Improvised weapon

File:Dumbbell.JPG]]

Other than items designed as weapons, any object that can be used to cause bodily harm can be considered an improvised weapon. Examples of items that have been used as improvised weapons include:

• Sports equipment, such as baseball bats,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tjpc.state.tx.us/publications/reviews/99/99-4-10.htm|title=Baseball bat as used was a deadly weapon|access-date=2010-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725215732/http://www.tjpc.state.tx.us/publications/reviews/99/99-4-10.htm|archive-date=2010-07-25|url-status=dead}} golf clubs,{{cite web|last=Mayorga|first=Carlos|date=May 10, 2010|title=N. Ogden man charged in golf course assault with deadly weapon|url=http://www.standard.net/topics/golf/2010/05/10/n-ogden-man-charged-golf-course-assault-deadly-weapon|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718163540/http://www.standard.net/topics/golf/2010/05/10/n-ogden-man-charged-golf-course-assault-deadly-weapon|archive-date=July 18, 2011|access-date=5 June 2010}} cricket bats,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/dec/14/jail-brothers-burglar-cricket-bat|title=Self defence or malicious revenge? Jail for brothers who beat burglar with bat|first=James|last=Sturcke|newspaper=The Guardian |date=December 14, 2009|via=www.theguardian.com}} hockey sticks,{{Cite web|last=Banker|first=Andy|date=December 12, 2012|title=Hockey Stick Used To Break Man's Jaw|url=https://fox2now.com/2012/12/11/hockey-stick-used-to-break-mans-jaw/}} dumbbells,{{cite news|newspaper=Terre Haute Tribune-Star|date=February 6, 2008|title=Wabash Valley Correctional Facility inmate in critical after attack|url=http://tribstar.com/news/x1155734900/Wabash-Valley-Correctional-Facility-inmate-in-critical-after-attack|access-date=5 June 2010}} and cue sticks{{Cite web|url=https://www.villages-news.com/2021/07/23/n-c-man-arrested-after-allegedly-hitting-man-with-pool-cue-at-bar-in-wildwood/|title=N.C. man arrested after allegedly hitting man with pool cue at bar in Wildwood|date=July 23, 2021|website=Villages-News: News, photos, events in The Villages, Florida}}
• Objects made of glass, such as beer bottles{{cite web|url = http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2008/08/police_say_broken_bottle_was_w.html |title = Police say broken bottle was wielded as weapon in Princeton robbery|access-date = 5 June 2010|last = Ratcliffe |first = Michael J.|date=August 2008}}
• Road vehicles, such as personal automobiles{{Cite web |date=2016-07-15 |title=A Short History of Vehicles Being Used as Deadly Weapons |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/france-truck-attack/short-history-vehicles-being-used-deadly-weapons-n609811 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Veilleux-Lepage |first=Yannick |date=2017-03-29 |title=How and why vehicle ramming became the attack of choice for terrorists |url=http://theconversation.com/how-and-why-vehicle-ramming-became-the-attack-of-choice-for-terrorists-75236 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=The Conversation |language=en}} and rental trucks{{cite web |last=Ottley |first=Ted |title=Imitating Turner |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/turner_7.html |access-date=April 10, 2010 |work=Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols: Oklahoma Bombing |publisher=TruTv}}
• Civil and commercial aircraft, such as the Piper PA-28-236 Dakota{{Cite web |title=Austin American Statesman Coverage of Plane Crash |url=http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/02/18/austin_police_say_a_plane.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627061844/http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/02/18/austin_police_say_a_plane.html/ |archive-date=June 27, 2013}} and the Boeing 767{{cite news |date=2001-09-12 |title=Twin Towers Demolished, Pentagon Hit in Terrorist Attacks |publisher=Foxnews.com |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34177,00.html |access-date=2008-06-10}}
• Tools, such as scissors,{{Cite web|url=https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/1984557/jamestown-woman-stabbed-man-holding-child-with-scissors.html|title=Jamestown Woman Used Scissors To Stab Man Holding Child|date=22 September 2021}} ice axes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/story/the-assassination-of-leon-trotsky|title=The Assassination of Leon Trotsky|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}} hacksaws,{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/woman-murdered-by-collegemate-in-kottayam-college-campus/article36774268.ece|title=Female student murdered by her classmate in Kottayam college campus|author=Staff Reporter|newspaper=The Hindu|date=October 1, 