I asked Norm if I could choke him with my watch.  "Sure," he said.

Greg Thompson's DEFENSEBAND struck me as a little bit... well, James Bond, when I first heard of it.  Without checking too deeply into the item I thought it was some sort of garotte that extended from a watch.  I pictured sneaking up behind my enemies, quiet as a ninja, and strangling them to death with a metal cord attached to the winder of my wristwatch, then reporting into headquarters on my shoe phone.

As it turns out, the DEFENSEBAND is not nearly so silly.  It is, in fact, a fairly straightforward piece of equipment.  It is used to apply a vascular choke when you're already clinched up with someone.  It is a simple piece of Nylon with appropriate patches of Velcro.  It can be threaded onto the back of any watch (I found this easy to do and the item ships with complete instructions).  The band obviously mates best with "sport" style watches.  My sport Timex looks perfectly at home with the DEFENSEBAND mounted on it.

Interestingly, the item could also be viewed as a little too covert a weapon.  A quick search of the Internet turned up a reference to Greg's DEFENSEBAND in a Homeland Security PDF file hosted at the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.  There's no doubt that the average street thug, armed with a knowledge of grappling and a hidden choking tool around his wrist, represents at least marginally more of a threat than does one without the same tool.

The DEFENSEBAND looks right at home on my sport watch.

The basic DEFENSEBAND concept is that it's easier to apply a vascular choke with some sort of artificial leverage than it is to do so with only your limbs.  The DEFENSEBAND does this by providing a Velcro-secured loop of fabric that you can peel free and use to your advantage while clinched up with an opponent.

Peeling the band free in the clinch requires some manual dexterity.

That's all there is too it.  It's a simple concept and should work fairly well, provided you have the time an the manual dexterity to pull the band free in the clinch.  If you've spent any time grappling you know that there are those moments when neither of you seems to be moving all that much, but I'll leave it to you to decide if you have the fine motor skills you'll need to pull the band free while fighting.

The DEFENSEBAND ready for action, minus opponent.

The DEFENSEBAND ships with a fairly comprehensive instruction booklet.  A video is also available, featuring Greg applying chokes with the product in a variety of different scenarios.  He speaks with an easy drawl and comes across as friendly and pleasant.  If the printed instructions leave you feeling a little confused as to how to apply his product, the video should leave you feeling confident in your purchase.

Greg Thompson applies a vascular choke in his instructional video.

This is an inexpensive tool that anyone can keep at hand at all times.  If you wear a watch, I see no reason you should not wear a DEFENSEBAND.  Check your local laws, don't try to take the band through security checkpoints, and be aware that attempting any vascular restraint could cause physical injury or even death.