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[Professor]

When you walk out of the house in the morning...

(the above noted for Rawhide, Joe, Arnold, etc.)

What are you carrying on you for self defense?

I understand that we can get into a long dissertation how shoe laces can tear off a limb, ballpoint pens used separating the bicep, shoes for taking out the sentry....what do you carry for defense (no awareness does't count).

[Milldog1776]

Usually leave the house in the morning with a hangover. That tends to deter violence in and of itself.

But I also carry a knife...Only because here in the People's Republic of Northern California, I'm not allowed to carry a gun.

[Joe Hubbard]

Well here in the UK that’s kind of tricky.  Anything you carry that is intended to use for self-defence is considered an offensive weapon.  The key is finding things that fit in with normal everyday life.  Most of the time when I leave the house I do go empty handed.  However, if I’m walking the dog, I do consider the dog chain to be a handy flexible weapon if need be in the local park.  I also am a great believer in “environmental weapons” such as walls, mailboxes, trees, street curbs (ever see American History X?), moving cars, plate glass windows, etc.  In fact in the UK recently some guy was kicked out of a nightclub and in retaliation drove his car through the front door of the nightclub killing a couple of doormen.  He only received a sentence for manslaughter, not murder because they could not prove it was a premeditated act, so he just claimed it was a drunk driving offence.  With all that I have said, I just got back from the shops buying myself a trusty maglite flashlight.  It’s a perfect pocket impact weapon, but of course I am just using it to see those unlit areas that I may come across…stay safe!

Cheers

Joe   

[PFC Director]

Depends on who I plan to meet that day and whether or not I'm being paid to go in harm's way. 

On a casual day though...

Glock 26
Two Benchmade 710SBT folders
Surefire E2D
Phone, I.D., etc.


Krystek

[Hock]

.45 Springfield Armory semi-auto pistol.
or...
Snub nose .38

The .45 was given to me at my police retirement party. Special to me because it was worked on first by a gun hound and old friend named Steve Camp. "Scamp" made it a real grunt gun. Nothing flashy.

Coincidentally, I have carried these calibers for years, since the ARMY. I was issued a snub-nose when I worked the dangerous drug section, and a .45 on patrol. So, I feel real comfortable with those models. I had a .45 for most of my police life in Texas.
 
I actually qualified as an expert in the Army on the classic 50 round course with a 2- inchsnub nose 38.  But we shot a whole lot back then. Now, I can't see well at 50 yards. I really love revolvers, but they are just not practical enough anymore.

I don't worry about the super steal of an expensive knife. It is unlikely I will be stabbing a tank. I just won't want the blade of a folder breaking down over my fingers. I have an assortment of cheap knives, tossed everywhere. Sometimes, like my many cheap sunglasses, I can't find any lying around. Then, suddenly I find them and have 7 or 8 in one place. 

Then the gremlins go to work. They put them in the washing machine and in the garage. In the storage closet. One Knife-Gremlin thought it would be funny to stick one of my knives in the backyard fence right where I had recently done some work. I couldn't find it, then suddenly one day-and there it was, right where the Gremlin had left it! One gremlin put my knife in the Kroger fruit tray, in my refrigerator! Wiley gremlin! He tried to make me look foolish.

I gather them up? The gremlins spread them everywhere...I am not going to mess with them though...I think they are always carrying....

Hock

[Wu_W3i]

  @ Hock's gremlins

As I live in Sweden I can't carry much, I don't feel the need for a knife is that important for my safety as to risk getting in trouble with the law. I do however carry a steelpen that I so far only used for writing with but if needed it could work nicly as a stabbing weapon.

For those of you that carry firearms, are you working in law enforcment or similar? Or is it just as a civilian you carry a gun when you go shopping or take a walk and so on? Is the threat of having of having to use a gun for self protection that big or is it more like a extra precousion just in case even though you probably never will need it?

Oh also curious, is it legal in many Us states to carry knife/gun or is it just a few ?

It's weird how different worlds some live in, for me here in a small town in Sweden it's a bit thing when someone gets robbed etc while I suppose there are plenty of places where being robbed is the least terrible thing that is likley to happen to you.

[Rawhide]

Ah, Milldog lives close to the People's Republic of Oregon.  THAT language I understand.  But since I live in Texas and if its under 3 feet its a pocket knife, I got a Columbia River Knife & Tool "Mirage"  very nice lockout blade, it has real smooth action about 8" overall length.  A toothpick by Southern Standards. But my carry bag is my main weapon.  My intent is to smack bad guys with it like a mace, then use the knife. Hope I don't have to find out, buts its a plan nonetheless.

