Do you feel the need to have a weapon when camping

[The Adam Blaster]

Having a family now and doing mostly car camping a gun is still not a thought. Ive never felt remotely threatened, ever. Had bears strolling through our site in Waterton last year but thats what they do.

Waterton is beautiful, I've been there a couple of times, and seen the recently posted bear warnings. Strap on a little bell and they stay away from you because they know you are coming.

I'm never going to own a gun of any sort, having only one good hand prevents me from using 99% of the firearms out there properly, or safely. I usually have my little 4" long camping knife on my belt, but it's more for whittlin' than anything else.

 

[bobDog]

12g shotgun on one side

my wife on the other...

I sleep like a baby.

Yep nothing like the click klack of a pump shotgun while hearing a womens voice behind the door saying 'who is it?':sombrero:

 

[bobDog]

I hope this is the appropriate forum to discuss this. I did a search and found a lot of posts in the gun forum, but I'm not necessarily thinking of guns per se.

When I'm camping in the backcountry I sometimes wonder if I'm being naive for not having some sort of defense mechanism other than my fists or whatever crude object I may be able to scramble if awoken to some threat. I generally like to live my life free of fear but I also always like being prepared.
I've been researching guns, stun guns and knives recently and I'm curious what others are doing.

I know this is a touchy subject but I value all the input on other gear and usefulness of it, so thought I'd see what you guys are doing. I really never felt the need for any kind of weapon when I was by myself or with friends camping, but now that I have a family, protection comes to mind.

Feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Kye

Hell I don't feel good using a public restroom w/o a handgun! Camping and fishing takes it way over the top! That's why God let Oregonians have gun permits isn't it?:victory::gunt:

 

[Klierslc]

I am following about protecting the family by not having a gun, but what about the roughly 2.5 milllion defensive uses of hand guns in a year in the United states? How do your numbers stack up against that?

Source: http://www.pulpless.com/gunclock/noframedex.html

I am not going to run the math for you, but I'd wager my two newest guns that there is a greater chance of needing a gun defensively than having your kids shoot themselves.

The other facet to that problem has already been brought up--Training. I have 4 kids, 7 and under. I don't lock up my weapons, I keep the majority of them loaded, and my kids are comfortable around them. They are not forbidden fruit so to speak. If the kids want to touch them or handle them, I let them and use it as an opportunity to give a quick gun safety class. Whether at home or at anyone else's house, if the kids see a gun, they yell "there's a gun out" and go tell an adult. I conduct tests of this periodically and leave a double checked unloaded weapon out. Sometimes obviously, sometimes partially hidden. I then check to see if it has been disturbed after awhile if I don't hear the "gun out" alarm. So far, my kids have a perfect score. My loaded guns are kept without a round in the chamber and I choose specific firearms with actions that are nearly impossible for a yound child to cycle. While some of my weapons are within reach, the kids don't think anything about it. They have seen the pistols, they have touched them, they have seen me take them every place we go. To them, it is nearly as exciting as getting into mom's china.....

When other kids come over, I relocate things to more inaccessible locations.

Quick anecdote:

My Dad has roughly 60 guns. On my last count, (10 years ago or so) He had 45 or so loaded, staged in different parts of the house. With three boys in the house, numerous friends over, many parties, family holidays, 10 kids or so, over the course of 30 years, the closest thing he has had to an incident was a 2 year old getting a loaded bolt action 22 rifle out of a kitchen cabinet and toddling across the room with it. There was no round chambered--that is how he keeps his guns too. Several folks freaked out, but the most damage he could have done was dropped it on somebody. He had the rifle for about 4 seconds....

 

[Albin]

Like someone said: "Why wouldn't you carry a gun?"

I'll let you decide whether or not I carry, or my son, from the pic below. This was from our 2008 summer desert trip when my son was "only" 13; he's 15 now (and much bigger).

And anyone who uses (bogus) gun accident statistics on a vehicle forum as an excuse not to carry or have a gun is a hypocrite, pure and simple. There are at least +30K deaths due car accidents in this country every year; using the same logic, these simpletons shouldn't even have a car much less one for a hobby.

 

[Klierslc]

For those who only carry a knife, do you lock up your knife at home? How many kids are killed or injured playing with knives each year?

