Truthfully I’ve yet to encounter anything needing self defense as a blind adult and I’ve lived in some really rough places. I don’t know much about keeping coyotes away but with people at least being aware of your surroundings, not going anywhere alone after dark, and walking tall with speed and purpose keeps most attackers away. Martial arts like jiu jitsu or judo are helpful too. There’s an older book called Safe Without Sight that might still have good advice too.

I am super curious about this as well. My dad wants to buy a gun. But he's started carrying a machete in my mom's car. But he can not see well enough to shoot or stab anything. Not even a Thanksgiving turkey!

I can put all the nuance here I want so DM me if you’d like more context or info on any one point.

Your threat profiles here are very different. Humans won’t fight the same as opportunistic coyotes. There’s no one size fits all solution for protection against a completely unknown situation. Plan ahead for the things you’re concerned about and work from there. Honestly, for wild animals a bright flashlight and megaphone might be enough sights and sounds to scare them off. A shotgun with the first shot being birdshot, second being buckshot would be my next line for wild critters; less travel and penetration for birdshot rounds but would still give most animals pause. And if they don’t get the point, buckshot next. But that first round is a warning shot that, while still dangerous, minimizes your potential harm to nearby living beings. Just understand the munitions and practice shooting with them.

For humans, some grappling and a high lumen flashlight combined with a taser or pepper gel would work best. But, even more important is just conflict resolution skills and being able to navigate stressful situations with a cool head. And I think this is why training something like Brazilian jiu-jitsu or wrestling is good. You quickly learn how quickly physical confrontations can go south, and your willingness to just jump into a scrap like Rambo—despite having skills to assist you in said situations—goes way, way down because you learn the true nature of actually fighting someone and how quickly you can go from standing to unconscious. Learning how to actually handle yourself in a violent encounter makes most people way less cocky and eager to get into a confrontation. Have the skills and tools that’ll help, but if you need to use them then your first line of defense (your conflict resolution and de-escalation skills) have already failed and you’re in bad bad territory if you need to ever put hands on or deploy a self defense tool against another person. The flashlight in this case is a great middle ground. Having a flashlight with multiple modes of brightness is a great debuff against a sighted attacker in darkness or dimly lit spaces. Over 1,600 lumens causes enough pupil contractions and visual artifacts that it renders the other persons night vision useless and illicit, in a lot of cases, involuntary reactions to the bright light. This can buy you precious seconds to get the hell out of dodge or help level the playing field if it really did come down to it.

Also put some thought into some basic physical perimeter security as well such as working flood lights, an outdoor camera or two to cover the exterior, making sure to keep doors and windows locked, maintain shrubs around the house to not give anyone places to hide near the house, and a dog or two. You could go a few steps higher with things like reinforcing the nails in your door hinges, window jams, an actual home security system… but really it’s all about what situations you’re concerned about and what’s actually going to realistically help. What situations are you actually able to do something about, which are just boogeymen in your mind that are beyond your ability to prepare for, and what’s the biggest cost-to-benefit preparations you can do that don’t make your wife and kids feel like they’re living in a prepper bunker.

Source: live with my blind wife and daughter in a rough part of town and we had two attempted break ins while we were home. Also practice what I preach and train jiujitsu and carry a good flashlight wherever I go. All things I’ve done that have helped keep myself and my family safer. There’s no such thing as complete security, and chasing that myth will be tiresome, expensive, and in a way traumatizing to your loved ones to constantly live in that heightened state of alertness.

The statistics about being harmed with your own weapon are certainly not in your favor. I have lived very rurally. We had livestock and predators were a threat. The only time I needed a gun was when a rabid Fox came around my horses. I called the local post office and borrowed a shotgun from them to put it down. If you’re worried about intruders to your home, A safe room is probably your best bet. If you’re worried about coyotes etc. then I think research will prove that they’re much more afraid of you than you are of them. Livestock not with standing. When my children leave very young we did fire drills and I spoke to them extensively about stranger danger and where to go for help. If it will make you feel better I think a good course in self-defense is a good idea. It’s amazing but just grabbing a finger and bending it backwards will take care of most attackers.

Blind people can own guns. I know of a number of them. Even one who makes guns, and works in the police department in the armory department. Use to be a blind cop. It’s totally doable. Uses guns on a regular may even conceal carry, and does many many gun shows and builds nice weapons.

I also know a few other blind people who hunt.

