Andrew Branca, a Massachusetts attorney, is one of the most thoughtful writers on self-defense issues around. His book, The Law of Self-Defense, is a dense, legal-reference-packed study of what self-defense law actually means. In the postscript to his book, Branca outlines his own personal self-defense strategy, and I think it's worth reproducing here. A self-defense strategy should form part of our overall package of trip strategies. We've planned for our transportation, our gear, our food, and the weather; we also need to plan for our self-defense. Branca's decision tree provides a place to start. The decision tree lays out his strategy, in a branching decision-making structure, for dealing with any potentially violent encounter. If the first response doesn't resolve the situation, you move on to the next response, and so on through the decision tree. Although he doesn't explicitly say so, the self-defense strategy, like all our strategies, remains a basic blueprint, a best-case scenario; the blueprint will be filled in by real-world tactical data as it arises. Branca's six-point strategy follows, where the responses to the violent encounter are listed in order of utilization:

1. Avoid
2. Placate
3. Non-Lethal Options
4. Retreat
5. Presentation
6. Engage

Notice that Branca's decision tree follows a logical sequence, matching a rising crest of escalation. Also notice that Branca's strategy arises from a specific philosophy, which loosely states, "I don't want to hurt anyone." In order to avoid hurting anyone unnecessarily, we must establish answers to the strategic questions we'll encounter when we won't have time to thoroughly think them through. To answer these questions, we must define our limits.