How you carry yourself

I don't really ever wade into the whole online forum/discussion thing, and it's certainly not because I think I'm too good for it. Mainly it's because I have my opinions, too busy working, thinking about writing one thing or another, trolling gun broker when I have no business doing so or, yaking on IM with this guy.

But I was reading here on the Breda fallacy the other night about how she carried openly (I'm assuming for the first time) and nothing happened. She wasn't looking for a confrontation she just decided to do it locally and no one noticed. What some might call a nice day.

But one individual took some type of offense in some weird way on a forum that she linked to. The quote goes "Yea, there are people that own guns that would NEVER consider OC unless it was some sort of event. These people have not jumped on the band wagon, they think that the sheep will cause a fuss, call the cops or whatever. At least they are aware and maybe they will be active later. I say to them, grow a set".

?????


First realize were all on the same side here. Second this type of attitude is no different than the always annoying Perez Hilton who chases down people who are gay and living quietly and demands that they come out of the closet. All the while playing Montgomery Gentry's "you do your thing I'll do mine".

But I suppose in this day an age it is simply easier to chastise a total stranger than offer an encouragement.

The first time I open carried in a very public fashion that I can recall was at the rip age of 21 with my beautiful Colt Combat Elite. I was visiting my sister who lived in Arizona and we had all stopped in an Applebee's for lunch. As we are seated I notice two guys openly carrying and peacefully eating their lunch. I looked at my old man and said "I'm gonna do it" so I went out to the rental car and buckled up. It was a very exhilarating non-issue. Later on the same trip I went into a super market in Phoenix openly carrying, after I had checked out and was going out the door the manager came over. He was easily a couple of decades older than me and politely said "Sir we don't allow the carrying of firearms in our store", I had missed the sign on the door (these weren't a common thing to look for once upon a time). I apologized profusely and said that it wouldn't happen again. We parted by telling each other to have a nice evening. I remain convinced that he was not apart of a global conspiracy to disarm me.

So all of that to say this.

If you are going to openly carry your pistol please don't openly carry that chip on your shoulder.

This whole idea of getting into a verbal confrontation with a street cop and tyelling (yes that's intentional) them about our rights doesn't win any friends and regardless what you think that is exactly what this is about. I agree there are far far far too many law enforcement officers who simply do not know the law and have decided that if they tell you "no" that, that is also law. Our job as pro-gun/pro-carry advocates is to win the hearts and minds.


So make sure that this is really about the cause of open carry and not you being an attention whore. Because if you watch enough of the videos you can tell who is doing it for the right reasons and who was told that weren't funny enough for open mike night or smart enough for the debate club.

If you are really committed to making a public demonstration of openly carrying do it right. Don't be a pussy walking around waiting for some poor beat cop who is having a bad day and now gets to respond to a "gunman" (hey he doesn't know till he gets there). Shine those brass balls up and go to your state capital, find out where your representatives have lunch and quietly go sit down at a table near them and have a good time with your pals, tip well and leave
If you are going out looking to make a statement and have it on youtube. Be smart. A-take a shower B- wear something decent. i.e. look respectable.

"This is who I am! Asshole!"

ah...no. It's the clothes on your body.

I love my Lynyrd Skynrd t-shirt and having my shirt sleeve rolled up so I can show off my forearm tat. But a button down shirt, a decent pair of dress pants, and a nice leather holster looks like a class act.

Oh I know you're gonna tell me "well I ain't got no extra money to dress up all fancy Mr. Bodyguard.", uh huh. Sure you don't not with that $800 pistol and that $1,000 dollar AR with the extra $700 in accessories hanging on it. So don't act like you made a wrong turn and just came out of the hills with a flintlock. You aren't there by accident you went to make an intentional statement. Do it well.

There are a lot of folks (myself included) who have been lobbying, donating, and carrying  a gun as a private citizen for a very long time and we are very comfortable with ourselves that we don't need to be lectured about "taking a stand". Some of us are very comfortable with our hoploality.

