iPhone cases come in all shapes, sizes and purposes. This has been the case, so to speak, since iPhones first hit the market in 2007.
But the somewhat recent explosion in crowd-funding iPhone case projects has radicalized the available offerings.
Some cases offer aesthetics. Others focus on protecting the phone. Still others extend battery life.
One phone, for example, does it all. The AQUA TEK S for iPhone, a Kickstarter project that has already far exceeded its fundraising goal, makes your phone water-proof, shock-proof, dust-proof and, the piece de resistance, die-proof — it has a solar panel to charge to charge the phone!
One of the coolest or craziest categories of iPhone case, depending on your perspective, is the kind that provide personal self defense. These cases turn iPhones into a deadly weapons.
And almost all these phones do at least one other useful function besides self defense.
So why is an iPhone case a good place to build self defense? It’s simple: You carry your phone everywhere. So anything you want to make sure you have all the time no matter what, you need to attach it to the phone. So if you want to always have a way to defend yourself, build that defense into the iPhone case and you’ll always be prepared.
Don’t try to take these cases on an airplane, though. None of these cases is likely to make it past airport security.
Here are the five best iPhone cases for self defense:
The most “stunning” case I’ve ever seen for the iPhone or any phone is the Yellow Jacket iPhone stun gun case. The product, which was crowd-funded on Indiegogo, does two literally powerful things. First, it delivers 650 thousand volts of electricity to an assailant, unceremoniously dropping them to the ground. Second, it extends the life of your iPhone by up to 20 hours.
2. Task One
One Indegogo-funded project is a “Swiss Army Knife” style iPhone case called the Task One. It has 16 tools, including a knife, sawblade, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, allen wrenches, wire strippers, a ruler and a bottle opener. It even has a kickstand for your phone. The case comes in grey, red, black and orange. The price depends on color. The black version is $75, the grey and red versions are $90, and the special edition orange version is $150.
3. Spraytech
The $39.95 Spraytech case holds a small canister of pepper spray. The case housings, with matching canisters, come in white, black, turquoise and pink, and it doubles as a handy stand. The protruding canister housing puts your phone at angles while lying flat and also props it up like a picture frame.
4. SmartGuard
Another pepper spray case comes from a company called SmartGuard. The case features a larger canister than the Spraytech case, which is placed to one side of the phone. It has a safety tab to make sure you don’t spray yourself in the face while talking on the phone. It has a spray range of 5 feet.
5. Knucklecase
The $79 Knucklecase turns your iPhone into brass knuckles. But it’s not brass. In fact, it takes a page from the MacBook Pro, as its carved out of a single block of aluminum. Kuncklecase self defense involves no electricity, blades, or toxins — just an old-school, Chicago-style punch in the face. It comes in chartreuse, gold, pink, silver, black and my favorite, camo.
