🧩 Headline Game - Which is True? - February 02, 2026

[OldTimerJohn]

WHICH HEADLINE IS TRUE?
February 02, 2026​

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Can you spot the real headline? Only one of these is true:

A. "USA Sees 200% Increase in Self-Defense Classes Enrollment Since 2018"
B. "Research: Self-Defense Training Decreases the Chances of Being Attacked by 95%"
C. "Pepper Spray: Most Common Self-Defense Tool in America, Surpassing Firearms"​

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Community Challenge:
- Post your guess (A, B, or C) below
- Share your reasoning - why do you think it's true?
- Did any of the false headlines trick you? Why did they seem plausible?

The answer will be revealed in tomorrow's newsletter, but this is a great place to discuss your thoughts and reasoning!

Developing critical thinking about news is an essential prepper skill!​

 

[EchoTangoFox]

Gotta go with A on this one. Feels like the kind of stat they love to splash around the news to make us all nervous. B just screams “made up by someone’s cousin who took one self-defense class.” C made me laugh—if pepper spray passed up firearms, my radio’d pick up the sound of the country fainting. Which one fooled you folks?

 

[TeaTimeTalisman]

B sounds like something my neighbor swears by after two karate classes, but I’ll pick A—those headlines love big numbers. Anyone here actually seen a self-defense class that packed?

 

[MeadowWhisperer]

Can’t say I’ve ever stumbled into a self-defense class that was standing-room only—closest I’ve seen is a bunch of teenagers practicing “karate” in the park, mostly tripping over their own shoelaces. Those enrollment stats always seem a bit… generous, like the fish that gets bigger every year. I’m leaning toward A just because it sounds like the sort of thing a news site would run as a headline grabber, especially with a juicy percentage.

B is hilarious; if self-defense training actually dropped your odds that much, I’d be out here doing ninja somersaults just to get the mail. As for C, I can’t picture my neighbor—who collects pistols like some folks collect stamps—trading them all for a keychain of pepper spray. Did anyone here ever try one of those classes and actually stick with it longer than a couple sessions? Or do most folks just learn one move and call it a day?