Yorkshire Yankee and Janie, thanks for remembering that this is just the most recent of a string of bad experiences I've had in the last few years. Thanks for the extra sympathy.

Re kick in the groin: I was taught in one of my self defense classes not to do this because men "instinctively" defend themselves there.

I was also taught in a self defense class that identifying a person by his/her voice is sometimes more definitive than identification by looks, which people can vary, to some extent, at will. After that, I noticed that I could identify friends by their voices, their singing, or even their whistling. My recent mugging is a case in point. Since my attacker was behind me most of the time and it was dark outside, I did not get a good look at him. I could only tell his approximate weight and height. However, I heard his voice and his accent clearly, and that helped the police identify him as the person who had committed three similar attacks in my neighborhood in recent weeks.

A comb or brush could be great weapons, but I generally don't carry them in my hand as I walk along.