The post-Holiday shopping season is a great time of the year to take advantage of after holiday sales. If we disregard the fact that this is the busiest time of the year for gift giving, people tend to spend a lot of time looking for clothing, electronics, and other items of interest they wanted but could afford before the post-Holiday sales. This actually adds to the mayhem of people returning gifts and increases the volume of people out at the malls.

With the hurricane of consumerism hitting us every year, the shopping centers are flooded with armies of people between Thanksgiving and well after December 25th. Much like a herd of wild animals, this invites the danger of predators looking for an opportunity to pick off an unknowing shopper for their own gain.

Even with summertime being the peak time for robberies, the Holiday shopping season is when we see a peak in crimes of this nature. This doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself indoors and wait until the Holidays are over, you just have to take the proper precautions when venturing out.

Travel in a group – By increasing your numbers, you increase the number of eyes that could look out for danger. Walking in a group also may deter a potential robber from considering you as a target.

Travel light – When you make a shopping trip, bring only what you need. Don’t travel with a ton of credit and ATM cards. If possible, just carry cash and be sure to keep everything in separate locations on your person. If you carry everything, car keys, ID, credit and ATM cards, etc, in one place like a wallet or bag, you could lose everything in one fell swoop. With all this personal information falling into the wrong hands, you leave yourself at risk for potential car theft, burglary, and identity theft.

Travel with protection – In a case were an attacker may engage in violence to rob you, it’s always better to hand over your shopping bags than engage your attacker. However, if you find yourself in a situation where you are at risk for harm, it’s always a smart idea to have a self-defense weapon just in case. Keeping something as small enough to hang on your key chine at the ready when walking alone, such as a Kubotan, Heart Attack, or small canister of Pepper Spray, could even the odds in the event of being surprised by someone.

Stuff their stockings with a little more care this year. DefendWell.com has an extensive selection of stocking-worthy picks that they will carry with them every day of the year. From Pepper Sprays to Safety Lights, you can help your loved ones stay safe long after the tree has come down, and the decorations have been packed away!

• Our popular Pepper Spray Pen is a smart choice for men and women. Indistinguishable to a potential attacker as a self-defensive spray, the Pepper Pen is perfect for tucking in your shirt pocket, or tossing in your briefcase or bag. Just put it in your coat pocket or clip it to the inside of your sleeve when heading out for ease of removal if the need for use presents itself.

• The Pepper Mace Baton is two self-defense tactics in one! This pepper spray-packed kubotan is a simple, tried-and-true striking weapon. Proving that simplicity often bears the smartest design, these weapons were originally constructed for police officers, but found their way into the mainstream. This Mace brand version comes equipped with a pepper spray inside, which will hopefully be enough to deter an attacker. Whenever possible, employ self-defensive measures that place the attacker at the furthest possible distance from you.

• Possibly the simplest safety solution is light! Our Cell Phone Safety-Lite is a super simple way to light your way to your car or front door. It easily attaches to your cell phone, assuring you always know where it is, and don’t decide to run to the car in the dark rather than rifling through your backpack or purse to find it. This is not a complete self-defense system – you should still avoid unnecessarily dangerous situations, stay completely aware of your surroundings, and carry a pepper spray, knife or other self-defense product. But it does help you see where you’re headed better, and let a potential attacker know you might be able to identify him if he strikes.

We hope you’ll give the gift of self-defensive protection to your family this year. Happy Holidays from DefendWell.com!