Grayfox
US Veteran
The thread on Woods Self Defense got me to thinking. What do you carry when you're out in the woods?
Recently I had to ask myself that question. First a little background. I grew up in a camping family. When my sons were young I spent 12 years as a Boy Scout Leader. I've always enjoyed the outdoors. However, events and life change and I haven't been out there much in a very long time. But as I said, life changes. I now find myself less than a year from retirement and on my own. So I've been thinking about ways to fill that soon to be free time. After more than a decade, I've decided to take up camping again. In fact I went just last weekend.
For the most part, I'll be hanging around State Parks. I'm fortunate enough to live in Tennessee where the law allows folks with a Handgun Permit to carry in State Parks.
So it was never a question of if, but rather what I should carry.
The next step was to consider the criteria for my camp gun.
Activities: Well there is the normal movement of daily chores in camp, But I like to go hiking. Its nothing for me to hit the trails and walk for miles. Spend most of the day somewhere in the deep woods. I also tend to walk around the campgrounds and other more public areas of the park. Might do some fishing. And of course spend the evening kicked back in a comfortable chair around the campfire.
So I wanted something of reasonable size and weight that I can strap on in the morning and pretty much ignore all day regardless of what I end up doing.
Threats: Next I needed to consider what type threats I may encounter. In my little part of the world there really isn't much in the way of dangerous critters to worry about. Maybe an ornery racoon, possably a coyote and just maybe a stray dog. Snakes don't bother me and I just leave them alone. Frankly, the mosquitos would probably be the most troublesome critters I'd have to deal with. So while the need to shoot an animal is almost non-existent, there is that rare possability one must consider.
OTOH two legged varmits are real. Drunks, druggies and punks have also been know to frequent State Parks. And I have to admit that over the years I've run into more than my fair share of stupid in public campgrounds.
With this criteria in mind I dug around in the safe and this is what I settled on.
Model 60-4 loaded with .38 Special +P 158 gr LSWCHPs.
Compact with just enough weight to control recoil without being cumbersome on my belt. The 3" lugged barrel along with adjustable sights make it surprisingly accurate out to 25 yards or better. And the selected cartridge should provide more than enough power for any situation I might encounter. Being stainless steel sure doesn't hurt since I sweat while hiking and could get caught in the rain.
In fact I wore it all last weekend which included a five mile hike and it worked out just fine.
So that brings us back to the original question. What do you carry when roaming the woods and why?
Recently I had to ask myself that question. First a little background. I grew up in a camping family. When my sons were young I spent 12 years as a Boy Scout Leader. I've always enjoyed the outdoors. However, events and life change and I haven't been out there much in a very long time. But as I said, life changes. I now find myself less than a year from retirement and on my own. So I've been thinking about ways to fill that soon to be free time. After more than a decade, I've decided to take up camping again. In fact I went just last weekend.
For the most part, I'll be hanging around State Parks. I'm fortunate enough to live in Tennessee where the law allows folks with a Handgun Permit to carry in State Parks.
So it was never a question of if, but rather what I should carry.
The next step was to consider the criteria for my camp gun.
Activities: Well there is the normal movement of daily chores in camp, But I like to go hiking. Its nothing for me to hit the trails and walk for miles. Spend most of the day somewhere in the deep woods. I also tend to walk around the campgrounds and other more public areas of the park. Might do some fishing. And of course spend the evening kicked back in a comfortable chair around the campfire.
So I wanted something of reasonable size and weight that I can strap on in the morning and pretty much ignore all day regardless of what I end up doing.
Threats: Next I needed to consider what type threats I may encounter. In my little part of the world there really isn't much in the way of dangerous critters to worry about. Maybe an ornery racoon, possably a coyote and just maybe a stray dog. Snakes don't bother me and I just leave them alone. Frankly, the mosquitos would probably be the most troublesome critters I'd have to deal with. So while the need to shoot an animal is almost non-existent, there is that rare possability one must consider.
OTOH two legged varmits are real. Drunks, druggies and punks have also been know to frequent State Parks. And I have to admit that over the years I've run into more than my fair share of stupid in public campgrounds.
With this criteria in mind I dug around in the safe and this is what I settled on.
Model 60-4 loaded with .38 Special +P 158 gr LSWCHPs.
Compact with just enough weight to control recoil without being cumbersome on my belt. The 3" lugged barrel along with adjustable sights make it surprisingly accurate out to 25 yards or better. And the selected cartridge should provide more than enough power for any situation I might encounter. Being stainless steel sure doesn't hurt since I sweat while hiking and could get caught in the rain.
In fact I wore it all last weekend which included a five mile hike and it worked out just fine.
So that brings us back to the original question. What do you carry when roaming the woods and why?
