I've come to the conclusion that I don't need to worry about the opinions of the clearly insane.
Paranoia is a form of insanity, just so you know.
The insane have advocated the purchase and everyday carry of so many things that you will, in all likelihood, never need.
So many things they even make videos about which backpack you should lug them around in.
The insane advocate the purchase of only the very top shelf of these things, because the cheaper model just won't... won't.... mumble mumble.
So "top-shelf" that you can buy a car before you've filled your backpack.
But I titled this about need.
How many knives do I need to carry? What will I need it for? How often?
To read some of these blogs and articles I've surely died a hundred times because I wasn't carrying a pocket knife, a locking knife and a fixed blade at all times. But, somehow, my little Swiss Army Knife got me through for 40+ years. Outside of camping, which gives you all kinds of notice it's going to happen, I've never needed a fixed blade knife and in that instance the hatchet I managed to forget would have been a better tool for the job.
I need a blow-out kit? On me? At all times? Maybe I'm just better at avoiding idiots with guns than professional gear advocates. Did your blow-out class include first aid, or was it entirely "here's how to use the kit we're selling/sold with the class"? If it's the latter, I think I can identify the moment you became convinced that you can't staunch an arterial bleed without a made-for-the-purpose item.
I need $100 khakis because they have better belt loops? Or someone will steal my belt? How does your belt work? Mine goes all the way around and is fastened to itself, it'll stay on me with someone pulling even if that was all I was wearing. The $100 pants have got to be 7 times better than the $15 pair from Wal Mart in every respect or they're not worth the extra dough. Sorry 5.11 but Wrangler does just fine.
And, after all this ranting about need and likelihood... Why do I carry a gun everyday?
The smaller non-locking knife will do for cutting but take longer. Sucks for a knife fight, but I brought a gun.
My belt and ripped up clothing will suffice to stabilize nearly any wound long enough for the professionals to arrive (I took a class too). This has come up in a car accident and the hospital did NOT return my belt.
The Wranglers wear out three times as fast as the 5.11's; but only cost 1/6 as much...
When you need a gun you need a GUN. The substitutes simply will not do.
Speaking of that gun... and the urge to buy boutique... No, I don't need a $600 SIG, the $250 S&W is doing just fine.
Again on that gun... In 25 years of carrying I've only managed to "need" a gun once and that was to show the person experiencing road-rage and gearing up for assault that I was carrying. It was a .380.
I've noticed that what I need to carry has oscillated so much since I started reading gun-rags that it's just noise. What are we at now? Full size 9mm with reloads, compact 9mm backup and reloads and a spare smaller caliber with reloads? In appendix, ankle and pocket? (Remember when the gun writers condemned the appendix carry they're now advocating?)
I don't want heat-stroke so I'm not carrying three pistols and enough ammo to shoot two IPSC stages for each.
PS: I own and know how to use all this stuff. It just resides in a bug-out bag rather than being lugged around all the time.
PPS: The expiration of shit in the IFAK pisses me off but also reassures. Better to have to toss it than use it, but it makes it hard to justify owning it after a decade or two. Yeah, I've had my kit together before the trendy IFAK name became trendy.
The Lovely Harvey has an epic rant building about the topic of emergency first aid and the average uncertified person packing all that gear. She's checking her notes and doing some research.
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As far as carrying a blow out kit with you, I've been skeptical of that. This article supports the view that it isn't necessary and shows the difference between military need with blasts and explosives versus individual need in shooting situations: http://www.naemsp-blog.com/emsmed/2019/4/30/article-bites-12-the-profile-of-wounding-innbspcivilian-public-mass-shooting-fatalitiesnbsp?fbclid=IwAR36bdAz3g94dGX98XkHWgMHfKRlftmb9ahH_cjz454dr60c27llEHXqdjA
ReplyDeleteHa. When I saw your response somewhere else to the Hobo Baglady(?) Gunwriter's statement that we all need to carry a Level 1 Trauma unit around, I knew you'd be ranting.
ReplyDeleteYep. Let's see... If you live in bumfrick west-of-Egypt where EMS response is greater than 30 minutes to get to you, like on a farm, ranch, or some crazed one-legged hermit, then a trauma pack and some quick-clot carried on you might be a good idea. Living in a metropolitan area, even Pasco County (just joshing..,) there's no need, since competent EMS response is minutes away.
Considering the real killers out there, heart attack and stroke, then what we really should all be carrying are portable defribrilators and anti-stroke meds, right? Really, no. Knowing the basis of first aid is more important than having the latest, greatest and most expensive stuff lying around and not knowing what to do. (In fact, I love that the simple tourniquet, long poo-pooed by the 'First Responder' crowd and doctors, is now in fact back fully in favor as pretty much the best method to stop bleeding out. Like the way bacon is bad for you, good for you, bad for you, good for you, depending on what the current 'fad' or 'trend' is..)
Are you going to have TLH guest post an epic rant so we can all experience why she captured your heart and the rest of you? Please?
oh man, you're singing my song. I just read a post about how I need all this gear, over 100lbs of it, to carry out neighborhood security etc. and this from a "former action guy" no less. from what I've seen of places like bosnia, Somalia, et al. the "neighborhood defense" carries an ak with a mag in it, one in his pocket, maybe a handful of some crappy food in the other and that's it. they were all quite effective at not only defense but offense as well even against full-on military forces. no 100 lbs of gear required. and 500 rounds on my person? one of us isn't going to live anywhere near that long in a "firefight"......when training locals we gave them two mags and two frags. if they stayed any longer they were likely to get killed. so are we.
ReplyDeleteI have gotten so I put together a couple of small first aid kits for both my vehicles. They have a cheap tourniquet, some big pads to soak up blood, some aspirin, and a couple bandaids, and I think maybe one or two small rolls of tape. That's it. They are both small enough to fit inside of a baseball cap together. I keep them mostly for small cuts and the like, or if I come upon a more serious car accident, that needs some intervention before EMT's arrive.
ReplyDeleteMy former workplace, a steel foundry, with about 100 guys in the shop, had a couple of automatic defibrillators in the plant and a couple in the office and lab. And one was used in the shop, to bring a 36 year old man back from a complete heart stoppage. Sadly, he passed away after having his heart restarted twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but I am a big proponent of the AED's for the workplace. After seeing just what they can do, for the cost, it is cheap insurance, and might even be used to get their insurance company lower the rates for liability.