Improvised weapons are an important part of self-defense. If I told you that you can improvise a devastating weapon from nothing more than a newspaper, you probably wouldn’t believe me.
We live in an age where less-than-lethal weapons can be bought on Amazon and delivered to your front door. Well, the Millwall brick comes from a time long before Amazon. In fact, the story of the Millwall Brick is one that is almost too crazy to believe.
History of Millwall Bricks
You might think that this modern age is the most chaotic in recent history. The truth is we often forget just how crazy a species we really are. Now, in England in the 1960s soccer, or football as it is known there and in most places around the world, was another type of event altogether.
There was the soccer game but there were also the football hooligans. These young men traveled with their favored teams and often got in bloody fights with rival teams’ hooligans.
It was almost like a game within the game!
These young men were experiencing their own post-war unrest. This is not far off from the young men of this day and age.
Well, the fights got so bad that the police had to ban all weapons from coming into the games. These hooligans were clever so this ban covered things like steel combs, horse brasses, and even boots and shoelaces!
Now, they could have never imagined needing to ban newspapers from football games. I mean, how could you hurt someone with a newspaper? The answer to this question became known as the Millwall brick.
The Design Behind a Millwall Brick
Have you ever rolled up a newspaper and hit someone with it? It can sting a little, right? Well, the Millwall brick became the most efficient and effective rolled newspaper weapon ever.
Now, before you dismiss this improvised weapon I want you to understand that if you know how to create this Millwall brick then you will make a weapon that is hard as rock!
It takes some diligence but the design of the Millwall brick is incredibly easy and yes it will turn a simple newspaper into a legitimate improvised weapon. That is why the football hooligans enjoyed them so much!
How to Build a Millwall Brick
The whole process begins with getting your hands on a full-sized newspaper. Remove the catalogs and all the “guts” that will get in the way of the rolled newspaper.
1. Open the newspaper sheets up to the center.
2. From the bottom of the open newspaper start to roll very tightly from the bottom in an upward direction. Make sure this is a very small and tight roll.
3. Slowly and tightly roll the newspaper into as tight a roll as you possibly can. The tighter the roll the harder it finished Millwall brick will be.
4. Once the newspaper is rolled up completely and tightly you can now create the hardest part of the Millwall brick by folding the entire roll in half.
5. Folding this stealth weapon should be a little challenging. The harder it is to fold this thing the better. That means the final product will be the most punishing.
6. Once you fold the paper in half the center of that paper, where the fold crease is, will be as hard as a rock. That is the Millwall brick.
7. From here you can customize it as you see fit. You can tape it shut or tape the whole thing if you want! I have even seen people fold a rock into the paper to add another layer.
Your Millwall brick is complete. Now, how do you put this thing to use?
How to Use a Millwall Brick
Once your Millwall brick is completed you can use it in one of two ways. Both are going to take advantage of that devastating “brick” that you have created at the crease of this improvised weapon.
In the first method, you can hold the Millwall brick like a sword so that the hardest portion is pointing up from your closed fist. This will allow you to swing this weapon as an extension of your own fist, sort of like a small baseball bat or tomahawk.
The second method, I like this one, inverts the hold. So, instead of holding the Millwall brick like a sword, you are now holding it like a butcher knife in a horror movie. The “brick” portion is now pointing down toward the ground.
Rather than swing this weapon you drive it downward. I can imagine these football hooligans sneaking up behind someone and bludgeoning them with a powerful downward swing.
No matter which method you use to swing this weapon, you are yielding something very hard and very powerful. If you needed to improvise a weapon this would be one of the very best from something that no one would expect.
Wrapping Up How to Make a Millwall Brick
You can almost see how these personal weapons came to be all those years ago. I guess these hooligans of the Millwall F.C were quite creative and determined. To imagine them considering how mum used to wack them with the newspaper when they were little and then devise a way to turn that weapon of discipline into an improvised weapon of football warfare is pretty fun to imagine.
Now, it’s your turn. You probably haven’t bought a newspaper in a while. Follow the steps we have listed above and see if you can make your own Millwall brick. Take your time and roll that paper tightly. The tighter the roll the harder the weapon will be.
I think you will be blown away by just how powerful some newspaper sheets can be when made into an improvised weapon. While you’re looking into improvised weapons, check out our post on Self Defense Keychains.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.