2021|via=www.thehindu.com}} pliers,{{Cite web|url=https://www.wkrn.com/news/driver-attacked-with-large-pliers-after-road-rage-incident-outside-metrocenter-subway/|title=Driver attacked with 'large pliers' after road rage incident outside MetroCenter Subway|date=July 29, 2021}} crowbars,{{Cite web|url=https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/19580695.east-cowes-man-warned-jail-likely-vicious-crowbar-attack/|title=Jail warning for cleaner following vicious crowbar attack at skatepark|website=Isle of Wight County Press|date=19 September 2021 }} screwdrivers,{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-03-me-41993-story.html#:~:text=Ordinary%20screwdrivers%20have%20long%20been%20used%20as%20deadly%20weapons%2C%20they%20said.&text=%E2%80%9CI've%20seen%20deep%20puncture,crime%2C%20prosecutors%20and%20detectives%20said.|title = Killings Turn Screwdriver into Unlikely Tool of Death|website = Los Angeles Times|date = 3 October 1993}} sledgehammers,[https://books.google.com/books?id=IRhLAAAAYAAJ "The Lawyers reports annotated, Volume 21"] Page 506 lug wrenches,{{Cite web|date=May 19, 2010|title=Carson City deputies arrest three after fight with tire iron|url=https://carsonnow.org/story/05/19/2010/carson-city-deputies-arrest-three-after-fight-tire-iron|website=Carson Now}} shovels,{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-25-150/ch7.htm|title=FM 3-25.150 Chapter 7|website=www.globalsecurity.org}} pipe wrenches,{{Cite web|url=https://www.federalwaymirror.com/news/son-charged-with-beating-mother-to-death-with-pipe-wrench/|title=Son charged with beating mother to death with pipe wrench|date=18 August 2021|via=www.federalwaymirror.com}} fire extinguishers,{{cite web|url = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3991378695366614033#|title = Weapon of choice: Fire extinguisher|access-date = 5 June 2010|year = 2006}} hammers,{{Cite web|last=Rasmussen|first=Cecilia|date=August 8, 1994|title=Clara Phillips was never one to mask...|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-08-me-24759-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times}} and entrenching tools{{Cite web|url=https://sofrep.com/news/wwis-weapon-of-doom-was-an-entrenching-tool/|title=WWI's Weapon of Doom Was An Entrenching Tool?|date=January 23, 2022|website=SOFREP}}
• Construction materials, such as 2×4s,[https://books.google.com/books?id=IRhLAAAAYAAJ "The Lawyers reports annotated, Volume 21"] Page 504 pipes{{Cite web|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/05/man-accused-fatal-lead-pipe-beating-pleads-not-gui/|title=Man accused in fatal lead pipe beating pleads not guilty - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper|first=Cara|last=McCoy|date=April 5, 2010|website=lasvegassun.com}} and bricks{{cite news|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7024740.ece|title = Mayfair partygoers throw bricks at riot police|access-date = 5 June 2010|date=February 2010 | location=London | work=The Times}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url = http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/local/8169873.Brick_used_as_weapon_in_street_robbery/|title = Attack happened in Kings Furlong|access-date = 5 June 2010|last = Gregory|first = Chris|date=May 2010}}
• Natural materials, such as rocks{{cite news|last=Hadad|first=Shmulik|date=May 2010|title=9 officers hurt in east Jerusalem riots|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895731,00.html|access-date=5 June 2010|newspaper=Ynetnews}}
• Gardening and agricultural tools, such as axes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/606870/mary-farmer-murder|title=A Forged Deed and a Bloody Trunk: Mary Farmer's Plot to Steal Her Landlord's Home|date=November 27, 2019|website=www.mentalfloss.com}} sickles,{{Cite web|url=https://occultrevival.net/the-sickle/|title=The Sickle | The Occult Revival}} scythes,https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/five-minors-detained-in-attempt-to-murder-case-101653933116240.html {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} mattocks,{{Cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/unsolved-ax-murders|title=5 of History's Most Notorious Unsolved Ax Murders|date=March 18, 2022|website=Mental Floss}} machetes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.asgmag.com/prepping/life-hack-using-the-machete-as-an-effective-weapon/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110052755/https://www.asgmag.com/prepping/life-hack-using-the-machete-as-an-effective-weapon/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=10 November 2019|title=Life Hack: Using the Machete as an Effective Weapon|date=July 10, 2019}} pitchforks{{Cite web|url=http://medieval-period.com/medievalmen.html|title=Medieval Men - Medieval-Period.com|website=medieval-period.com|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-date=2017-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812011048/http://www.medieval-period.com/medievalmen.html|url-status=dead}} and pickaxes{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/04/us/execution-texas-overview-divisive-case-killer-two-ends-texas-executes-tucker.html|title=EXECUTION IN TEXAS: THE OVERVIEW; Divisive Case of a Killer of Two Ends as Texas Executes Tucker|first=Sam Howe|last=Verhovek|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 4, 1998}}
