where are all the guns?

T

the possum

Joined
Jul 31, 2002
Messages
2,954
Why don't more people here mention guns to bring along in the wilderness? The mountain men and settlers who really did survive in the wild considered their rifle to be their most prized posession. Native Americans gave up their bows in favor of the rifle as quickly as possible. Do you guys just consider that "cheating"? Or is it just because this is a knife board? (which is fine with me if that is the real reason)
Now, I'm not trying to diminish the importance of woodcraft or anything. Knowing how to make snares and traps for catching food is certainly not a bad thing. It's just that a gun makes the whole food dilemma so much easier. I see people mention fish hooks, compact stoves, lighters, water purifiers, and of course knives & cutting tools of all kinds, (all of which also make "roughing it" much easier) but very rarely see a gun mentioned, except as the punchline of a joke! Man, if I were forced to live off the land, you can bet a suitable rifle and plenty of ammo would be at or near the top of my list! In my area, we honestly have more deer than small game. I can either spend my whole day trapping rabbits and catching fish, or shoot one deer & spend a few hours processing & preserving it, and eat well all week.

So, let's hear 'em. What gun would you carry in a wilderness survival situation?
 
Why don't more people here mention guns to bring along in the wilderness?
Click to expand...

Two reasons:
1) This is a knife board
2) There isn't a whole lot of real wilderness left in the lower 48. As much as we may want to; most of us are limited to camping and hiking within established parks, where guns are a big no-no (at least other then during hunting season).

Given a choice; I would love to carry a guns

n2s
 
as my reason for visiting these forums is to learn survival for the day when i am hunting and need to provide for myself and my party of hunters and that this goal differs from others that look at a backpacking and hiking or primative living as their scenarios.

so i will have a gun and that is a given. others here prepare for the unexpected on a backpacking trip or a hiking trip. so they would not be carrying a gun with them as a matter of personal equipment. so the presence of a rifle with me is a given, with others it is a given that there wont be a rifle in camp. that is the difference as to the eventualities that we have here. that i think is why we dont discuss the use of the gun here as a matter of course.

alex
 
Yep, this is a knife board.

Have you checked how many blades some guys carry every day? Dang! We must all be a bunch of Edward Scissorhands.

But, seriously, there are a lot of legal troubles involved in having a ready gun. My local law enforcement has decided that it is illegal to conceal a loaded handgun anywhere but your person if you have a CWP. This makes it pretty inconvenient for me to carry. That is why I don't include one in my various "solutions."

Scott
 
Beezaur,

You ought to move to Kentucky. Things are much more relaxed than that when it comes to CWP or as we call 'em CDW's.
 
I carry one of these all the time....

minimax_sub_lg.gif


Small, simple, cheap and 10 rounds of .45!!!
 
Its too bad so many of you live in places that allow no guns. I know when I lived in the lower 48 there was still many places to enjoy guns. Barring Ca most of the western US it isn't a big deal to carry. Even when living down there guns were a "required" part of my gear when I went outdoors. There are many other boards on the net that can provide discussions and info on the web for guns. If you haven't had any luck finding them I can post some links for you .
akraven
(In cold mosquito ridden Alaska where guns are everywhere)
 
Originally posted by akraven (In cold mosquito ridden Alaska where guns are everywhere) [/B]
Click to expand...

I read this somewhere a while back....

And what makes it more interesting is that in Alaska, by law, if you are piloting a plane you are required to have a rifle in your emergency kit.
 
When I'm back in PA I carry 24/7 usually a Glock 19 or a Kahr K-9. When in the woods I carry either a 2.5 inch S&W Model 19-5 .357 magnum or a .45 Colt 1911A1 copy (Argentine 1927). If I'm going out during small game season I carry A Ruger Single-Six in .22 magnum for hunting.

Here in Brazil carry is a big no-no but I have done it in wilderness areas just to be safe. Most often here I carry a J-frame .38 snub because that's what I have.

Guns are power tools for dealing with violence. Even if you don't carry or even believe in carrying a gun you should know how thay work and how to be safe with one. If you don't you're just being ignorant of something that could get you killed. Mac
 
This idea of living off the land is a dream . Nobody gets all their food like that anymore. A lot of people do hunt for meat and may plant a garden but even then they buy a heck of a lot of store bought food. Okay ... rant mode is off :D

What is your definition of wilderness? For most people in the lower 48 the most dangerous thing they do is to be in an automobile . There are an average of 120 deaths by automobile crashes per day in the USA.
The wilderness is a far safer place by comparison. Carrying a gun may get one out of a jam or get you into one. In my neck of the woods there are mostly black bears and cougars that could pose a threat but by being aware and using " common sense " it is very, very rare to be attacked . Do attacks happen in wilderness situations ? You bet. Would a gun help ? Sometimes it is the only way to resolve a confrontation. Pepper spray it may be argued is as effective. With bears you can usually avoid killing the bear by just standing your ground or firing a warning shot. Cougars are more unpredictable but they very seldom attack adults.

