I can almost see where folks would balk at carrying a sidearm in "civilization" (even if I disagree with them), but refusing to carry one when out in the wilderness is just plain foolish.

Funny, no one with any experience argues the need to carry the "ten essentials". In my extended circle of backpacking, hunting, and general wilderness bumming buddies, however, most have never needed them. Based upon that premise alone, would anyone in their right mind recommend they leave these things at home? Of course not. So why are sidearms treated so differently by so many?

Yes, plenty of people have only survived in the wild because they were armed. Plenty have not because they were not. The same can be said of folks who venture out unprepared in other ways, such as lacking the "ten essentials". They succumb to hypothermia for the most part, at least around here. Probably dehydration in other parts of the country. Anyway, the point is, we see folks needlessly losing their lives because they were unprepared in some way, and count them as foolish. Unless an animal or some predatory human attacks them and they were unarmed. Why is this treated any differently than being in some other way unprepared? Why the different attitudes?

As far as I'm concerned, a proper wilderness sidearm is a must. It's small and out of the way, hardly noticed, adding almost nothing to the load. Granted, you will probably never need it. But, (god forbid), if you do - it's likely nothing else you have on you will take its place. Why not be prepared? It just makes sense.

I'm sure the same goes for the other way round, no?



And also, I won't be wearing a 12inch telelens on my chest and I won't be wearing sandals with brown socks up to my knees either to complement my Hawaian shirt.;)
Maybe I won't pass as an American but I think I'll blend in well enough.
I'm not too worried.
If push comes to shove, I'll start talking French, and they'll pity me so much, they'll let me off the hook... :D

Our governor carries a .380 while running, and dispatched a coyote which was threatening his dog.

Not the best article, but the lefties can't impugn the source.

Rick Perry Shoots And KILLS Coyote: Texas Gov Carried Laser-Sighted Pistol On Jog

He left the Coyote where he fell. "He became mulch", said Gov Perry.

I'm sure they have, but that doesn't change the fact that all security is an illusion.

You're perfectly safe until you're not. At that time, it is far too late to re-evaluate your personal security choices.

Ruger even introduced a commemorative model of the LCP in honor of that event.

I carry the same exact pistol/laser setup as your guvnah. :D

Honestly, I do not fear a damn thing that I am prepared for. I sleep better. Part of contingency planning is to imagine the realm of the possible worst case scenario. Now, with that in mind and knowing how fast a violent incident occurs and that I have done the best I can, well that is the difference. Fear is relative, preparation minimizes risk, minimized risk can in fact eliminate fear. Sounds like you just have not seen enough of human behavior or the first hand impacts of violent or potentially violent crime to feel a need to carry deadly weapons or feel a real threat. I envy you for that and I hope you are able to keep that naivity for the rest of your life, and I am not making fun of you or wishing any ill on you, I truely envy you. I remember when I was like that too.

+1

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best." Two years ago I come home to find my house had been broken into, had I walked in on the thieves I would have had nothing but my johnson in my hand.

I have carried every day since.
I live in a "safe" upper middle class neighborhood but it still happened. Be prepared.

Bernie

I suspect if you ran the numbers, the chances of you getting in a situation in the United States where you would need a gun to save your life is way less than your chances of getting killed in a car wreck. Yet we continue to drive.
While I am all for the right to own and carry guns, we continue to drag up old and new crimes to justify our paranoia as to why we need to carry a gun. There are 300 million people in this country. That is a lot of crimes every day--yet the odds of it happening to you are about the same as winning the lottery.
They last thing we need to do is be scaring potential visitors to the United States. I have survived for over 50 years without ever needing a gun. Of course I don't put myself into situations where I would need one either, and usually have one handy.
There are lots of folks that carry guns because they feel better with them. Great. There also lots of folks that build bunkers and plan for the apocolypse. Its a free country.

Jeff made the best argument for this - it is an "insurance" argument. I find handguns a lot heavier than the 10 essentials and have never carried one in wilderness.

If I was a woman, I might well feel differently.

Anybody that wants to carry one is free to do so. Like I said above, I think a gun is more likely to be needed outside of true wilderness than inside.

Both times it was at my house.

I'm in the camp of carry to be prepared, and because I can. Those are the only two reasons I need. That said, I have NOT had to reach for my weapon (yet), and hope I never do.

But let's hear some details from some of you guys that were compelled to reach. Rick, Danimal, Sniper, etc... I think there was actually a thread here at some point asking who had actually had reason to reach for a carry gun. I don't recall any details, couldn't find it in a search, and quite frankly it was probably 5 years ago.

What can you guys tell us about those circumstances?

JA

I've never cleared leather in a situation before. The one time I had a knife pulled on me and was VERY justified, I was in NJ and thus unarmed. Had that been in AZ or VA, you'd have heard about it on the news. I was even in a verbal confrontation last weekend while carrying (woman double parked and blocked me in, took about 15 min. before she came back) and never thought about going beyond heated words.

There are a hell of a lot of dead people who haven't survived 50 years in the US because they DID need a gun. We're talking tens upon tens of thousands in just the last decade alone. There are an equal amount that have been mained and or scarred for life due to the actions of violent criminals.

If you're alive, you could find yourself in a situation where you need one. It's not likely, but if it DOES occur, you'll need a gun at that very moment more than you ever needed anything in your entire life.

Some of us will have it.

Some of us won't....

By your own free will, you won't.

I will.

You are relying on the "can't happen to me" defense, which is a favored defense of the naive, but when which holds zero value when you realize with abject terror that it is happening to you.