.45 ACP v Grizzly Bear

A quick update from last year's post (45 ACP Big Bear Medicince ?) . In it I mentioned that a man and woman were hiking in Denali National Park when the woman was charged by a Grizzly that was shot and killed by her male companion armed with a .45 Automatic.

You can read the full article here but here is a quick overview of the situation.

• The woman was approximately 25 feet away from the man when the bear emerged from the brush and charged her.
• He fired in quick succession seven to nine rounds into the right side of the bear. The bear stopped several feet from the woman and turned back into the brush (where it subsequently died from the gun shot wounds).
• They marked the location on their GPS, and according to the tracks of the bear coming out of the brush and returning into the brush along with the spent shell casings match the couples account of the situation. Thus the forensic evidence corroborated.
• The bear was injured which may have explained the attack, but none of its injuries life threatening. It was an older male that weighed in at 434lbs.
• The couples names have not been released since they in short committed no crime.

The long and short of it is this. Is the .45 ACP capable of killing a charging bear? Yes.

Most people's first choice? No.

Lastly, shot placement, mental acuity, and gun speed all still matter over caliber.

A quick and interesting aspect I found on this website for hunting in British Columbia show the full decomposed remains of a Grizzly. I point to it because you get a good look at the other wise unseen bone structure of these massive bears. Go Here

The Bug Out Bag v The Go Bag (reality, practicality and myth) Part II

The Bug-out-Bag's portability and maneuverability fails (in my opinion) in one immediate regard.

Water.

The recommended amount of water per person per day is a gallon. A gallon of water roughly equals 8lbs. Three gallons=24lbs.

This doesn't take a lot of things into account.For instance the joy of hot Summer conditions and, that the easiest walking routes are covered in black asphalt. Or that traveling off road can mean climbing hills and, hacking through green under growth. Both will require frequent replenishing of fluids.

Cold Winter brings with it an increased weight of gear overall due to heavy clothing and bulk. Toss in food, guns and ammo, and any personal items and it get damn heavy damn fast.

Though there was an interesting article not too long back in National Geographic about African Aid workers purifiying drinking water by laying out disposable water bottles filled with clear but unsafe water on sheet metal. After six+ hours in the sun the UV light killed live protozoa. (post edit and thanks for the reminder anonymous reader).

Adding ammunition into the mix looks something like this:

A fifty round box of .45 acp 230 grn FMJ weighs 2lbs 4.7ounces, a fifty count box of 9mm 115 grn goes 1.61lbs. Three 30 round AK-47 magazines weighs 4lbs.

Bags also have an funny way of getting outdated or deteriorating. One day you open up your pack and discover your magnesium fire-starter has left a lovely grey film on everything (tip: wrap it in with aluminum foil) or the other bane of a survival kit. The gummy black bastardness of electrical tape over time.

Think all of this Bug out bagging is wrong. Go take your 72 hour kit and stay away for 96 hours. Don't head to the woods go to the shittiest neighborhood you can find in the dead heat of summer, locate and abandoned building and lie low. Then by comparison do a 96 hour drill at your domicile. Shut the power off, shut the water off and hunker down for four days. Either way you come away enlightened.

So what about the whole "Go Bag" concept?

The Go Bag was once defined for me by a former spook-turned-instructor in my formative years of Executive Protection as a professionals personal kit that combines daily use along with contents that may only see use during selected occurrences. This rings true for the SOF Operator, the Patrol Officer, the IT guy, right on down to yours truly. If there is one piece of worth while advice I have learned over the years and it may sound stupid don't pack for comfort, pack for use.

The creature comfort feature is what ends up making a bag unbearably heavy.

Case in point. Once before heading over seas with a client in the dead of winter we were spending the night in New York. The Principal a very corporate casual kinda guy (no ties I was told) and given that we were going to be spending three weeks in India taking a parka for one night seemed stupid. So instead I packed the heaviest wool sweater I had. Did we (and I mean him) decide to walk through half of Manhattan's neighborhoods after dinner in 20 degree weather. Yep. Did I buy a stocking cap from a street vendor in China Town. Yep. Was it freezing cold. Yep. Was I happy two weeks down the road in 95 degrees in Mumbai that I didn't have a parka in my bag. Ye....you get the picture.