A home security system is one thing you can get to make you feel a little safer. We have one and it definitely helps with my peace of mind. I do own a firearm (I bought one when all the riots were going on in summer 2020, because we live on the outskirts of a city and were concerned), but I keep that put away and hope I would never need to use it. I carry pepper spray in my backpack when I'm out, and I have a knife in my nightstand drawer. I guess it sounds paranoid, but of course I hope never to use any of them and rarely think about it. I just think it's good to take precautions and I want my wife to feel safe as well.

Not sure about coyotes maybe there’s some repellent and barriers of some sort for that? But ask for general protection white canes hurt like a mofo to be hit with grip the handle and start smacking knees and ankles, it doesn’t take much force to bruise the crap out of someone’s legs if they come up and grab you from behind, there’s a type of martial arts that uses a staff as a defense weapon and those sorts of techniques can be used with a white cane.

Pistol, knife and fox labs pepper spray. Jujutsu is handy. You could train with a firearm however you’d need a good safe. I know a couple of no vision shooters. They train to shoot center mass of the sound

I carry a canister of pepper gel with me, and I try to not go to new places alone, especially after dark. I prefer it to pepper spray because it has a longer range and isn't as liable to blow back in the wind. I also carry a safety whistle with me. Probably overkill, but as a blind woman, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'd like to learn Judo, but I don't know of any instructors local to my area.

​

For animals, there's bear spray. Don't use it on humans, otherwise you'll end up on the wrong end of the law.

​

Tasers can help, but keep in mind that they only stun temporarily while firing. Once the electricity's off, they don't do much, and some people can work through the pain. You also have to get quite close to your attacker.

Honestly, forget about a taser. Based off of my research, the stun gun models that are the ones you need to "stab" on your attacker don't seem to do much in terms of incapacitating your attacker. They also don't seem great on animal attacks as they can cause an animal to "lock on" etc. Maybe that's not true, but I heard it once and it gives me pause, but ultimately, they don't seem to be powerful enough.
And with the police style tasers that shoot at your attacker, I shy away from those because I'm not certain my accuracy would be ideal for a one shot is all you get type situation.
My suggestion is to look into pepperspray and carry that everywhere you go. My research leads me to believe in the effectiveness of several brands. Fox Labs seems to be very reliable and effective, I've read that the one point four and five point three squared versions are exceptionally painful. Sabre Red is an old reliable line of sprays that seems to be very reliable and consistent. Other brands like Defense Technology Red Label, and a few others seem to be also highly recommended. Also POM is a company that makes very compact models you can easily carry in your pockey. Get the flip top models, not the twist open tops, they're too easy to open in your pocket and discharge.
I would research brands and products to see if what you find matches up with my suggestions.
Personally, I would get several sprays. Larger ones when you have larger pockets, such as jackets or big pocket shorts. 2 oz or larger size containers work for this. Smaller containers work well for slimmer pocket carry, such as the POM models. I would personally avoid the stream patterns of sprays, as you need to be more accuate. I would opt for cone shaped delivery sprays or fog modules, but look into which spray pattern you feel comfortable with.

I would not be worried about wildlife predators beyond big cats, bears, and wolves. Good yard hygiene like keeping trash shut away, outdoor grilling areas clean and away from your home, and fallen fruit from trees and bushes are a must in bear country imo.

Deer, moose, elk, etc can do a lot of damage, but they are pretty easy to spot and make a lot of racket when they move. You'll find your remaining vision will still pick up on moving objects maybe more than you expect.

Don't know if you have snakes or fire ants in your area, it's good to be aware of those also. I don't know that I'd get a machete or a bullwhip or whatever other crazy weapons folks want to get for protection, but a nine iron is fairly discreet and packs a punch and was recommended in a self defense book I had back in the day.

I . . . have trust issues, and make the best case scenario assumption that anyone I run into is going to try to get me to join their multi-level marketing scheme or church, and worst case scenario assumption that they're going to try to add me to their wardrobe. So I do what most other folks in this subreddit do and keep my outings to daylight, business hours in very public areas.

Buy a high lumen flashlight.



Will protect you from coyotes at night, they won't want to be near it.



Honestly if you are a full grown human odds are a coyote isn't going to even come near you. They are more scavengers and opportunity hunters. They will go after small dogs and children unattended but unless starving or rabid they won't even get near larger dogs.




I've been very close range with them several times (I have a zoology degree) and they always back away first or stay sitting at safe distance not approaching.




For general self defense: Martial arts tend to be the best. They make less than lethal air propelled hand guns if you want to train on them. They will incapacitate pretty damn well with kigurumikek being lethal.