Protection - Gun Alternatives?

Originally posted by wills120

Originally posted by thinkingthing


Remember, the family that shoots together has interlocking fields of fire.

I'm so quoting you on that.

reply to post by thinkingthing


The problem with using knives for self defense is that people who use them know how to disarm you quite easily. They are a great cutting tool for preparing food and that is all unless you have been trained in the art of using one for defense. The only thing that will protect you from someone with a gun is a gun and even then it is a matter of who pulls the trigger first. A good thing to remember is : "It's harder for fate to hit a moving target" because it's generally much harder for someone with a gun to shoot at something else that won't stay still. Ask any hunter that has ever shot at rabbits. Self preservation has gotten us a long way as a species I believe by simply running away. If you find yourself in a situation where you do have to defend your home and family, pick something hefty up that has nice sharp corners and piff it at your attacker. Then repeat and repeat. If he gets too close poke him in the eyes. He cannot hurt what he cannot see. You don't have to look pretty, you wont be in a boxing ring and there will be no rules. Do anything you can to stop the threat. Once he is incapacitated, tie him up and call the police. Unless he is the police.

reply to post by thinkingthing


Mam,

Any weapon you pick you will need to train with at least some. Even a club.

As far as a firearm, you should check some surplus weapons. Classic arms and Aim surplus are two good sources for inexpensive choices.

The one thing I can say about a firearm is that it will be easier to find someone to train you than other methods.

To paraphrase Gen. Patton,

When the time comes, you'll know what to do.

My take?

Your a woman. Your tougher than 3 men. You can do almost anything a man can AND give birth doing it. I have absolute faith in your capabilities.

Gott MIt Uns!

I have a hoot owl with a motion sensor. Head turns and eyes lite up....then hoot's a bit. About 30$, If that doesn't get rid of the goofballs, then a 410 pump shotgun for the hard headed kind. Remember you don't want to shoot thru the walls and hit the family in the next room.

Get a good Dog.

German Shepard or Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog)

No one will get into your home as it will be too difficult and dangerous. Offenders will go for an easy target first. Good Luck

dude how did I miss the bad ass piss fest, probably because I was too busy opening a space time portal and traveling back to the early Quaternary Period to stomp out the single cell organisms that would evolve into people that would sneak onto my lawn.

Originally posted by brew8537
Get a good Dog.

German Shepard or Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog)

No one will get into your home as it will be too difficult and dangerous. Offenders will go for an easy target first. Good Luck

this advice has been posted in this thread very often, and it can't be reposted enough. A good dog or 2 are the first steps in home protection.

Originally posted by circuitsports
dude how did I miss the bad ass piss fest, probably because I was too busy opening a space time portal and traveling back to the early Quaternary Period to stomp out the single cell organisms that would evolve into people that would sneak onto my lawn.

GET OFF MY LAWN!

Why not just buy a gun and learn to use it on your own?

What can go wrong if you don't point it at yourself?

I wish Gun's were legal in my country.

I think your first and biggest mistake would be to try to defend a shelter. I think the best defense in any SHTF scenario would be to be able to be nomadic and adaptable in many situations. Safety comes when you are able to hide in places that other people would not care to frequent. Leaving the shelter for supplies and food makes your shelter vulnerable in your absence and puts you at risk of being out in the open. IMO being able to sustain your needs at a bare minimum would be the way to go. Personally, I have a 35lb pack that is ready for me and my 36 hour needs and a brain full of knowledge to help me make decisions while on the move.

As for the shelter, lock it down and hope its there when its safe to return.

reply to post by thinkingthing


Well if you plan on getting pepper spray I suggest getting one that is tear gas & pepper spray. Tear gas only makes one tear up and close your eyes temporarily. I used to be in the military and can say from experience that its really not that hard to fight through that. Pepper spray (especially the glue like spray) will cause lots of burning plus the added benefit of the tear gas will give you time to run. Well that is if your being attack. I carry a pepper spray/tear gas/UV mix that I bought on the Mace site. I don't want to carry a handgun, but being only 5 feet and 105 pounds I feel I need something to help me out if I end up in a sticky situation.

If you do go through buying a gun make sure to take an instructional class to learn how to use and take care of it, because ignorance is dangerous when it comes to firearms.

