Book Review: Maximum Force - Fighting with a Sap, by Darrin Cook

The book Maximum Force is a great introduction to impact tools. I have been issued as few different batons string different jobs, but I have never been issued a sap. The author has stories from family and friends on sap use, and lays out the fundamentals of close quarter impact weapons.

For those unfamiliar, the sap is a piece of lead sewn into a leather handle. Essentially, it acts simply a s a weight with which to strike. Since it is small, it is easily carried, but it can only be used in close quarters.

This book gives explanations of striking techniques as well as having high quality photos to show the positioning. The book also wisely outlines a the police use of force model for impact tools. A strike to the thigh or bicep with the flat edge of the sap is not equivalent force to a head strike. Joint strikes end up somewhere in between, but it points out thw you need to use justifiable targets with any impact weapon.

The most interesting information I got was the repeated strike methodology. The book will introduce the individual strikes with both the flat and the edge portion of the sap, but it emphasizes that repeated strikes may be necessary and outlines how to go from one target to another, and fronthand to backhand seamlessly.

All in all, a short book with a short dive, but we'll worth the cost for an introduction the material.

https://a.co/d/0disLDNc

Be safe, be well.