• Kitchen utensils, such as kitchen knives,{{cite web |title=Susan Wright re-sentenced to 20 years in prison for husband's murder |url=https://www.khou.com/article/news/susan-wright-re-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-for-husbands-murder/285-341983803 |website=KHOU |date=2 November 2010 |access-date=31 March 2022}} meat mallets,{{Cite web|url=https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2013/07/27/9th-circuit-calls-for-new-sentencing-hearing-for-arizona-death-row-inmate/|title=9th Circuit calls for new sentencing hearing for Arizona death row inmate|date=July 27, 2013|website=Arizona Daily Independent|access-date=10 November 2019|archive-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110052752/https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2013/07/27/9th-circuit-calls-for-new-sentencing-hearing-for-arizona-death-row-inmate/|url-status=dead}} ice picks{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/nyregion/ice-picks-are-still-used-as-weapons.html|title=Ice Picks Are Still Used as Weapons|first=Wendy|last=Ruderman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 31, 2012}} and meat cleavers{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58591405|title=Man jailed for Handsworth meat cleaver attack|work=BBC News|date=September 17, 2021}}
• Livestock herding equipment, such as lassos{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrUdgzSICxcC&q=did+the+huns+use+lassos+as+weapons&pg=PA240|title=The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture|first1=Otto|last1=Maenchen-Helfen|first2=Otto|last2=Helfen|date=January 1, 1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520015968|via=Google Books}} and whips{{Cite web|url=https://bullwhip.org/?page_id=35|title=Whips in Combat | The Bullwhip FAQ}}
• Maritime equipment, such as grappling hooks,{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-piracy-idUSBRE91B19Y20130212|title=Have hired guns finally scuppered Somali pirates?|newspaper=Reuters|date=February 12, 2013|via=www.reuters.com}} fishing nets,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/gladiators/retiarii.htm|title=Retiarii|website=www.tribunesandtriumphs.org}} spearguns{{Cite news |title=JET LANDS SAFELY AFTER ATTACK ON CREW |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/04/08/jet-lands-safely-after-attack-on-crew/d6481a01-a4ee-4e63-9c23-29504c5f9ee3/ |access-date=2023-07-17 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/speargun-killer-jailed-for-life-20050805-ge0n2q.html|title=Speargun killer jailed for life|date=5 August 2005|website=The Age}} and boat oars{{Cite web|url=https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/police-man-beats-women-with-brick-and-boat-oar/article_6aeaf5f7-a4c9-5f30-b3a0-81c80b2bbe30.html|title=Police: Man Beats Women With Brick and Boat Oar|first=Johnathan|last=Hogan|website=Idaho State Journal|date=5 December 2018 }}
• Recreational toys, such as slingshots{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/turkish-protester-slingshot-photo_n_3429497|title=This Woman Shows Protests Are Ageless|date=June 12, 2013|website=HuffPost}}
• Furniture, such as chairs{{Cite web|url=https://www.uticaod.com/news/20180507/woman-charged-with-assault-after-allegedly-throwing-chairs|title=Woman charged with assault after allegedly throwing chairs|website=Uticaod}}
• Musical instruments, such as didgeridoos{{Cite web|url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-man-arrested-for-allegedly-bashing-footy-fan-with-a-didgeridoo/989a2e54-adf7-453c-9211-ccd9d814b255|title=Melbourne man arrested for allegedly bashing footy fan with a didgeridoo|website=9News|date=25 May 2022 }} and acoustic guitars{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/guitar-smashing-comedian-kenny-moore-recalls-infamous-heckling-moment|website=GuitarPlayer.com |title=Guitar-Smashing Comedian Kenny Moore Recalls Infamous Heckling Moment |date=15 April 2020 }}
• Consumer pyrotechnics, such as firecrackers and fireworks{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20201012-fireworks-attack-on-french-police-sparks-protest|title=Fireworks attack on French police sparks protest|date=October 12, 2020|website=France 24}}

