Buddy Act

As a recon diver in the Foreign Legion it was drummed into us again and again...never, ever dive without a buddy. If anything happened - cramps, run out of air, trapped, wounded, bitten by something nasty etc - your partner was there to render aid and assistance.

That's not a bad idea for women to adopt when out and about. We'd practice snatch and grabs during commando training - ride up in a van, grab someone off the street for intelligence gathering purposes - and doing it on one person was easy...on two, a nightmare.

Talk to any burglar (or commando) and one guard dog is relatively easy to deal with. Two again, presents a huge problem. It's the same for a human predator trying to get a hold of a victim. Put yourself in his shoes...you have one lone woman walking to her car in a car park...or you have two of them. Who's going to be easier to control and deal with?

I know it's not always going to be possible but, if it's a shopping trip during holidays (crime rate goes up big time during holidays), a night out on the town or going somewhere unfamiliar, plan the trip with a mate.

Nick