Baseball bat or knife?

**gregaquaman** · Posted On: 1/12/2012 7:48am

Originally Posted by Vince Tortelli

Crimminal charges or lawsuits in civil court? There's a different set of criteria for each, and for the latter those are "Can legibly fill out the paperwork" and "Can afford the attorney in the thousand dollar jacket" (Why is the suit a thousand dollars? Because it is not cheap to tailor a jacket around a dorsal fin)

Yeah ciminally is the 99% rule and civi is the 51% rule called something in leagal speak

Trying to find one. Problem is I half remember a break in where the home owner either got sued or charged. I think it again comes back to reasonable force and when it turnes into assult.

Although I did find one where a home owner stabbed a guy and got off.
http://www.news.com.au/national/no-c...-1226242200976

Otherwise I will keep looking

**Vince Tortelli** · Posted On: 1/12/2012 10:06am

You may be thinking of Katko v. Briney.
The Brineys had rigged up a shotgun based booby trap in their guest home, which was set off by an intruder who then successfully sued them in civil court. This led to a great hue and cry by various politicians and other thinkers of good thoughts, and the passage of so called "Briney bills" in several state legislatures, expanding the right of a home owners re: self defense, as many people think if you decide to go into the house breaking business you should be willing to deal with the occasional shotgun blast.

**Diesel_tke** · Posted On: 1/12/2012 10:20am

Originally Posted by gregaquaman

Yeah ciminally is the 99% rule and civi is the 51% rule called something in leagal speak

Criminal court, here in the states is beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil court is proponderance of the evidence. Same that you said, but there is your legal mumbo jumbo.

On a side note, I had my son use one of his nerf swords against me in the hallway while I had one too, and it was frustrating as hell. All I could do was virticle swings and thrusts, which I used ok. I used it to make my was to the living room where it opened up to allow for better striking angles.

Definately would want the bat, because range is the deciding factor in the hallway.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 1/12/2012 12:53pm

Originally Posted by Hexe

Actually on Bat material, Wooden over aluminium?

Here's an article about how aluminum bats outperform wooden ones in baseball:
http://www.kettering.edu/physics/dru.../alumwood.html
I'll parrot his bullet points, speculated towards fighting instead of hitting a ball:
1. Aluminum bats swing faster- this has to do with the center of mass being closer to the handle. This also seems like it would be better for overall handling for fighting, as well. Anyone with experience with swords has probably noted that when the COM is closer to the handle, it's easier to handle the weapon.

2. Trampoline effect- there's less energy lost in the compression of the bat on impact, so I guess more is being imparted to the ball. Sounds like more power for hitting a guy.

3. Wider sweet spots- the ideal place to hit a ball has a wider margin of error than a wooden one. To me, a wider margin of error sounds like a good thing when you're swinging at a person, since they're apt to move in any direction to stifle your beating attempts.

4. Aluminum bats don't break- wooden bats often crack when they hit a ball. Are they likely to break when hitting a person? I'm not sure- a person's bones can offer a hardier target than a baseball, but its probably not flying at baseball speed into a perfect baseball bat swing. Nonetheless, more durable = better weapon, in my book.

So, I guess aluminum's a better choice, if you have either option.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 1/12/2012 1:17pm

Aluminum bats are illegal in MLB and the NCAA is considering a ban on them as well, due to the reasons above.
Many composite bats are similarly illegal in Little League.
I'd definitely go for aluminum.

**Boneless** · Posted On: 1/13/2012 12:10am

the bat, not only less deadly to the robber (or me) but also the intimidation factor
the sight of a bat can scare of any violent thoughs where a knife can be overlooked and you'l still be attacked

**charlie echo** · Posted On: 2/13/2012 1:47pm

Little league baseball bats. want to buy couple more. prefer hickory.

**jdempsey** · Posted On: 2/13/2012 2:10pm

Originally Posted by gregaquaman

Yeah ciminally is the 99% rule and civi is the 51% rule called something in leagal speak

Trying to find one. Problem is I half remember a break in where the home owner either got sued or charged. I think it again comes back to reasonable force and when it turnes into assult.

Although I did find one where a home owner stabbed a guy and got off.
http://www.news.com.au/national/no-c...-1226242200976

Otherwise I will keep looking

I think the key to getting off is having the public ,or more importantly media support. Worked for donald brooke.