How are you guys handling yourselves in strange circumstances off the grid?

[rruff]

Really?! Are you a cop or a bandit? That seems out of the ordinary for sure. I am from a strong ‘gun culture‘ and i have never had a gun pointed at me nor pointed one at anyone.

It isn't out of the ordinary at all. If you intend for the gun to actually provide protection, you need to get the drop on any potential threat. I guess a guy alone with an unfancy rig is inherently a potential threat? How many thousands of days have you spent wandering in the boonies?

If you don't ever point your gun at people, under what circumstances do you think you would?

 

[calicamper]

It isn't out of the ordinary at all. If you intend for the gun to actually provide protection, you need to get the drop on any potential threat. I guess a guy alone with an unfancy rig is inherently a potential threat? How many thousands of days have you spent wandering in the boonies?

If you don't ever point your gun at people, under what circumstances do you think you would?

Walking the dogs at 9am today. Dead end road neighborhood long way from any thru routes. Truck drove by real slow like kinda gave my spider creeper sense a tweak. Couple minutes later a neighbor retired police out walking I mentioned the truck and he said yeah I got the same vibe. He says since there’s at least two getting the creeper vibe, he called non emergency told em to send a car to do a cruise by. I jumped in the car to run to the Hardware store and guess who’s pulled over a mile away getting a full felony stop? One in handcuffs other being walked backwards from the truck.

Trust that gut feeling!! Its usually right

 

[rruff]

Trust that gut feeling!! Its usually right

Most "gut feelings" are pure paranoia... but you don't need that to be suspicious of a couple strange guys cruising the neighborhood on a dead-end road. Did you find out any more about it?

 

[calicamper]

Most "gut feelings" are pure paranoia... but you don't need that to be suspicious of a couple strange guys cruising the neighborhood on a dead-end road. Did you find out any more about it?

Lots of work guys in our hood this truck was going for that look, except they obviously were not in a hurry to their job. That was the funny part that caught attention. No details yet, might hear more in a day or so. Our area gets hit by home break ins between 9am-3pm on a regular basis. Occasionally we get multiple guys slipping in through side gates and doing the rear slider smash. Last yr we had a few home owners in their house when it went down.

Many homes use their side gate more than the front door. Pair that with clay ground and gate locks/latches are a constant issue as posts move seasonally etc. I just built a big sliding bolt style lock mechanism I designed using a standard smart lock dead bolt. In week four of testing so far its worked perfectly. I need to clean up version 1 so its nicer looking and more weather resistant. But basically its a standard door deadbolt mounted to a device with two moving parts that allows for a 1 inch fiberglass rod to be used as a slide bolt locking the gate in place. Enter your combo into the lock, unlock, slide bolt open gate.
We probably pass through that gate 5-6 times a day. I tried lots of “gate” locks they all were terrible and didn’t get locked because it made using the gate difficult. Not any more!!
Couple neighbors want one now.

 

[pith helmet]

If you intend for the gun to actually provide protection, you need to get the drop on any potential threat.

This is the way you avoid using it. I would rather quickly leave a place where I was in the right than end up in a jackpot, or a courtroom.

I guess a guy alone with an unfancy rig is inherently a potential threat? How many thousands of days have you spent wandering in the boonies?

For pleasure, many hundreds, maybe 1000? I don't know. Professionally, thousands, daily. All unfancy and usually while looking pretty scruffy myself.

If you don't ever point your gun at people, under what circumstances do you think you would?

Are you suggesting practice? I would use it under the circumstances that it was necessary. I don't intend to show anyone a weapon unless I am going to use it, thank God that hasn't happened. I also live in a castle doctrine state, which also applies to your occupied vehicle as well as your home, where people assume others are armed and just generally have good manners anyway. People stay very polite with one another.
The two occasions where I probably would have been closest to being forced to use one, I was in New Orleans and DC on foot and unarmed.

 

[pith helmet]

We are also an open carry state. While I like the *idea* of the freedom to do so, as was mentioned earlier, it seems like it would invite trouble. Very few do it. Many more have concealed carry permits.

 

[JaSAn]

It isn't out of the ordinary at all. If you intend for the gun to actually provide protection, you need to get the drop on any potential threat. I guess a guy alone with an unfancy rig is inherently a potential threat? How many thousands of days have you spent wandering in the boonies?

If you don't ever point your gun at people, under what circumstances do you think you would?

