ROFL pepper spray is for girls
A personal favourite is kneecaps, especially on natives - don't bother punching them in the head.
I don't wear steelcaps 99% of the time for the fun of it
My biggest concern nowadays (and yes, shit has gotten worse in the past few years, it was pretty sketchy when I was a teenager but it's a LOT worse now) is getting stabbed with a rusty screwdriver or some such implement.
When confronted by a group of cowardly natives and/or trash, pick the biggest one, kick him in the knee so his leg folds backwards (he won't be getting back up) then bail. Fast.