Is it just my advanced age? Probably.

[shouldazagged]

There's only one other forum I sometimes look in on. It shall remain nameless, but I seem to see a lot of guys there who carry a minimum of two guns, four spare magazines, a fighting knife, etc., etc. They apparently are armed as if they were going on patrol in Taliban territory. All the time. You get the impression they sleep wearing G27's in belly-band holsters so they'll be armed when they go to the bathroom at 0300.

These people are civilians, not LEO's.

I find myself wondering what it must be like to live constantly at DefCon 3. I couldn't do it.

I don't think getting old has made me fatalistic. I really want to live a few more years if I can do it with my mental faculties intact and not having to struggle to take every breath.

I try to be aware of my surroundings and the people in them at all times. I avoid going into areas known to be dangerous if at all possible; but that's difficult in the community surrounding my home, so I'm extra alert at those times.

I carry one handgun, a revolver, concealed, and usually one or two Speed Strip reloads, though it seems extremely unlikely to me that I'd have much time for reloading if there was dung in the ventilation equipment. I never step out my door without it. I have a house gun.

I've carried at least one pocketknife, usually two, every day for almost seventy years. I could do some damage with them if I had time to draw and open them--again, unlikely in my estimation. I walk with an aluminum cane with which I could leave marks on somebody.

I just don't spend a lot of time worrying.

Obviously the choices of personal protection are just that, highly personal. I'm certainly not criticizing anybody for carrying a backup gun or extra ammo. Whatever's comfortable. Hell, carry a two-hand broadsword if you like. But some of the guys on the other forum seem anxious to parade their "warrior mentality", and sound pretty paranoid.

I just have to respectfully decline to live that way for whatever time I have left. It looks burdensome to me, and I don't need more burdens.

Sorry, needed to say this somewhere, and you folks seem to have been elected.

 

[USAF385]

Other forums also have a large Mall Ninja presence.

 

[arjay]

Seem to be a lot more worried people theses days,yet "they"say violent crime is down.I just blame the Internet.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Other forums also have a large Mall Ninja presence.

Well said. Have to say, this is the most civilized of any gun forum I've ever been on.

 

[redlevel]

dung in the ventilation equipment.

Good'un!

Sort of like "when the fecal matter comes in contact with the rotating cooling device."

I have been known to carry two j-frames, or a j-frame and a .22 mag mini-revolver. I always carry a pocket knife, usually a Schrade "Stockman" style. Usually, it is just the pocket knife and a Model 36 or Model 60. Usually have some extra ammo in the vehicle.

 

[shouldazagged]

Other forums also have a large Mall Ninja presence.

Yeah, some of the ones I saw were obviously of the Wally World commando persuasion.

 

[Mule Packer]

Gee...I guess it depends where you live on how well you need to be protected.

I dunno...maybe I'm too naive, but I live in an area where most people consider a gun a tool...not a weapon, although it can certainly be used as such. Most of the folks around here carry some type of firearm in their pickup, not to do battle against some guy named "Septic" and his infamous gang of the "Screamin' Blue Devils," but to tag some coyote they see running across a field or to put an end to a deer that's been hit and lying on the side of the highway.

I don't know too many people in our community who don't carry a knife of some sort. Once again...tools. I usually carry a Case trapper in my pocket and a Buck 110 folder on my belt. Every day, they handle everything from opening my mail when I go to the post office, to cutting hay bales, to opening feed sacks. I always touch 'em up on an old 8-inch Arkansas stone in the evening while I'm sitting in front of the television watching the nightly news.

I suppose there are those who feel the need to be more heavily heeled for one reason or another. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow when I head to the post office, I might get rat-packed by Septic and his gang...then I'll undoubtedly change my tune and start carrying two or three handguns, a sap, my old KaBar, and a canister of bear spray. Of course, if I lived in a heavy crime area, I'd probably reevaluate my carry options.

 

[timn8er]

Other forums also have a large Mall Ninja presence.

I got beat out again! Nothing new...

I only carry one pistol at a time myself. I normally carry an extra magazine & a pocketknife. I don't feel the need for a BUG & i feel that i'm "strapped" enough. I also use a cane, one of those solid ash numbers that wouldn't feel too good if it got bounced off the top of someone's head. I try to practice situation awareness at all times. My neighborhood is "OK", but I'm seeing it beginning to slide in the wrong direction. I try not to worry too much, but I am my Father's son, so its part of the equation. What I'm trying to say is I know just what you mean!

