Ok just got back from dinner (I'm 12 hours ahead of folks in the Central time zone in the US for a few more weeks) and we discussed this topic over beer, food, and more beer...
If we look want to consider the best bass for SELF DEFENSE, then we decided it has to be one of the vintage Yamaha BB series. Why that besides that i have one? For self defense you want the best protection so you need a big surface area to protect you from fists and knives. The BB series is the Broad Bass series. It has a broad neck and the body is a bit bigger than the J and P bass. Other brands not sure as this group only has experience with J and P basses. Others could substitute for the BB. With a broader neck and body you have more protection. Yes you have a little bit more weight but for glancing or blocking blows, we figure the more surface area the better. Mothman trumps here but we figure we will limit to what most people would have access.
Then one of the fellows (martial arts expert) chimed in with this. If we take the Bruce Lee version of martial arts and turn defensive moves into defence/offensive moves then we figure the Steinberger would be the best bass. Why you ask? Because in Bruce Lee's martial arts he would take a defensive move and use it to cause offensive damage. The traditional martial arts community had a problem with this back in the day as it was not generally accepted 30-40 years ago that defensive moves were used for offense. With the Steinberger you can glace a blow, then immediately use the inertia from the glaced blow and direct it into an offensive flip of the bass and have the body connect with the skull of the perpetrator, not a traditional move with a defensive bass.
Additionally after the blow to the perpetrator, if he is down, and depending if you are in a situation where you if allow him to get back up and get friends it will cause you more harm later, you can more easily remove a string from the Steinberger than a J or a P bass and use it to strangle and finish off your attacker.
A bonus is that in cooler climates you could hide the steinberger under a trench coat kinda like mobsters hid tommy guns under their trench coats and walk around without anyone suspecting you are packing heat. You should check with your local constabulary to make sure a steinberger under a trenchcoat does not violate any local conceal and carry statutes.
If we look want to consider the best bass for SELF DEFENSE, then we decided it has to be one of the vintage Yamaha BB series. Why that besides that i have one? For self defense you want the best protection so you need a big surface area to protect you from fists and knives. The BB series is the Broad Bass series. It has a broad neck and the body is a bit bigger than the J and P bass. Other brands not sure as this group only has experience with J and P basses. Others could substitute for the BB. With a broader neck and body you have more protection. Yes you have a little bit more weight but for glancing or blocking blows, we figure the more surface area the better. Mothman trumps here but we figure we will limit to what most people would have access.
Then one of the fellows (martial arts expert) chimed in with this. If we take the Bruce Lee version of martial arts and turn defensive moves into defence/offensive moves then we figure the Steinberger would be the best bass. Why you ask? Because in Bruce Lee's martial arts he would take a defensive move and use it to cause offensive damage. The traditional martial arts community had a problem with this back in the day as it was not generally accepted 30-40 years ago that defensive moves were used for offense. With the Steinberger you can glace a blow, then immediately use the inertia from the glaced blow and direct it into an offensive flip of the bass and have the body connect with the skull of the perpetrator, not a traditional move with a defensive bass.
Additionally after the blow to the perpetrator, if he is down, and depending if you are in a situation where you if allow him to get back up and get friends it will cause you more harm later, you can more easily remove a string from the Steinberger than a J or a P bass and use it to strangle and finish off your attacker.
A bonus is that in cooler climates you could hide the steinberger under a trench coat kinda like mobsters hid tommy guns under their trench coats and walk around without anyone suspecting you are packing heat. You should check with your local constabulary to make sure a steinberger under a trenchcoat does not violate any local conceal and carry statutes.
We actually got into the discussion of what color of bass would be best for defense/offense, but that led into more esoteric discussions that we chose to leave to the philosophers. 
