nunchuck-fu
Depending on where you live, useful items such as those are potentially illegal to carry in public. If you do use them, and you've taken classes in martial arts, some places require you register them and yourself as dangerous weapons.
A lady who worked with my mom defended herself with those. One of the two guys following her in an almost empty parking lot ran away thinking she was pulling a gun from her carseat. The other one stayed to see what she had and laughed after seeing what she was holding. She told him to stay away, but he didn't heed her warning.
As soon as he closed the distance, she knocked him out cold. She then got in her car, drove to the nearest police station, and lead a patrol car back to the parking lot -- where the attacker was still unconscious.
The defense lawyer (in a NC court) tried to go after the intended victim by claiming she used a dangerous weapon that was required to be registered. She produced a New York registration for the weapon which was acceptable in NC.
After seeing that the nunchucks were legal, the judge looked over at the defendant and said, "You're lucky she didn't kill you!"