In your book i'm paranoid.
In my book, you're naive.

i cleared leather in clear creek national park campground az. when we had rounds literally go over our heads and tree branches falling. and it DIDNT STOP! and he reloaded! and KEPT SHOOTING!


picture serene campground full of a 50 person family reunion, me wifey my buddy his wifey and 3 kids and a slew of other people. we were down in creek covered by cottonwood trees and bad guy was up on hill above.


the kicker to this .............the dumb ass hispanics camp was within baseball throwing range of our camp. he knew damn well people were there.


everybody yelling and the shooting continued. i grabbed my .45 and pointed thru trees as tree branches falling on my head. had i HAD A CLEAR SHOT THERE IS NO DOUBT I WOULD HAVE EMPTIED ON HIM RELOADED AND EMPTIED AGAIN!


never again will i go simple brain dead moron camping in a campground EVAR AGAIN!


neither will i EVAR GO WITHOUT SER-I-ASS HORSEY POWER SEMI-AUTO SOCOM .308 or BIGGER!



we(my amigo and i )confronted the guy. my .45 was in right side down vest pocket, safety off, round in pipe. his meth-ed out POS white girlfriend started giving us some crap and then he started giving us some crap. this is when we tried to explain that you cannot shoot in a national forest campground. lets say we had a FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE! had he made a move for or with a weapon he was gonna be vaporized. i had a TOTAL COMBAT MINDSET GOING...................as it was we never turned our backs and ASAP went for the COPS and GOT EVERYBODY ROLLING!

yavapai county sheriff. national forest ranger dangers and they BUSTED HIM BIG TIME! got a call from the investigating ranger danger later that week and he was in custody and he wanted my statement, which i gladly gave him.



NEVAR EVAR EVAR WILL I GO ANYWHERE IN THE OUTBACK WITHOUT OVERWHELMING SUPREME FIREPOWER!



i was the only one in that campground who ended up having a gun. a very very short small springfield micro compact stainless .45. it was better than nothing, but it sure as HELL WASNT ENOUGH!



someone ever starts shooting at me....................there will be so MUCH LEAD ON THE REBOUND THEIR LIL PEA BRAINS WILL NOT EVEN HAVE A CHANCE TO PROCESS IT! can you say 25rds faster than you can spit. for the rest of my life i will always carry on my hip from this really bad experience and carry a semi auto rifle camping/fishing/anything outdoors.


ranks up there in the TOP 3 times i was scared poo-less!


the other involving guns was hunting in colorado being shot at by dum ass drunk texans. that puckered me. ever hear .300 win mags go off over yer head?????


and that kiddies is WHY I DONT GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT ONE....................EVAR!

Well i'm sure i'll catch flak from some of my "fans" over this, but here are but a few of my real life stories....

I've apprehended several criminals on the street on a couple occasions by holding the criminal at gunpoint until police arrived. In one case, i actually marched the perp to the waiting arms of a cop a block away, where the cop had caught the guy's partner.

I walked up to the car, opened the door, and ordered the guy to sit down. He did and i closed the door. The cop looked at me befuddled, and i simply said "this is the other guy."

Another time i caught 3 teen punks breaking into my dad's bar (I lived in the apt above), and held them at shotgun point until police arrived.

Yet another time i ordered about 10 guys out of my apt who my roommate brought home to party with after work. (he then disappeared with some chick, leaving me alone with 10 guys i don't know). I walked in on them doing lines of coke in my kitchen, and ordered them out. They got belligerent and confrontational. One of them went so far as to pull my phone line out of the wall.

No way i'm playing that in my own home, i felt as if the situation was about to escalate and was extremely dangerous to me, so i produced my S&W 645 and convinced them all to leave IMMEDIATELY.

Yet another time the low life slut in the apt below me started a huge argument with me, cursing me out and calling me the blue eyed devil. After i extricated myself, when i was going up the stairs into my apartment, her drug dealing boyfriend started following me up into my apartment talking about how he was going to "f you up in yo own crib." I let him get half way up the stairs before jacking a round into the chamber of my S&W 6906 and saying, simply, "Take one more step."

There have been several other times while repossessing where the mere act of putting my hand on my gun in preparation to draw has TOTALLY calmed a totally irate low life that was about to violently assault me to avoid repossession.

I have never had to shoot anyone, but have pepper sprayed many idiots.

I guess i'm the unlucky one here, because life in the hood in a city like Killadelphia is nothing like the utopia some of you naive fools believe it is.

one of our most excellent drills when NORMALLY hunting/camping/fishing/dirty biking is to go so far into the outback, and then take off on some no-name trail and HIDE OUR CAMP FROM THE ROAD!



about the ONLY time we are discovered is by a ranger or by a hunter. and our general rule when we see a camp is go the opposite way and not bother them.



i spend big bucks big time to AVOID PEOPLE!



because MOST PEOPLES ARE NO DAMN GOOD!


i love the springfield armory slogan............"BRING ENOUGH GUN" and we DO!

Have you ever thought of moving to somewhere quieter?

I think he needs an eye patch.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...kePlissken.jpg

See, even Lincoln looks good in an eye patch.

http://www.myepicwin.com/thumber/pic...pe-from-la.jpg

This situation stands out. I can't think of a worse situation in your own home.

You were damn blessed to have that pistol handy otherwise you probably wouldn't be here anymore.
I don't think I could have been as cool as you. (think bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang change mag...)

Thanks ! Best thing I have ever been called on Off Topic or PARF ! :)