How do you carry self-defense items/weapons?

Some guy giving you dirty looks because you have a weapon in case he tries to rape/kill you is a great reason to keep carrying it. Keep it out if it's legal, because them KNOWING you have it makes them less likely to attack you.

I carry a bright neon pink pepper spray displayed openly hooked on the outside of my purse so everyone can see I will defend myself if attacked.

Got Bear spray, sharp katana at home, whoever enters will be chopped up like Sushi in a Nori wrap. I'm trying to get a permit for a gun. Scrote's will be scrote's but I will not let them get their way.

He was giving you dirty looks because you were advertising your 'not an easy target'-ness and it pissed him off. Screw that ish.

I open carry, holster on my front right hip with a loaded extra mag. I live in a 2A state and you don't even have to have a permit to carry, open or concealed. I have my permit as a way to cover my ass if I ever have to defend myself for defending myself. I used to conceal carry but I found that open carry deters a lot more bullshit.

I've noticed that the last few years with the influx of people from states with radically different attitudes towards gun control and ownership (come on people, you move to the south you need to expect to run into us rednecks ...... 🙄) I get a lot more dirty looks but I just don't care.

Pepper spray is the single best thing you can carry for personal defense. It requires almost no training/practice to use correctly, unlike nearly all other weapons. It can be used at a distance, unlike knives, impact weapons, or most stun guns. It's non-lethal, which means it is legally less risky to use, and less risky if it gets taken from you in a fight. That's very important to consider with self-defense tools. What happens if you get overpowered and the person takes it from you? Keep your pepper spray, and keep it somewhere you can get to it very quickly. In a dangerous situation, seconds matter.

Most other weapons/self-defense tools aren't worth it unless you're willing to put a lot of time and effort into training to use them correctly. Otherwise, they're more dangerous to you than they are to a potential assailant. If you're going to do that, a gun is literally the best bang for your buck. Most other options are equally lethal (and therefore equally risky to you, both legally and in the sense of getting overpowered), but harder or more dangerous to use correctly. If you are absolutely opposed to handling a gun, a long impact weapon is probably the next-best choice. It doesn't take a ton of training to beat someone with a bat. (Collapsible batons are easier to throw in purses.)