Personal Protection

J Watrous said:
Started carrying a Garmin InReach Mini 2. I think for most places in Washington that’s a much more likely-to-be-needed personal protection carry than bear spray or a gun.
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I think your suggestion makes a lot of sense. At my age, I think the chances of me needing help when out of cell service is more likely than getting mugged by tweakers or mauled by a sow black bear.
 
Buzzy said:
I think your suggestion makes a lot of sense. At my age, I think the chances of me needing help when out of cell service is more likely than getting mugged by tweakers or mauled by a sow black bear.
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The InReach or the SPOT are both good ideas for your situation. A broken leg or hip is more likely than a run in with banjo pickers.
I'm still an advocate for being armed, but you have to make that choice based on you, like I think Paige said.
 
J Watrous said:
Started carrying a Garmin InReach Mini 2. I think for most places in Washington that’s a much more likely-to-be-needed personal protection carry than bear spray or a gun.
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Mine stays attached to my pack..my pack is the one thing I’ll never leave home without so I know I can’t forget my Inreach.
 
I have a small fanny pack I always carry in the jeep…in it is the garmin Inreach, fire starter, small folding knife, life straw, small first aid kit, compass, signal mirror, and a small bivy sack that would fit in your pocket…if I remember tomorrow, I’ll take a pic of it and contents tomorrow
 
I'm also a senior who heads into the backcountry and on the salt alone. My wife pretty much demands I carry something to send out an emergency signal if needed. I'm not a fan of the monthly subscriptions associated with the Garmin devices, I only want an emergency signal sent in the event of an emergency. For that reason I opt for a Personal Locator that doesn't require the subscription. 7 year battery life comes out to about $50 per year - I can deal with that for solo explorer 'insurance'.

https://www.rei.com/product/156622/...G_0ScDVfPCvwraOlxHxoCN-UQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
doublespey said:
Just a thought for those considering personal protection from either 2 or 4 legged. Preface - I believe in responsible gun regulation but am certainly not anti-gun (have Concealed Carry permit and multiple firearms securely stored) + had extensive firearms training once upon a time.

The biggest issue I see (not just for myself but for others) is that we're all aware that discharging a firearm toward another will likely change our lives. We likely have much to lose, the folks presenting the danger probably not so much. People have and will continue to hesitate to deploy lethal response and that moment of indecision is often their undoing.

You may think you won't hesitate, but unless/until you're in that situation you don't really know.

So when I pull a deterrant I want to have no hesitation in deploying it, and I want it to work at a decent distance. That's why I much prefer something like this than carrying something more lethal. But as others have noted, it's your a$$ and your decision.

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Do you have one of these? What exactly does "less lethal" mean? Would it deter a bear? Disable a man? Break bones? Could a poorly placed shot kill someone?
 
Staring down the barrel of a gun or being held at knife point isn't a good feeling.
I would have a gun and an inreach.
 
Northern said:
Do you have one of these? What exactly does "less lethal" mean? Would it deter a bear? Disable a man? Break bones? Could a poorly placed shot kill someone?
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Yes I do. My 'take' is it it does seem to be effective/accurate out to about 30' or 35'. You can use the pepper or mace/pepper balls. They explode on contact and are supposed to be very unpleasant (the pepper/mace especially so). I don't know if it would be as effective as a big cloud of Bear Spray. And I certainly wouldn't rely on it for Grizzly/Black Bear deterrent, but for Black bears and smaller I think it would be an effective. You can also load with steel balls which will probably hurt like hell but body shots would not be lethal. They're not meant to break bones. If you hit someone in the forehead with the steel balls at point blank range it could possibly be lethal, I don't know. I've used the practice (hard plastic) balls and the launcher is surprisingly accurate with a reasonably light and consistent trigger. Law Enforcement uses these because you can disable someone at a distance and not be tethered to them like with a taser. There are some YouTube videos out there of Byrna's in use.
 
doublespey said:
Yes I do. My 'take' is it it does seem to be effective/accurate out to about 30' or 35'. You can use the pepper or mace/pepper balls. They explode on contact and are supposed to be very unpleasant (the pepper/mace especially so). I don't know if it would be as effective as a big cloud of Bear Spray. And I certainly wouldn't rely on it for Grizzly/Black Bear deterrent, but for Black bears and smaller I think it would be an effective. You can also load with steel balls which will probably hurt like hell but body shots would not be lethal. They're not meant to break bones. If you hit someone in the forehead with the steel balls at point blank range it could possibly be lethal, I don't know. I've used the practice (hard plastic) balls and the launcher is surprisingly accurate with a reasonably light and consistent trigger. Law Enforcement uses these because you can disable someone at a distance and not be tethered to them like with a taser. There are some YouTube videos out there of Byrna's in use.
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Thanks! Good info.
Gotta say, tho - I feel like a bad guy with a gun is more likely to use it if he sees I have a "gun," and bear spray would be better for deterring either a bear or an unarmed bad guy.

Like most women, I choose the bear... but either is getting a snootfull-o-hurt
 
When younger a small group of us worked out with a Shotokan instructor, Dave, who had also been a hand to hand combat instructor in the service. This was a time when, unlike today, it was extremely unusual to encounter anyone carrying a handgun other than law enforcement in day to day life, so street encounters were very rarely lethal.
Besides regularly kicking our ass, Dave strongly stressed the mental component of a potential combat situation, recognizing as soon as possible what you were facing and then acting immediately, never putting yourself in a reactive situation playing defense = If you know combat appears inevitable then either launch an attack or run like hell, the worse thing you could do is let your adversary control the confrontation.
The problem today is regardless of what personal training and skills you might possess, between the saturation of handguns and tweaker drugs, any encounter can quickly become lethal.
So now more than ever, situational awareness and the conviction to act is paramount, regardless of how you choose to approach the woods or the streets.
 
I frequently have to take a trolly across the Trinity and hike a half mile up the hill into natl forest where the headwaters of the creek that feeds our water system is when rain washes gravel into the pickup. This frequently happens while I'm at work and end up going after dark when I get back home. I usually don't carry anything more than my everyday carry Kershaw. (I leave a shovel over there) I figure that if I go out fighting a bear or cougar with my bare hands like Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, it would be a helluva way to go. That's the kind of stuff they write songs about. I do carry a 2-way radio to communicate with the wife in case of some injury that leaves me stranded.
 
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