bobscott wrote:Frying pan next to the door in case a burglar calls! Bob.
Quick trip to a sports shop and buy a baseball bat.
With a frying pan you have to get fairly close to someone who may be quite agile. You may not land a good blow or they manage to grab your arm and wrench the pan away. Also, if you do land a good blow and happen to hit their head you could kill them; then you're in trouble.
A baseball bat gives you a much longer reach and it's recommended that one swings hard at, or below, waist level. It's more difficult to avoid such a blow and a good solid thump anywhere on a leg is almost certain to be disabling without being lethal. Even if you only get a good hit on an arm, or even just a hand, that will probably be enough of a deterrent
Knees are an especially good target without much padding but anywhere from the hip down should but your burglar on the floor or at least hopping. On second thoughts it would be easier and cheaper to pop into a builders' merchant or garden shop and buy a pickaxe handle. If you don't have room for a roundhouse swing try a cover drive. There's a fair bit of soft tissue as well as bone in the target area of that shot.