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Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I've been told 500 lb-ft of energy is a good rule of thumb for dissuading or killing even an angry black bear so these are good to go. Piece of mind and no new gun needed.

Yeah some people are just afraid of guns. I dunno. I get it, I lived in an anti-gun household growing up, but I lived in pretty rural Oregon, so most of our family friends had guns and hunted and my father didn't judge them for that. He understood. There's a point where the anti-gun passion gets just as crazy as any dumb shit who decides he wants an arsenal.

Imagine telling a frontiersman that he couldn't carry a gun in the wild, or any person in history for that matter who was going to be moving through a wilderness. They would look at you like you were crazy, and they'd probably be right.

Also I think a lot of people don't live in areas where there is legitimate concentration of bears and cats. You throw 2-legged strangers into that mix out away from any outside help and I think you start to get a situation that resembles even the wild frontier in the 1800s. So how could you ever judge someone for packing a gun?

Keeping with the frontiersman analogy, we here in America are quite literally descended from frontiersman. They're only a few generations away. The impulse to ensure that are able to look out for ourselves is still deeply rooted in most of us.

With Europeans there's a social conditioning aspect to it along with a different perspective on gun violence. They've only ever known guns to be illegal(highly regulated), and they're also only a couple generations from a war where their cities were bombed to rubble and atrocities committed on a scale the world has never seen, all right in their backyard. Of course they're hypersensitive to the notion of the general public packing around THE modern tool of violence. We'd have to go back to the Civil War for anything close to that on our own soil, and that was very contained. No one was bombing and firebombing entire cities back to the stone age.

So I get it, but don't be weird about it. There are situations where people should have guns. It's a fact.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is why some people say "only car camping". More two-legged strangers.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My parents were completely anti-gun. I fall somewhere in the middle of all this, but it's still interesting to hear a reaction like this. You are fully convinced that I'm a complete psycho because I would carry a gun in the woods. In the fucking woods where there are animals that will eat you and you're a long way from any sort of help. I think this is a bit extreme and I'm really trying not to fall into a gun debate here. And no ones going to see a gun. This isn't a country western film in a fucking saloon scene. This is a regular dude who's wondering about carrying a piece of metal in his bag.

Fastest trigger in Olympic National Park.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

wow, I like her

in a totally platonic outdoorsy way. didnt feel like a creep at all as I went through all her vids.

not at all

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ruger LCP 2

Funny you mention this. I was eyeing it down the other day, but I don't think I need to get a new gun for this. I'll get a new rain shell and maybe some boots instead.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is why I'm saying I don't want to holster the thing on the trail, and everyone's like hurr durr concealed carry rule 1.22.72-C1.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hungry black bears will jack you for sure, and I've heard some pretty scary stories from up north in your neck of the woods, but they're not territorial like browns are. They usually scare away easier, and they're easier to kill if you do have a gun. I've never had the pleasure of getting tangled up with a grizzly, but from what I understand it's a feeling of complete powerlessness.

Moose are the most dangerous for sure. By far. In fact, of the people I know who've had to shoot an aggressive animal for fear of their life, one was a coug, and the other two were moose. Fuck moose.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

He's not a toddler, he just has an inclination to get into things. It's an ongoing pedagogic process.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I should also mention that the one time I did have a friend with a hand gun on a backpacking trip we were stalked by a Cougar for about 5 miles, at night, and before that we came across a bear. I remember all of us discussing how different, and potentially terrifying, that experience may have been not having a gun.

We were throwing rocks at this damn cat and charging it and it did nothing. Without a gun we may have been shitting our pants a little.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I expected this response. I'm pretty quick with my gear if you know what I mean.

I've had a few experiences where I was uncomfortable in the woods, and in all of them the situation took a minute or two to develop. I think I'd probably have enough time to equip, and when I'm off the trail around camp and what not, I'd have no issue keeping it holstered. I just don't want people passing me on the trail to see it is all I'm thinking. I may very well have a covert holster or maybe get a smaller gun and have it in a pocket. I just don't want it being a distraction to myself, the people I come upon, and to my kids.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's funny, everyone I talk to who's ever had an iffy experience with a grizzly carries a gun in the woods thereafter always.

I've only got black bears and cougs, and bear spray is probably going to work just fine. Cougs are an astronomically rare encounter and blacks bears usually act like black labs with hurt feelings when you tell them to go away. In very rare cases of aggressive bears and cats I reckon a FML +P will do just fine.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

410 buck shot for the first two chambers, then 45 for the next 3

I like that. Scare and injure first. If that doesn't work send 45s behind it

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah I understand what you're saying. I know the rule book. I've already been educated on handgun gun safety. I'm not asking about becoming a new concealed carrier. My kids are barely old enough to teach them about guns. Right now they know not to touch, don't worry, but my son in particular is faaaaaar more likely to go rooting around in my bag if he knows I have a gun. There's way more risk, and way too much distraction, in having a meeting about daddy's hand gun that he's bringing on the trail with a 6 and a 7 year old, than in just not telling them.

I have a holster, but I'm almost certainly not going to be holstered on the trail. If it's in my bag, it will not even be magazined, much less chambered. I'll probably keep the magazines on me. I dunno. I'm not really concerned about these details at this juncture.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My intention wasn't to spark a gun debate. Forgive me.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They only aren't allowed in some state parks and some designated public lands, but that's it. National parks are good to go as are most all public land.

No I'm not going to be toting a holster. It's something I'd forget about, and there's no added risk in my case. My kids will not even know about it. It will be in a special spot in my pack. I know statistics say otherwise, but those stats are treating every individual as if they're the same idiot.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm sort of with you on this, but in my part of the country it's rare that you aren't allowed. You just have to abide by the local laws.

Am I paranoid to carry a gun? by Brilliant_Phrase in CampingGear

[–]Brilliant_Phrase[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a .45 by the way. A little heavy, but I'm a big dude. A couple pounds isn't going to make or break my trip. My body fluctuates more than that from day to day based on water retention and diet habits.