I have to disagree with some of the opinions posted here. While there is something to the fancier stuff with a baton, at the core it is just a stick once it is deployed.

There is great value in a stick, and it doesn't require a lot of training or practice to use. It gives you reach, and a hard striking surface.

I won't dispute that training is good, but a baton is still useful even in relatively untrained hands. Humans have been using sticks since the opposable thumb came about.

I have trained with some very good instructors, in both cane and stick. The most useful for the street can be learned in about 2 hours. These are the items a civilian is most likely to be able to use. Block. Strike. This is instinctive. If you have any training, including some basic hand to hand, you understand your targets. Strike the knee. Strike the elbow. Strike the hand holding the knife. For that matter, if he has a knife, or a gun (both constituting lethal force and therefore justifying a lethal response) hit him in the head or neck.

All the rest is fancy stuff, but you don't really need it to defend yourself, and I think it is a mistake to discount the baton just because you haven't trained in it.