I, along with a lot of other people, was once obsessed with fist loads. But I matured and now look at them from a historical or intellectual perspective. 

What exactly is a fist load you may ask. Any hard object that we can hold in our hand that allows us to still make a fist with the object inside, and gives us the illusion that we can hit harder. And after 46 years of playing with them, I do believe it is an illusion. A proper fist – first two knuckles aligned with the forearm and back of hand even with the back of the forearm – gives you just as solid a hitting surface, is more resilient, and protects your hand and wrist far better than a fist load. 

The problem with any hard object in our hand is the same as when we wrap our hands as a boxer does – it gives a false sense of what is happening. It is easy to have a bad wrist angle, or the knuckles not lined up, and some of the pressure is absorbed by the object. And we may get away with it much of the time, but when it goes wrong, it may be catastrophic. After one strike to our attacker is not the time I want my hand to give out. 

I believe in software (skill and training) over hardware (the fist load). With a bit of practice under the instruction of a good coach, we develop the ability to always hit hard and with less chance of injury that we always have with us rather than rely on a tool that may not even be legal in the area where we may find ourselves. 

The one place that I think some version of a fist load may be useful is when it projects out either end of our hand and allows us to use hammer fist strikes. I particularly like a handheld light for this purpose. The bonus is such an object is almost always legal anywhere reasonable. 

Another negative aspect of a fist load is how it looks from a legal viewpoint. Even if it is legal, what is a prosecutor going to say to the jury as you stand trial in a criminal or civil action? “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this person walked around in society with the intent of pummeling another human being so badly that he carried around an object that has no other purpose but to severely injure another person!” 

And for those who think they can disguise theirs and pretend it is something else (like a massage tool! Ridiculous!), don’t count on it. LE agencies and investigators are pretty tuned into to these things. 

I get it. I too once loved the idea of them, but over the years I have realized that the niche for them is so minuscule that the juice is not worth the squeeze. But as always, I am not the Tactical Gestapo. It is not my place to make your decisions for you. Choose as you like, but make sure you are armed with real knowledge, not a superficial version of “knowing”.