I've used the ASP a few times on the job over the years and actually ran into some problems. On one incident the ASP bent while I was striking a suspect. I was able to continue to use it, but afterward I had to toss it out.
I remember the strike where it bent. I had swung downward from right to left toward the suspect's left shoulder area. As I did this, the guy raised his left arm upward and the ASP hit down on his forearm, causing it to bend.
On other ocassions, the small ball at the tip of the ASP has gotten caught in clothing or hair. During one incident, the ball actually got caught in a guy's hair. When that happened, part of the guy's scalp was torn off as a swung through. Not a big piece, maybe the size of a half dollar. When the guy saw the piece of his scalp on the ground he gave up. I had hit him several times with the ASP and he was still fighting, but missing some scalp was enough.
I found the ASP to be a very different striking weapon because of the ball on the tip. That prevents you from pulling or sliding the weapon because it will get stuck. A regular baton does not have anything along the end of the weapon that could get caught up like that.
With a baton you can slide your strike through like cutting with a sword. With an ASP you have to hit and pull back, hit and pull back.