Bags will evolve and change over the years as need be. And I actually keep somewhere around four to five bags in a ready, to semi-ready, to three-quarters empty state. The bags themselves range in size from small and medium daily carries to larger ones that may see use once a month. All of them have small shaving and first aid kits, cliff bars, spare batteries, spare knives, and an assortment of needs as the size of the bag increases. While they are not always overly tactical, they are always practical....for me and my needs.

Of the bags I consistently operate from the second and very heavily relied upon is a Duluth Trading Company's Cab Commander (in tan). If you don't have one buy one. It's stays loaded and in the 4runner with everything from a spare coffee thermos and water bottle, knife, picks, maps, compasses, rain jacket, food and so on. The nice thing aside from being within arms reach. If I switch vehicles it's as simple as grabbing it and go.

In the winter I keep a very very upscale winter kit (sarcasm) made up of my cold weather hunting gear, a spare sleeping bag, long underwear, jeans, socks, sweaters, etc all nicely packed in a $10 east German surplus duffel bag (see I told you OD was fashionably pre-war-on-terror). Around Christmas this past winter I received a call from a colleague at 4pm on a Friday afternoon regarding a somewhat dubious missing persons case. The weather was bad, we had just dug out three days prior from a massive snow storm and more was on the way. Since my cold weather Go-Bag was already packed and loaded I had very little in the way of prepping needed other than filling my coffee thermos.

I'm not going to fall into the trap of telling you what you MUST have in your kit, but there are a few things I heavily recommend regardless of size. A decent to very good tactical folder, an LED light of some type with one or two sets of spare batteries. A water bottle. I like a stainless one unpainted, because my thought is should I ever end up where its an emergency situation I can boil water in it over a small fire. A substitute is a plastic Nalgene bottle that fits into one of these. I may have ripped on packing 20+ pounds of water but, I didn't say don't carry any.

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever applied to all of my go-kits is simply a bar of soap, a wash cloth and a hand towel. A Steward (which is more applicable than 'flight attendent')I knew who worked aboard a billionaires private jet remarked that "hot soapy water, a nice soft towel and a clean face and new shirt can literally change your mental ability to work a 20+ hour day". He is very very right. I consider just as important as my night scope to be honest.

The inherent value of a go-kit, is that regardless of your profession, it gives you physical resources for the various demands placed on your professional and personal life.

In one of the more infamous cases where I was very thankful to have a "Go Bag" at the ready was several years back. A buddy and I were out on a morning bow-hunt when my phone began a non-stop buzzing. When I finally answered there was a very panicked stricken secretary on the other end asking if I could be at a local private airport to fly out. Thinking these thing always take a couple of hours to get fully prepped I said "sure, when do I leave?" her response "30 minutes", as I looked at my camo laden self I went rather slack jawed momentarily and said "can we do 45?" she confirmed that would work and that the plane would be held for me (my ego was something stupid for the next several days from that statement alone).

Fortunately I was less than three miles from the airport in question. Unfortunately my "go bag" was about 20 miles away so I did what any single (at the time) professional security spook would do. I called my mom (lest you think that I think far too much of myself not to give this woman the credit she deserves).

I walked on the plane inside of 40 minutes unshaven, head to toe in ASAT camo with five corporate executives all in suits. Waiting and smiling.

The end game is this. A kit should be reflection of you, the inside of your head, and the needs of your daily life. I see my bags in the same light that I do the pockets on my pants, (see Rule 8). Preparedness even on a small level makes all the difference. You learn from it. You'll never have every single specific thing you need, but with a good kit you learn to make things happen and adapt to it as they come.

Because real cowboys ride in the rain.