[Milldog1776]

I love my CRKT M16 LE13. Best knife I've ever owned!

[paullauff]

Gosh, you all make me feel paranoid. Guess maybe I'm not as confident as I used to be. I used to carry a Gerber FS II with a "flipit" and a kubaton keychain all the time. Back in my "blue-target" days in Colorado, I carried either a .38 special (6.5" .357) SW or later 9 mm SW or my HK P-7 - we weren't allow a concealed weapon off-duty.

Now, living in a semi-free state, Arizona has open-carry, I carry a cute little 2.5 in Kershaw 1600VIB (the rainbow colored one), a little Leatherman Micro. My car keys are on Kubaton style pepper spray keychain like I gave my daughter. Then depending on the occasion, I clip on a Benchmark ATS-34, but for dress I replace it with the Boker ceramic, or sports-dress (bragging rights: "you call that a knife?") I take the Cuda Maxx that is considered a concealed weapon here as its a5.5 inch blade. For years, I've liked neck-knives, so about half the time I carry a Cuda Arclite. As an AZ CCW holder, both of them are legal here.  Just to stay in practice, about a third of the time, even around the house to gain familiarity, I carry either the Ruger SP101 (.357), the P7, or my little target Walther P22 (it's light and just might scare off a javalina or coyote).

BTW, my significant other packs her Ruger GP100 when she's not on the M-D air farce  base here (ooops the jarhead in me slipped out there).

Actually, since I'm an older person, my favorite carry is my Canemaster cane. "I'm just a poor defenseless old man, officer"; that's why I'm studying with Hock.

[Hock]

is it legal in many US states to carry knife/gun or is it just a few ?

I think every state has some legal exemptions for people to carry handguns.
And every state has rules on the sizes and types of knives.

One popular website talking about this is

http://www.packing.org/

Hock

[chromechicken]

Either a Taurus snubbie .357 or my SA 1911.
Usually a Cold steel Koga stick (I think tha's the name of it) and a folding knife or two. It all depends on what I am wearing, where I'm going, etc...
If I'm just running to Food Lion or the Pizza place for a carry out, then it's just the pocket stick and folding knife.
If I'm going into town for a period of time, then it will be all of the above.

I am admittedly a bit paranoid. I was robbed at gunpoint when I was 17 and some guys tried to rob me again at an ATM when I was at Ft. Bragg (fortunately, there were 6 other guys with me in the parking lot). It makes me feel a little more comfortable around town if I am "going heels" with my wife and infant son in tow.

[Smitty]

Like Joe, I'm also a strong believer in "environmental" weaponry: I know there's always an ice-scraper under the car seat (even in August!), the dog chain, a coffee cup, etc.

I always carry a pocket knife (or 2), even if I'm at work.  I used to have a good-sized bunch of keys at one hospital, and I had one of those big fat Swiss Army knives on the key ring as a "fob." This was about 15-years ago; God only knows if I'd be allowed to carry that in this day & age.

And, as soon as I get my CCW permit, I'll be carrying my Ruger SP101 (except into hospitals, doctors offices, church....)

[CClifton]

If heading out of the house and offduty I'll have a Glock 26, Wortac folder, Benchmade "Ambush" folder, Surefire E1e, badge, and cell phone on me. If I'm headed out of towm, my Glock 19 and maybe a long gun will be headed with me also.

If headed out of the house and going to work, I'll have a SW 4046, Glock 26, the 2 knives, a Surefire Z2, OC, and a  X26 Taser on me.  In my gear bag is an ASP, Surefire C3 and 10X along with a SOG SEAL Pup and some gloves and other odds-and-ends

[misshinryu]

I used to carry a Glock model 30 and one of my Emerson knives.
Now I carry a road flare under my seat of my car and of course I carry the Steele Fist wherever I go.

[Adventure]

When working on the ambulance I carry the Emerson commander(the self openning blade comes in handy with blood gloves on.) I also carry a Stinger flashlight & my partner has the larger Mag light from the Rig.
When not working I have a Benchmade & a friend just bought me a Canemaster cane for Christmas, so I am trying to get use to carrying that around. But it feel a little funny being 36yo carrying a cane.. ...but hey you can carry it any where even on a plane...