Good luck and stay safe,

Leelo

At the beginning of the year I was wondering the same thing and I finally decided to buy a baseball bat along with all my other survival items. We've all learned how to swing in school. It wasn't just for self-defense but to club a bear or a deer or something if I have to eat. Of course a knife should be at the top of the survival list, not just for protection. I personally would rather die than pick up a gun, but with any luck we won't need one at all in the mountains. Sure there are gangs of rednecks that will group together and stuff but look at how everyone pulled together at 9/11. My husband is the aggressive one, he can deal with a gun if he wants. As for me, I am going to find my way to the mountains for safety first, and hopefully find a group of people who will let me cook for them. I do not want to get a gun, and I have faith that if its my time to die, then I guess that's the end of the line for me. I believe in reincarnation, and that all is not as it appears. Keep an open mind, love in your heart, and faith in the universe and all will be as it should.

As an Alt I'll keep my pike, as my mains I'll keep my arsenal.

reply to post by thinkingthing



Go to your local Gun Range. They more than likely have a variety of guns for you to rent and try out before you make a purchase. My range has everything from a .22 pistol to a M-16 for you to try. If I may also add, you guys are going to want something with true stopping power. A .22 is easier to handle than say a .45 ACP, but you will more than likely not stop someone intent on causing you harm, even if you did hit them multiple times. Pretty much need to hit a vital organ to stop them with anything less than a 9mm.

I have a Sig Sauer .40 cal pistol that I take with me camping and hiking. Loaded with hollow points, I'm confident it would get me out of most situations, be it cougars, bears, burglars or thugs.

Remeber that if you can't respond with equal force or get away from someone with a gun and willing to use it, then you are done.

hope that helps, but time is not on you side...

@OP
I want to get one but don't have the money right now. My suggestion, get a smaller 9mm or something you can handle and practice every so often at the gun range until you are comfortable with your skills. I would buy one soon before the requirements become even more stringent.

As a gun owner, and concealed carry permit holder, my advice is to first heighten your everyday awareness to your personal security. When you are in a parking lot, look around for a minute before you lean in and buckle your kids into the car, or load your groceries. Guns are great for protection, until you run out of ammo. You should have a few good knives and take a few Krav Maga courses. I like having my gun but I would only use it when deadly force is necessary to escape a situation. Preventing and avoiding conflict is your best bet, then knowing how to defend yourself comes into play. If you are in danger, and you can run away, do it!

Ok, here's a coupe of idea's:
Close Combat
.Carry a pen that you could get easily into your hands, make sure it is a metal one. If your grabbed from the rear take pen, say from your pocket and jam it into the perp. Preferably in the eye or nuts. Side of neck it good too.
.Make a fist and as fast and hard as you can go for atom apple. Most men protect the nuts face to face.
.I wear my dog tags with filed edges, cuts like a razor. Can even take on plane if you have silencers on them.
.Stamp the toe hard and then if perp bends forward jam him in his jaw with your knee and run away and find a rock and smash his skull in.
.cigarette lighter and a small can of hair spray, flame thrower effect.
.Take one giant step towards perp with your two hands clasped together right to the center of chest where ribs come together. Stops most big guys and then slap the nuts with your knee and grab head to your knee. If he goes down stamp your heal into the back of his head and you own him.
. Eyes are great targets.
.If you have a hard head , head bunt him and run.
.You have teeth right? So get to his juggler and rip at it. Be the Vampire and taste blood
.Just be as vicious as you can!
.Grabbed from behind, heal the toe, elbow stomach and turn around and break nose.
20 foot distance or further or closer a $24.00 Tomahawk will scare the # out of anyone. I carry one with me in car and they have smaller ones you could carry in a bag.
Practice throwing.
Look, everything can be a weapon.
I like a Bow ( silent)
Tomahawk (scary #)
But a pen will kill, so will dog tags. You gotta know where all main arteries are and go for them.
Basically if someone is coming at you run towards them as fast as you can and tackle first and bit the hell out of them. Works almost all the time the Jaw is your strongest muscle.

Shot guns are cool, just the sound of loading it is universally known.

