About bags and self defense

People, thanks a lot for all the comments and emails.
Sometimes I miss one or two ( ok, or ten) and some questions go unanswered. I’m sorry for this, it’s just that trying to keep up with everything can be complicated sometimes. PLEASE, don’t take offense, it’s just a matter of time limitations, sometimes I’m a bit busy and fail to keep up. Don’t be shy and ask again if I missed something you really would want to ask.

The bag

Anonymous said...
Just wondering...do you get many nosy questions/wisecracks about the bag? If so, how do you brush them off (more worried about the former than the latter, I guess...)

I'm strongly leaning to one myself, but kinda worried about how much it'd stick out. Might be over-thinking and worrying it though. I work with the public enough to know that most people tend to be more SELF centered than concerned about what others around them are doing...

Not at all, I travel around the city a lot. Guess you are right, most people are self centered and don’t care much. Besides, people with bags and backpacks are pretty common sight. Mine looks like an ordinary green messenger bag.

These days I try to avoid public transportation but I’ve used it a lot and mostly move around not so nice places, some that would make 1st world people pretty scared, not exactly Tango clubs and luxury hotels. :)
People rarely notice my bag at all. Camo is known to attract more attention, and some of those Maxpedition packs are just beautiful and full of neat pockets, but they certainly attract attention too.
My green canvas bag says nothing, has no symbols, the color is dull and faded because of sunlight and use. Really nothing remarkable about it.
I have it published here through Amazon, and maybe you can find it even cheaper on ebay.
One thing though that I’d like to mention, is the importance of having a bag ( any bag) with you at all times. It’s really something I got used to and found it to be very useful.
A basic EDC (Here’s mine) is pretty much mandatory in my opinion, for preparedness and life in general.
The bag I usually carry mostly empty except for the pocket where the EDC stuff is and a ½ litter water bottle.
The idea is to have extra space for whatever it is you need to do that day.
You’ll see how this makes much more sense than carrying around a bag full of tactical gear without space to even carry and envelope or a Tupperware with a sandwich.
Guess it’s like the (bigger) extension of my pockets. Try living without pockets. That’s how used I am to my bag.
If legal to carry, a gun in the outer pocket against the boy would be located in a similar position to a drop-leg holster. That’s’ something you may want to keep in mind.
Remember that most times what you have at hand is all you have, so while skill is paramount, it wont materialize the gear you need when you need it the most.


Self Defense

Tayous1 said...
A pistol is great to have but much rather have a rifle,shotgun or my baby a 240G. This comes from doing a few CQB missions over in Iraq. Yes if SHTF most of us will not be doing house to house fighting.

I'd like to know from you FerFAL in Argentina where were most of the self defense situation happen at? In the streets or at homes?

So would I Tayous, but sometimes you don’t have a choice and a handgun is all you have and if you didn’t get your handgun, you’ll have nothing in those situations where long guns aren’t an option.
Depends a lot on your lifestyle.
Lets start the other way around, which places are safe?
Your home is. Specially when people are a bit safety conscious, your home provides some protection. Home invasions with people inside occur, and they do occur a lot, but getting robbed on the street is far more common.
Of course, the booty is limited to what you have on you, so the house is a nicer target. To get inside its’ easier to ambush you when going in and out, or simply fooling around outside the house, working on the garden or talking to a neighbor. Certainly those are the moment when you need to be on high alert/awareness. Other than that, walking the streets is also dangerous ,and even crowds fail to provide protection, though deserted streets are preferred by criminals.
For this reason, a long gun, while preferred because of firepower, it only covers one of the safest situation, failing completely to be there when needed the most ( walking around, working or taking outside, and going in and out of the house)
For these reasons, I’m so insistent about the importance of the handgun, in spite of the lack of power and accuracy compared to long guns.

FerFAL