The situation is different in parks, protected areas and increasingly along the edges of human activity where animals are not hunted and do not fear people as much as in areas where they are hunted. It is in these places where bears especially can become dangerous but again it is rare.

You have more to fear from lightning, mosquitoes, wood ticks and spiders but they don't have the sensationalism of the odd wild animal attack.

Pepper spray can be very effective , some interesting testimonials at the following:

http://www.udap.com/
 
Originally posted by not2sharp
Two reasons:
1) This is a knife board
2) There isn't a whole lot of real wilderness left in the lower 48. As much as we may want to; most of us are limited to camping and hiking within established parks, where guns are a big no-no (at least other then during hunting season).

Given a choice; I would love to carry a guns

n2s
Click to expand...

OK. I had a feeling this had something to do with it. However, if this is a knife board, then why is this forum filled with threads about non knife stuff? Why do we have a thousand posts about how to start a fire, but so few about one of the other handiest tools you could possibly bring? And, if there isn't enough wilderness left in the contiguous USA, why do we have a forum titled "Wilderness & Survival Skills", and plenty of traffic on it? Why not put in a disclaimer saying only those living in Alaska and tropical jungles will be allowed to post? I'm just playing devil's advocate here. I should put some of these in ;) :) so you know I'm just joking around with ya not2sharp. I wasn't trying to single you out or anything; your post just happened to sum up what I percieve as a negative mindset on this board. Guns should be a vital part of any real survival kit IMO. If you cannot carry them, feel free to say so. Just don't ignore them.

Now, so far, of those who came forward, I noticed mostly handguns. Care to say why you chose what you did? I get the impression ya'll only carry for defensive purposes, and don't really plan to use it much. If I'm reading you wrong, please let me know. I guess when I started this post, I was looking at it from the perspective of a tool used to harvest food.
 
Originally posted by the possum
OK. I had a feeling this had something to do with it. However, if this is a knife board, then why is this forum filled with threads about non knife stuff? Why do we have a thousand posts about how to start a fire, but so few about one of the other handiest tools you could possibly bring?
Click to expand...

I agree with you. A lot of things/hobbies/interests do compliment one another.

knives, guns, flashlights, survival gear, etc etc etc. You can't have one without the other almost. They go hand-in-hand.
 
There is much mention of firearms in the "Gadgets and Gear" forum here on Bladeforums. Some older threads right here delved into survival/food-gathering firearms quite extensively. I have a Remington 870 Marine Magnum that has seen some cosmetic changes and now has two matte-finished barrels, one a Vang-comped 18-inch barrel for defensive use with buckshot which would also harvest a deer at close range, and a 20-inch slug barrel with rifle sights. I have only tried slugs out to 50 yards thus far, and was pleased with the accuracy. If I could have only one weapon for fighting and food gathering, it would be a strong candidate, especially if the extra barrel was part of the equation. If I could feasibly have more weapons, a "scout" type of rifle and a service-type handgun would be nice. I will look for these old threads and bump them to the top if I can find them.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for bumping those threads up.

AKRaven-
I do browse a gun forum regularly, but am always open to suggestions for something new. You know of some good sites?
 
Originally posted by the possum
OK. Why not put in a disclaimer saying only those living in Alaska and tropical jungles will be allowed to post?
Click to expand...

What about those of us in canada?? Plenty of thick jucy forest around here??
 
My wilderness activity is generally along the lines of hiking and camping. I'm not trying to live off the land; I just want to experience it. :)

Still, I never go out in the woods without a firearm if I can help it. I carry a number of tools I don't really expect to need, like a firestarter and a compass. A firearm is another tool that's just too useful not to have in an emergency.

I prefer handguns because they're a lot lighter and easier to carry than a rifle. Most of the time I carry my customized (3-3/4" barrel) Taurus Raging Bull in .44 Magnum on my belt. With various loads it can be used for almost anything (including Grizzlys with the Garrett 330 grain +P).

If I'm in more open country I carry my scoped and longer-barrelled Raging Bull, also in .44 Magnum. It has the kind of reach and power that usually require a rifle, but it carries comfortably in a shoulder holster.

--Bob Q
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top