 

[snubbyfan]

This is pretty much all the stuff I carry on me, aside from my keys, wallet and watch. I just made a flashlight holder I wear on my off side. It helps to counter balance my snubby and frees up some pocket space.

 

[shouldazagged]

I don't know too many people in our community who don't carry a knife of some sort. Once again...tools.

When I was a boy, nearly all men and boys and a great many women and girls carried pocketknives all the time. It was just what we did, and we needed them. Packages came tied with string. Cheese wasn't pre-sliced. There were pencils to sharpen. I have two knives in my pocket now, an Old Timer 4" stockman and a Swiss Army knife. As you said, tools, and a way of life at my age.

I live in a metro area of about a million people, with the usual gang and drug problems, and not in one of the nicer parts of town. But I still don't waste a lot of time worrying--just stay alert, and armed to the level that's comforting to me.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Well, I'm one of those that routinely carries two guns. And I find it humorous that some think that I do so unnecessarily. That I'm paranoid or over cautious.

I also find it disturbing that those that are much older than I don't give much thought to carrying more than one gun.

The disturbing truth is that as we grow older we slow down. Our eyes grow weaker as does our strength and ability to move quickly. When well known documented statistics show that we will most likely have to protect ourselves at very close range, us older guys are even more at a disadvantage. And the probability that we may take a bullet in the process of defending ourselves increases. That increase can only be measured by the individual.

Some of us are too proud, too stupid, or too stubborn to admit that we are past our prime. If we can be honest with ourselves and realize that it isn't the number or guns we carry or the amount of ammo, then we can realize that the concealed carry package is comprised of many different things. And we must be strong in all of those things.

In reality while we may posses exceptional situational awareness and the ability to think quickly and adapt, our bodies may not cooperate. We may be slower on the draw. We not be able to reload or clear a malfunction as quickly. It may take a third of a second longer to acquire the front sight.

So......Because my reflexes are nowhere near what they used to be. Because I may have taken a bullet and dropped my gun. Because I wasn't quick enough to duck a punch and find myself on my backside......

I carry two guns. I can draw the j frame in my pants pocket or jacket pocket exceptionally fast because my hand is already on it. I don't need to reload because a NY reload is much faster. I don't need to clear a malfunction because I can drop the gun and go to my second.

Can I shoot faster or more accurately than any of you? Maybe. Maybe not. But if you find yourself in a dire situation where your one and only gun failed, was taken away from you, or you dropped it, you lose and I have a better chance at prevailing.

Let me add, if I lived in Podunk town, USA. I might think twice about two guns. But I don't so two guns it is.

No disrespect gents. Just how I see it.

 

[Riverkilt]

I'm 68...after getting my permit my first handgun was a S&W 642 with a crimson trace laser. The reload options just seemed clumsy so I bought a second S&W 642 without the laser as a faster "reload." Got a Galco shoulder rig to carry one on each side.

Later, wandered into the world of 17 round pistol magazines and bought a bunch of pistols.

I love the joke about the little old lady pulled over by the cop. She hands over her concealed permit with her license and the cop asks what she's carrying and she has one in her purse, one in the glove box, and one in the consol. Cop asks what she's afraid of and she says, "Officer, I'm not afraid of anything.

Me...two car guns and at least one on me...too much Be Prepared indoctrination in the Boy Scouts....

 

[AMS417]

Hell, carry a two-hand broadsword if you like.

I never leave home without my broadsword. Though sometimes I carry a Mace. It goes better with my "goin' to town" armor.

Sorry, couldn't help it. I always wanted to be a knight and kill dragons and stuff. To much reading The Hobbit when I was a kid I guess.

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm the first to admit I'm "past my prime". Hell, I'm going on 76, with no lungs and wall-to-wall arthritis. Pride has nothing to do with my choices for self-defense. It's all stuff I've thought long and hard about, done research about, and discussed with active and retired police officers. I may be a bit of a Luddite (.38 Special +P J-frame), but I'm not overrating my abilities. Just finding what's comfortable and makes me feel protected.

 

[AMS417]

I'm the first to admit I'm "past my prime". Hell, I'm going on 76, with no lungs and wall-to-wall arthritis. Pride has nothing to do with my choices for self-defense. It's all stuff I've thought long and hard about, done research about, and discussed with active and retired police officers. I may be a bit of a Luddite (.38 Special +P J-frame), but I'm not overrating my abilities. Just finding what's comfortable and makes me feel protected.