 

[Dave Bennett]

(steps onto soap box)

... I am an advocate of the responsible gun owner. I am not pro gun. Traveling into the back country with a tool that you are not properly trained and practiced with adds an additional degree of danger for everyone around you. Protecting this type of ignorant gun ownership is bad for everyone, especially the people who have been convinced by someone with a political agenda that the bogeyman is out there and only a gun will stop him.
(steps off soap box)

Ahem... cough... cough...

I too am an advocate of responsibility and training. The more the better.

That being said, I am NOT an advocate of interpreting the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any Amendments. Even the ignorant and untrained have rights under our system, who are we to decide who is smart enough/trained enough? I'm no fan of nanny state nonsense no matter how it is camoflauged.

As for the boogeyman, you had better believe he is out there... you see it on the news every day.

We live in a CRAZY world where chance has always favored the prepared.

.02

 

[RR1]

Nah, I feel no need for a firearm in the back country, I get by on my rugged good looks.:ylsmoke:

 

[MoGas]

I don't necessarily consider it a need, per se.

I do, however, exercise the rights guaranteed me by the U.S. Constitution.




Dave

 

[Christophe Noel]

For those who only carry a knife, do you lock up your knife at home?

Heck, I hardly lock my home.

I agree with a previous poster that the question of this thread was to inquire as to who totes and who does not. I don't think he intended for this to be a debate to swing anyone from one side to the other, because that will never happen.

 

[Klierslc]

One other thing: The issue I have with stats (ie 1 in a million) is that there is a 100% chance of it happening to the poor bastard who is the "one"

It has to happen to somebody, may as well be prepared if it happens to be me....FWIW.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Glad we can keep this a pretty good conversation so far.

I agree, with a small caveat: One tries to protect his family as well as he can while experiencing life with them. You are far more likely to be injured on the road getting to camp, and we all know this to be true, but you cannot avoid the roads in today's world. You can only drive more carefully or less often.

Or drive a safer car. Side impact airbags reduce the chance of death in side impacts by 50%. Electronic Stability Control reduces the chances of a single vehicle collision by... I think it's 30% or something.

As far as worries about children getting into the guns while out camping... don't see how they could mess with it on my person without me knowing about it.... but I have no children of my own, so I can get by woth considerably fewer precautions.

I don't know that much about guns. I do know my buddie's Glock had no absolute safeties. He showed me all the features such that it could never fire unless the trigger was actually pulled, but if you pulled the trigger, it always fired. I was really surprised by that. The ease of a possible accident cause by kids messing around is scary, even if the gun is on you.

My issue with my friend was when he bought a handgun, fired it twice on a range (no training) and indicated he was going to carry it on a sea kayaking trip with our group. The guy always was a bit nervous in the backcountry (I think he lays awake worried about bears, etc) and it worried me more that he would hear Rocky the Raccoon and take a shot in the middle of the night without situational awareness and shoot me in my tent. This seemed a much bigger risk to me.

I would be very concerned too, and probably would also avoid this person. I was only comfortable with my buddy because he showed me his skills. He wasn't just an LEO, but a rangemaster. I was surprised that after about 2 hours, he said I was better than many officers.

More with the gun/no gun arguments??? No one is going to change their mind one way or the other.

Actually, I waffle back and forth on this, was planning on getting one this year. But now I'm doubting it again.

Here's the intro: What's more dangerous: a swimming pool or a gun? When it comes to children, there is no comparison: a swimming pool is 100 times more deadly.

I don't doubt it. I don't have a pool. My son takes swimming lessons.

I am following about protecting the family by not having a gun, but what about the roughly 2.5 milllion defensive uses of hand guns in a year in the United states? How do your numbers stack up against that?

I never understand that argument. How can one possibly argue the case of defensive gun ownership, when so many other industrialized countries with more gun control have so much lower crime rates? Are we instead defending ourselves with our SnoCone Machines?

I am not going to run the math for you, but I'd wager my two newest guns that there is a greater chance of needing a gun defensively than having your kids shoot themselves.

It would be almost impossible to argue this. For every instance where you may feel you used a gun defensively, another person may have simply turned and walked away. Again, I get back to root crime statistics.

 

[Fireman78]

I bet he wished he had a gun when he was camping...

 

[john101477]

I carry.

 

[JK-Mg1212]

I bet he wished he had a gun when he was camping...

Ok - maybe I might change my mind now! :Wow1:

Funny thing is I have a tee shirt that says "Paddle faster I hear banjos!" Didn't Burt use a Bow? I haven't seen that movie in years.