- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
- Messages
- 887
I've given a bit of thought to this. I've had relatives, serious outdoorsmen with lots and lots of time in the western U.S. mountains, mention frightening encounters with mountain lions. One says he actually got leapt at, and, as he tells it, he was bringing up his gun about when it jumped, and shot it. The other--whom I have zero reason to question for his less-dramatic story--got separated from his hiking companions and noticed a mountain lion across a streambed from him, walking in parallel with him for a while, apparently taking some interest. I take from this (and the various other stories of people fighting with cougars) that, stealthy though they are, there are times when one does notice them in time to do something about it. Of course, the times when one does not notice them are likely more frequent. At any rate, nice to have something in hand that one could fight them with, if it's one of those times when you notice them.
Second interesting observation: I've been reading a book on cougar attacks, and I noticed about 3 old-time documented cases in which a person was attacked by a cougar and tried to defend himself with a hatchet or tomahawk. In all cases, the tomahawk defense was unsuccessful--I have never read any account of anybody successfully defending against a cougar attack with a hatchet; there are, however, a number of accounts of successful defenses with knives. My best analysis of this is that a hatchet cuts in an arc about three feet out from the user's chest; that arc is a strip of space about as wide as the hatchet's edge. Anything that doesn't intersect with that arc--or, more precisely, doesn't end up right in front of that arc as it's being created--is going to get a blunt impact from the handle, at worst. Now, cougars--like most other predators--attack straight in, and FAST. If the cougar is a little faster than your reflexes and anticipation (which is likely), your tomahawk blade is going to go through the air behind the cougar, and you're going to hit it with the handle and your fist (if you're lucky), about the time its teeth are around your neck. The details will vary, but you get the basic idea.
In contrast, if you've got more of a thrusting weapon, your target is a little more manageable: if you're a little too fast or slow, you're still likely to have sharp metal pointed in the right direction. I notice that the Masai, mentioned above, use spears and straight swords in their lion-fighting adventures; both of those seem as if they would work well whether one thrust them into an attacking animal, or merely held it pointed in the right direction while the animal came forward. This armchair theorizing is of course only what it is, but it seems to make sense of the limited data I have available from the experiences of others.
Second interesting observation: I've been reading a book on cougar attacks, and I noticed about 3 old-time documented cases in which a person was attacked by a cougar and tried to defend himself with a hatchet or tomahawk. In all cases, the tomahawk defense was unsuccessful--I have never read any account of anybody successfully defending against a cougar attack with a hatchet; there are, however, a number of accounts of successful defenses with knives. My best analysis of this is that a hatchet cuts in an arc about three feet out from the user's chest; that arc is a strip of space about as wide as the hatchet's edge. Anything that doesn't intersect with that arc--or, more precisely, doesn't end up right in front of that arc as it's being created--is going to get a blunt impact from the handle, at worst. Now, cougars--like most other predators--attack straight in, and FAST. If the cougar is a little faster than your reflexes and anticipation (which is likely), your tomahawk blade is going to go through the air behind the cougar, and you're going to hit it with the handle and your fist (if you're lucky), about the time its teeth are around your neck. The details will vary, but you get the basic idea.
In contrast, if you've got more of a thrusting weapon, your target is a little more manageable: if you're a little too fast or slow, you're still likely to have sharp metal pointed in the right direction. I notice that the Masai, mentioned above, use spears and straight swords in their lion-fighting adventures; both of those seem as if they would work well whether one thrust them into an attacking animal, or merely held it pointed in the right direction while the animal came forward. This armchair theorizing is of course only what it is, but it seems to make sense of the limited data I have available from the experiences of others.