Have you even know what is legally required for you to claim self defense?
The perp ALWAYS has to threaten first (advantage, perp). Otherwise you are deemed the aggressor (aggravated assault, minimum). It has to be a threat that would be recognized, first by a DA and maybe by a jury.

First, you never brandish a firearm unless you intend to use it if the threat isn't removed.
Second, there is a large body of case law around this subject that defines what is and is not a threat. If you plan on using ANYTHING as a defense that could injure another you better know when it is lawful to use it.

Some circumstances for me:
- someone breaks into my house/car/camper while I am in it.
- someone approaches me brandishing (legal term) a weapon.

P.S. I've spent 5,000 - 6,000 days in the wild, a lot of it in hard to reach areas, a lot of it alone.

 

[pith helmet]

Most "gut feelings" are pure paranoia...

I respectfully disagree. Having spent so much time in the wilds, one would think you would be in tune with what feels normal and what does not.

 

[pith helmet]

Some circumstances for me:
- someone breaks into my house/car/camper while I am in it.
- someone approaches me brandishing (legal term) a weapon.

Yes.

 

[gkieser92]

That's the logic that results in high gun ownership for sure. No one wants to be helpless or defenseless in that situation. But if you really think it through... at what point do you decide that you or your family are threatened with "lethal or grievous injury"? You can't wait until someone is an *actual* threat, because then it's too late. You need to get the jump on them! Which means you behave in a very preemptive manner, greeting anyone you meet with your gun pointed at them, until you determine it's safe.

Apparently many people I've encountered have figured this out... which is why I've had guns pointed at me on numerous occasions.

If you've had guns pointed at you on numerous occasions, you are such a statistical outlier that you should really evaluate how you find yourself in those situations. The vast majority of people have never had a gun pointed at them once, much less twice. "Numerous" is unheard of, especially outside of career criminals. If having guns pointed at you happens a lot, then you are the constant in those situations. For you, more important questions may be: why have multiple people in multiple situations have perceived me as a threat? Am I associating with unsafe people on repeat occasions? Am I going to places where bad decisions or criminal behavior take place?

As for assessing potential threats in my vicinity, I use the exact same information that everyone else uses. It must work pretty well, because in 45 years of life, including work in private security, law enforcement and mental health work, I'm still on one piece. Only once did I actually have to directly address a potential assailant (not work related) and I handled it with deterrence and distraction. The only difference is I have one additional tool that has an extremely narrow application, but for that application, it is the absolute best tool. For that type of situation to arise, the threat will have to get through multiple layers of awareness and protection, and have to continue through all of the opportunities I give them to make a different choice. I don't carry the gun because I think I will need it. If I thought I needed it, I would not be in that location.

 

[gkieser92]

I respectfully disagree. Having spent so much time in the wilds, one would think you would be in tune with what feels normal and what does not.

It's easier to detect what doesn't fit in the wilds. In the big city I live near, "normal" has shifted so much in the last 24 months that I feel uneasy in neighborhoods that used to feel very relaxed. Gavin DeBecker's book "The Gift of Fear" goes into this at length.

 

[pith helmet]

It's easier to detect what doesn't fit in the wilds.

I agree, which is what the focus of the thread is.

 

[AbleGuy]

We are also an open carry state. While I like the *idea* of the freedom to do so, as was mentioned earlier, it seems like it would invite trouble. Very few do it. Many more have concealed carry permits.

So, first a question….if you guys have legal open carry, why do folks feel the need to then obtain a CCW permit?
I guess it’s not like in AZ where (I believe) the open carry laws also allow concealed carry w/out the necessity of the CCW permit.

And then an observation:

Have you even know what is legally required for you to claim self defense?
The perp ALWAYS has to threaten first (advantage, perp). Otherwise you are deemed the aggressor….

This might be starting to change. Didn’t some state just make the national news this week for flipping the burden of proof in self defense cases from the defendant to the prosecutor? That’s a watershed change in the rights of citizens to defend themselves and their families.

 

[pith helmet]

if you guys have legal open carry, why do folks feel the need to then obtain a CCW permit?

Our law is open carry only, can be legally concealed only if in your vehicle.

 

[Kevin108]

I own a firearm. I take one with me when off-grid. Sometimes it's carried. Sometimes not. I have never needed to use it, or even think of it.

I have plenty of tools fitting that description. I also carry a first aid kit I've never needed, but most everyone admits it's good to have one of those, just in case.

But nobody but you knows whether you should or shouldn't carry a gun. Do what works for you. Most importantly, don't criticize anyone for choosing differently.