Bear spray sounds pretty good. In fact, I was just reading about a teenager and her step father in Russia who were eaten by a bear and her 3 cubs. The girl called her mother 3 times in the hour she was eaten but it was too late.

www.express.co.uk...

It is a pretty sad story, and I would recommend keeping the bear spray while venturing into their territory. I have never used it myself. I wonder what some wasp spray in the eyes of an attacker might do? That might be pretty good and it runs only 3 bucks a can.

If you manage a 7/11 store you might want to keep the strongest stuff around for those nights when the black teenage gangs enter your store on shop lifting sprees which are becoming common in London and the US now with planned political attacks coming soon from what I hear along with all the anarchists in black and the whole nine yards. These attacks are being coordinated by Obama's pals now to be unleashed on America soon to turn Wall Street into the next London. We will see how that goes.

As for protecting your home I recommend a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with a buck shot round followed by a ball round followed by another buck shot round until your magazine is full. Since most people are not very good shots without a lot of practice in stressful conditions, the buck shot round is good for causing chaos while you might get a better round off next with the ball round which if it hits the attacker can do severe damage (like a .45 cal pistol round might do). They also make flash bang rounds for shotguns so that would be a good initial round as well. The idea is to throw the attackers off balance. Plus if they were really high speed with night vision goggles and so forth a good flash bang would completely ruin their night. Always keep in mind that shots and stabs to the groin area are A plus. It is a poorly protected area and bleed out is almost certain quickly for the recipient of the wound. Bleed out is the key to accomplishing the mission as far as I am concerned. You can survive a shot to the head or any other part of the body, but once the blood is gone the recipient is a goner. Likewise, keep a chemical bandage in your firstaid kit for yourself. If you get wounded stick that thing into the wound. I take them to the firing range. You really need to plan on going to the firing range every couple of months to keep in top form and understand what your weapons are going to do and how well you work with them. If you have protective masks (gas masks) keep in mind that your shooting ability will go down to almost zero without a lot of practice. It is a lost art in the US military now days since they don't train much on NBC any more. But you yourself can remain in top training mode if you choose to do so.

All in all, stick with the military calibers for your weapons because you can always find ammo on dead soldiers or national guardsmen that might have cut and run when the SHTF. Hope that helps.

I am not going to address the level of stupid on some of these comments. There are going to be a lot of dead folks if these are any indication of the level of ability and ideas.

Here is the deal. Your first asset is your mindset. You and your husband need to sit down and have a deep conversation about this. You both need to come to a place in your mind that you are ready to kill to defend yourself, your family and your property. As this thing spirals down defending your property IS defending your life. You can have the best weapon in the world but if you are not absolutly intent on using it it will be useless. Yes many women do have their guns taken away its because they freeze and refuse to use it. Mindset is the key.

You have purchased a shotgun. GOOD now you need to learn how to use it. First you need to learn the basics of safe gun handling.
1 Always treat a firearm as loaded unless you have verifyed it to be otherwise.
2.Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction
3.Always know your target and what is beyond it. In a fight this means know that you can hit your target
4.Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

Now remember you and your husband are a team. Learn to work as a team. Both of you need to learn the shotgun. Get yourself some dummy ammunition and after you put the kids to bed once or twice a week get out the gun and load it up with the dummy rounds. Both of you then practice dry firing the gun with the dummy rounds. Dry firing should make up the bulk of your practice. This goes for when you get a handgun as well. You will learn proper trigger control and sight picture with dry firing. You dont have to actually shoot the gun to be practicing with it. When you go to the range the dry fire practice will pay off and your time at the range will be more productive. You will spend less money on ammunition this way as well. Now as you get more comfortable with the gun and how it functions and your ability to hit targets begin to apply that to your home. Study your home and its interior. pay attention to all of the corners and hidding places. Study the points in the home that can be defended. for example if your bedrooms are all upstairs then your family can retreat upstairs and you only have to defend the narrow funnel of the stairwell. yes someone would be able to ransack your downstairs and take everything there but you will be alive. Keep your most important preps and supplies behind your protection zone. Leave things you can live without in other areas. This could convince any looters to simply get what they can take and leave.

bottom line is plan and think and practice.

Chainsaw?