If you haven't seen it, it's well worth watching

Well done Martin Short

The Bug Out Bag v The Go Bag (reality, practicality and myth) Part I

Faced with a half a pot of coffee at 10:30 on a Sunday night and the dire need to finish a case summary of an eight month investigation that is formally being taken over by the Feds; now seemed as good of time as any to blog.

Amongst Internet lore few things spark more debate, discussion and “expert” rambling than the mysterious “Bug Out” or “Go Bag”. Yet lest I split unimportant hairs here, contrary to popular net speak the two bags are not actually one in the same.

The infamous bug out bag is for those situations that have deteriorated due to potential deadly natural disasters or human induced “problems” (like your aerial surveillance plane was shot out of the midnight sky in unfriendly territory and AAA stopped taking your calls over that pesky $55 fee). But if you read many an experts (real and self-titled) opinion of contents it can be somewhat overwhelming and discouraging.

First requirements are fashion (sarcasm) it should be black, coyote, or dark earth in color . Olive drab is sooo pre-Afghanistan (consequently I have bags in all these colors). Second it should have literally the best of everything from a price perspective. From a top of the line M4 with no less than ten mags and ammo to a tactical pistol with six mags, Sure-Fires most expensive and brightest flashlight, spare batteries, and enough food, clothing, and medicine to keep you alive for the next 72 hours.

This goes for every member of the family....yes the dog too.

The problem with this mythic monolith should the feces hit the impeller is that according to the recommended list of contents you realize you need a bug out trunk, not a bag. For a new comer to the area of self-preservation it can all be a bit mind numbing, akin to putting together a tricycle blind folded three hours before sun up on Christmas morning.

But mockery and sarcasm aside, you need to be prepped with a system that is ready. As the Wife, The Dog, and The Mouse have since relocated to Little Farm (still under development) we have seen severe storms come through the area in all kinds of temperatures that by God's grace we have been missed.

A month ago when several tornados ripped through our area, one missing us by 3/4 of a mile, we were again spared but did lose power for ten + hours. I decided to relocate the Wife and Mouse to my folks house for the night a few miles away who still had power, and then come back to watch over the house. Before climbing into the 4Runner to drive them over I put my Remington 870 behind the seat stoked with #1 Buck. Already wearing my .45 she said to me "a little paranoid aren't we?". I explained that she had never seen civility amongst the population break down in the same way I had and if I was being paranoid I'd be wearing a bandoleer of shells.

I say that to say this.

While I don't have any actual bag or bags packed for emergency evac these days like I did when I was single I do have my gear organized and stowed under the basement stairs. My feeling being that this area is tornado and earthquake resistant. It would take a pretty substantial situation for me to feel we need to "bug out". To that end an example would look like a biological or nuclear attack or a substantial natural disaster like Japan 2011 or New Orleans in '05 post Katrina. Something that makes the region either toxic in the health sense or social collapse in epic..epic.. scale.

Despite all of its darkly romantic notions bugging out presents far larger issues than staying put. I have tools, vehicles, defensible structure, multiple firearms, ammunition, reloading capabilities, food, clothing.....resources.I'd much rather stay, live uncomfortable for a time, fight when and if I have to than run-fight-survive.

As we go about structuring Little Farm my concept for this home is that it is also a micro-training facility, an urban farm and a fortified location. Should the need arise that we absolutely must leave we can, but staying is vastly preferred.

Why?

Because I've been there. Skulking through the woods at night, leading somebody out of a bad situation with armed men about wanting to kill you. Shivering in the cold with minimal gear with people who also need part of that minimal gear and who are also in a constant state of panic out of said situation. And that is knowing mentally I need to survive this short time frame to get back to civilization.

Fleeing from it into a vast uncertainty, carrying a 70+ pound bag of gear, food and clothing along with several .45s and a rifle, with the Wife, and a kid who still doesn't have teeth, can't walk yet, let alone do any kind of over-watch. It's going to have to be TEOTW literally.

If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel the enemy seek a solution elsewhere. - Karl Von Clausewitz

Part II coming.