Really thats all that matters. If a guy wants to walk around decked our like he's going to be fighting the Terminator, his choice. I carry one gun, normally it stays in the truck. I don't have anything I can carry concealed with comfort yet. Still looking for the perfect piece.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I'm the first to admit I'm "past my prime". Hell, I'm going on 76, with no lungs and wall-to-wall arthritis. Pride has nothing to do with my choices for self-defense. It's all stuff I've thought long and hard about, done research about, and discussed with active and retired police officers. I may be a bit of a Luddite (.38 Special +P J-frame), but I'm not overrating my abilities. Just finding what's comfortable and makes me feel protected.

I guess that's it in a nutshell. We each must consider those things and do what we think is best. We are neither right nor wrong.

When I meet a customer at their home for a security survey and they ask what should I do? I tell them to do what helps them sleep netter at night.

When I go to sleep there is a gun on the nightstand and a shotgun under the bed. When I go out into the world I carry two guns, a reload, knife, and flashlight. I sleep better and feel better.

When he spoke at the 2010 Shot Show, Dave Spaulding said that we all have fear. To embrace it and go forward with confidence. Confidence is what we carry and our abilities. If we've done that then we are much better prepared then those that haven't.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Really thats all that matters. If a guy wants to walk around decked our like he's going to be fighting the Terminator, his choice. I carry one gun, normally it stays in the truck. I don't have anything I can carry concealed with comfort yet. Still looking for the perfect piece.

You will find that their is no perfect piece. There will be pro's and con's to every gun you consider.

 

[rwsmith]

If it hits the fan

Well, I'm one of those that routinely carries two guns. And I find it humorous that some think that I do so unnecessarily. That I'm paranoid or over cautious.

Let me add, if I lived in Podunk town, USA. I might think twice about two guns. But I don't so two guns it is.

No disrespect gents. Just how I see it.

I think something that can be said in your favor is that if it hits the fan, your choice of carry becomes VERY personal and right then it doesn't matter at all what other people think or do.

 

[chud333]

Gee...I guess it depends where you live on how well you need to be protected.

I dunno...maybe I'm too naive, but I live in an area where most people consider a gun a tool...not a weapon, although it can certainly be used as such. Most of the folks around here carry some type of firearm in their pickup, not to do battle against some guy named "Septic" and his infamous gang of the "Screamin' Blue Devils," but to tag some coyote they see running across a field or to put an end to a deer that's been hit and lying on the side of the highway.

I don't know too many people in our community who don't carry a knife of some sort. Once again...tools. I usually carry a Case trapper in my pocket and a Buck 110 folder on my belt. Every day, they handle everything from opening my mail when I go to the post office, to cutting hay bales, to opening feed sacks. I always touch 'em up on an old 8-inch Arkansas stone in the evening while I'm sitting in front of the television watching the nightly news.

I suppose there are those who feel the need to be more heavily heeled for one reason or another. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow when I head to the post office, I might get rat-packed by Septic and his gang...then I'll undoubtedly change my tune and start carrying two or three handguns, a sap, my old KaBar, and a canister of bear spray. Of course, if I lived in a heavy crime area, I'd probably reevaluate my carry options.

Plus one to what Mulepacker has said.
I live in a small town of 2500 people in a mostly Rural farm
and agriculture area. Sure there's an occasional home or vehicle
gets broken into by thieves or an arrest made on some druggies.
I don't leave my doors unlocked when not home but i don't have
to fear some gang confronting me nor do i feel the need to have to
arm myself to the teeth to go to the local post office.
I refuse to live my life in fear of everyone i come
across being a person out to do me harm. Lifes too short to be
paranoid all the time. I don't have all the answers and maybe
some nut might come up and shoot me today as i'm mowing my yard
but i wont have 2 or 3 guns on my person at all times.
To each his own.

Chuck

 

[Roadtrash]

I carry one and for me that's enough. Sure I have a pocket knife but I don't even consider that as a weapon at all. At my age I do not want any part of a knife fight it would just get me hurt or killed.

I do carry a small flashlight at night when I go out but that is not considered any type of protection either. It's so I can see where to put the key in whatever I want to unlock be it the truck door or the house.

Every body has their own way of doing things and for me two or more just weighs me down if I decide things are going bad and I need to beat feet and get away from whatever is going on.

Never been in a gunfight in civilian life and hope I never am.