File:machete knife blade.jpg, US Forces issue]]

Throughout history, common tools were used so often as weapons in self-defense that many of them evolved specifically into weapons or were adapted with the secondary purpose of being used in self-defense, usually by adding modifications to its design. Well-known examples include the Irish shillelagh, which was originally used as a walking stick; the Japanese bō, which may have originally been used to carry buckets and baskets; and the Buddhist monk's spade, a shovel monks used for burying corpses, which often had sharpened edges to help defend against bandits.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

Many martial arts use common objects as weapons; Filipino martial arts such as Eskrima include practice with machetes, canes, bamboo spears, and knives as a result of the 333-year Spanish colonization in the Philippines that prohibited the ownership and use of standard swords and bladed weapons;{{Cite web|url=http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/warrior_traditions/2009/01/escrima---the-filipino-martial-art.html|title=Escrima - The Filipino Martial Art|access-date=2010-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606064546/http://psychjourney_blogs.typepad.com/warrior_traditions/2009/01/escrima---the-filipino-martial-art.html|archive-date=2010-06-06|url-status=dead}} Chinese martial arts and some Korean martial arts commonly feature the use of improvised weapons such as fans, hammers and staves. There are even some western martial arts that are based on improvised weapons, such as British quarterstaff fighting and Irish stick fighting.{{cite book |last=Hurley |first=John W. |title=Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick |publisher=Caravat Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4303-2570-3}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrFMHmsMmWAC&dq=shillelagh+the+irish+fighting+stick&pg=PA347]

After the German Peasants' Wars during 1524 and 1525, a 1542 fencing book edited by Paulus Hector Mair described fencing techniques using a scythe.[http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00006570/images/index.html?seite=411 Digitale Bibliothek - Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum]

File:British Home Guard Improvised Weapons.JPG

Because of the use of common objects as weapons in violent crimes, many countries have laws that prevent the use of some tools and other non-weapon objects to be used for causing harm. It is possible for a person to be detained or even arrested by a law enforcement official or security personnel for carrying a potentially-harmful object if there is no reasonable use for it. For example, it is legal and perfectly understandable for someone to possess a kitchen knife or a hammer and keep it for use in one's home, but it could be judged suspicious for someone to carry a kitchen knife or a hammer concealed on their person or in plain sight when walking down a city street.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

