, Technology, Practice

The holographic sight is a device known for nearly 30 years and used by professionals around the world. A favorite sight of many…

2024-09-02 | Michał Gaweł | 12 minutes

Self Defense Part 1

When we hear self defense, what comes to mind is a fight for safety of us, our family or our possessions. To expand this simple definition a bit more, self defense is an entirety of available means and techniques used for the above mentions and ensuring our own safety. Nowadays, there is breakneck amount of self defense equipment and techniques available. Why breakneck? Because most of those will cause more harm then good to the defending person.

With this short foreword, I would like to start a series of articles concerning widely conceived self defense. These texts will not only touch upon hand to hand techniques involved, but will also describe a whole variety of procedures that may come in handy under threat. What`s worth lugging around as EDC? Which combat course will be worth the money and time spent? How to avoid and prevent dangerous situations? When giving away Your wallet is the best course of action? I will try to answer these and other questions in the coming series of articles.

Bit of laws and regulations

As I`m based in Poland, the self defense limitations derive mostly from regulations typical for my Country. It is important, before planning any self defense activities, to study the law carefully and tailor our defense strategy accordingly. Quite often, line between self defense and lawless attack is very thin. This will vary, depending on the location You live in but please bear this in mind all the time.

One never knows what might happen in the urban jungle. Reacting is a matter of training.

Practical approach

When the law is known, one can start analysis of how to defend themselves and how to be ready. Well prepared person will be aware of the threats, can behave in high risk situations and most likely will not panic. This person should also posses a rudimentary knowledge and skills of hand to hand combat. This skills however, are not the most important. It is necessary to familiarize with said techniques and their utilization in certain situations. The hand to hand training and my experience in it will be presented in a different article.

An attack

Below, I would like to present real possibilities of dealing with a simplest threating situation – a robbery. When the assailant(s) want our phone/wallet/watch the amount of possible responses is very limited. We can act in the following way:

  1. Start a fight
  2. Try to run
  3. Negotiate and try to convince that we don`t have anything
  4. Just give in and hand stuff over

This is the worst outcome of the robbery. Not only we loose our belonging but our health as well

The safest way is to give into the demands and hand the wallet to the attacked

Giving in

Why do we start with the most unpleasant solution? Because I believe it is the safest. We just give away our belongings. It sounds painful, doesn`t it? With the smartphone, we loose all the contacts, notes and schedules. Giving away the wallet will result in loss of money, important documents (ID`s, driving license), credit cards and various other bits (membership cards, valuable photos, loyalty cards etc.)

Loosing this wallet would be very painful

Indeed, this solution can be mentally painful. How to minimize this? Simple – prepare a dummy wallet. It does not matter much how it looks, it`s suppose to be a sort of a bait. Carry it in an accessible place and fill it with unimportant cards, old (cancelled) documents. Top it up with some notes as well to make it look tempting.

Additionally, think about smaller coin purse. It can com in handy. Attacker asks for a wallet and expects one item. When we give him two, he might believe that we are giving away all we have. Similar premise can be use with phones. In certain situations, having two phones will be better. Just hand over the dummy one (but make sure it`s works ok). Unfortunately, there is no similar solution for the watch.

Two dummy wallets ready for handing out. First is a small coin purse, the other looks more tempting with worthless cards place inside

Another important aspect is the rising popularity of various bags and fanny packs. Many people fill this up to the brim as carrying stuff in the pockets is uncomfortable. This makes the bags very easy to loose in a robbery situation. Attacker will most likely target something visible, full and accessible. This must be taken into considerations when we are deciding our EDC. In everyday situation, during daylight hours, these bags are quite safe. One thing to note – any type of a bag is and easy pray for a pick pocketer. Getting stuff out of a fanny pack is simpler that out of the pockets.

If You are planning an eventful night out try to minimize the carried things and prepare some dummy sets. If someone want`s to rob us don`t negotiate, act surprised and just hand over the false items. It is important to keep saying that we don`t want trouble, that our well being is more important than the belongings etc. This will help with getting away in one piece.

No point hanging about after giving the dummy wallet away. Walk briskly and report the incident to the Police

Negotiations

Another solution for a robbery can be the negotiations – trying to explain that we do not have what the attacker wants. Bear in mind that this will most likely irate the assailant and he can carry out his threats more likely. Negotiations can`t be carried out as a sole solution to the situation. These always have to serve as a preparation stage other self defense steps.

When we explain that we don`t have anything we can search our pockets and locate items that can be helpful (e.g. pepper spray). At the same time, we gain time to asses the attackers, their numbers, equipment and possible escape routes.

In this case, negotiations are an opening for two other solutions. One of those is an escape. We need to put is at a distance to the attacker (e.g. Push him away). This can give us a chance to run away in a predetermined direction. It`s very important to judge if we will be able to escape successfully as quite often this will entail a few hundred meters run.

Second solution is to fight. In this case the negotiations will allow us to surprise the attacked with our skills or equipment.

It doesn`t matter which course of action we choose. Everything must be well trained. We need to have a whole situation imagined and planned well before and playing in our head when the attack comes. It` good to develop a keyword – primer – of sorts, that when spoken will push us into acting without any hesitation. This will be one of the topics covered in the next part.

 

This article was originally published on MILMAG 01/2018

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