There are places that prohibit people from entering with objects that may be used as weapons. Most public schools in North America do not allow their students to bring pocket knives, butter knives{{Cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/25/Hernando/Girl_arrested_for_but.shtml|title=Girl arrested for butter knife in backpack}} or chain-wallets, sometimes with harsh zero tolerance policies. Airports typically prohibit objects that could be used as weapons from being carried as a carry-on or in a carry-on bag into the aircraft cabin. The security repercussions after the September 11 attacks saw restrictions widely extended to cover even objects like nail clippers and spiked wristbands.{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldhum.com/features/eric-weiner/post-9-11-airport-security-do-you-know-where-your-dignity-is-20090910/|title=Post-9/11 Airport Security: Do You Know Where Your Dignity Is?|website=World Hum}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all|title=What Can I Bring?|website=Transportation Security Administration}}

File:Talvisota Molotov Cocktail.PNG]]

File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Hand-Made Gun Found on Two Children in Kabatiya.jpg "Carlo", made out of a toy gun. Used in West Bank.]]

File:TireNail1-2.jpg puncturing device (slang term ‘Ninja’), composed of an iron nail inserted into a rubber disc from a used tire. Many of these makeshift weapons were scattered by Palestinians on main roads in the occupied territories of the West Bank during the First Intifada.]]

A makeshift weapon is an everyday object that has been physically altered to enhance its potential as a weapon.Improvised Weapons & Munitions – U.S. Army Ultimate Handbook: How to Create Explosive Devices & Weapons from Available Materials: Propellants, Mines, Grenades, ... Fuses, Detonators and Delay Mechanisms by U.S. Department of the Army, Madison & Adams Press, ASIN: B06WGP4FJZ It can also be used to refer to common classes of weapons such as guns, knives, and bombs made from commonly available items.

Examples of makeshift weapons include:

• Millwall brick
• Molotov cocktail
• Shiv
• Improvised firearms
• Marble gun, a type of improvised firearm which shoots marbles
• Improvised artillery is used by multiple factions in the Syrian Civil War. They include the Jahannam cannon, Jahim cannon, thunder cannon, mortar cannon and compressed air cannon.
• Chainlock (improvised flail)
• Garrote
• Stink bomb
• Smoke bomb
• Trench raiding club, a type of improvised wooden club with hammered hobnails around its circumference used for trench raiding during World War I.
• Blackjack/Sap
• Improvised explosive devices
• A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened.
• A pipe bomb is an IED that uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material.
• A barrel bomb is an unguided IED made to be dropped from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
• A lob bomb is a rocket-fired IED.
• Barrack busters were improvised mortars used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army during The Troubles.
• Acid packets were used by rioters during the Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi/article/delhi-violence-not-just-petrol-bombs-acid-packets-also-found-on-aap-neta-tahir-hussain-s-terrace-video/558435|title=Delhi violence: Not just 'petrol bombs', 'acid packets' also found on AAP neta Tahir Hussain's terrace [VIDEO]|website=www.timesnownews.com|date=27 February 2020 }}

The improvised Molotov cocktail was used with great success by the heavily outnumbered Finnish forces in the Winter War against the Soviet Union.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The mixture of flammable petroleum, often thickened with soap or tar, was so effective against the Soviet tanks that the Finns began mass producing Molotov cocktails, and issuing them to their troops. While the first documented use of such improvised incendiary devices was in the Spanish Civil War, their use in the Winter War was much more prevalent, and it was at that time they were named after the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, to match the Molotov bread baskets.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kevos4.com/Molotov_Cocktail.htm|title=None}}

• Insurgency weapons and tactics
• List of criminal enterprises, gangs, and syndicates
• List of riots
• TM 31-210 Improvised Munition Handbook
• Suicide attack
• Suicide weapon
• Vehicle-ramming attack

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.home-cov.demon.co.uk/improv.htm Improvised Self Defence Weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730020233/http://www.home-cov.demon.co.uk/improv.htm |date=30 July 2020 }}

{{Weapons}}

Category:Weapons

Category:Street culture