Bear spray/Mace
Firearm
Hiking Poles
Knife
Nothing
No Comment
What do you Carry for Protection on the Trail?
Self protection on the trail appears to be a controversial subject, but I wonder just how significant it really is. Please vote and let us all know.
Kinda a deceiving question, or maybe the answers are.
Do I carry a knife? Yes, but do I carry it for protection? heck no. It's only got a 1 1/2 inch blade or so. By the time I got it out of my pack, it would be too late to defind my self with it.
Do people really carry poles for protection? Or for some other obvious reason?
I was thinking more like some prophylactics.
Unless one has taken the time and trouble to learn how to use them properly, "protection" aids such as mace, knives, etc. might help your peace of mind, but in fact, probably pose an equal threat to the owner. The single best tool for self-protection in the backcountry is simple commnn sense.
self defense
Originally Posted by Jack Tarlin
Jack is pretty close to dead on here.
If you are going to carry anything for self-defense, you ought to spend a bit of time learning how to use it.
Basic rule of knife fighting: Everyone gets cut, because to use your weapon on an opponent, you've got to get in close enough for them to use their weapon(s) on you. In a real knife fight between skilled combatants, the end comes real fast, and one goes away in a body bag and the other in an ambulance. A skilled fighter against an unskilled fighter is even faster.
Your best tool in any self-defense situation, is your brain. Learn how to spot trouble before it escalates into a fight and get the hell away as fast as you can. Unless someone else is in danger, or you have no chance of escape, running away is a perfectly reasonable way of surviving.
Of course if a fight is unavoidable, any weapon you can get your hands on is vastly superior to no weapons at all. Hiking poles, sticks, rocks, dirt, lit stoves, unlit stove fuel, pots of boiling water of hot food, a pack, your pocket knife (a 1.5 inch blade makes a bigger wound than your fingernails) keys, a spoon, a pen, a notebook, pine needles, leaves, etc. all become damaging or distracting weapons.
Look around yourself right now where you sit and see how many potential weapons you can find. Even relatively innocent objects may offer some defensive properties. Even a credit card can be turned into a single use knife capable of delivering a serious cut. Got a CD drive in your computer? Have a spare AOL disk hanging around? Break it and see how hard and pointy the shards are.
At various times and in various places, I have carried all of the tools listed above for defensive purposes. In daily wear, on trail and off, I carry a very sturdy, shaving sharp folding knife and I pray to God that I never have to use it defensively, but I'd rather have it than not.
Andrew "Iceman" Priestley
AT'95, GA>ME
Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam
Not for us O Lord, not for us but in Your Name is the Glory
A staff for dogs and rabbid racoons. My wife (though technically I don't carry her) to protect me against myself.
I'm not worried about people, but have used bear spray against dogs. Have also thought about carrying a small squirt bottle of ammonia for dogs, which I think would work pretty well. Imagine them getting a snout or eye full of that stuff.
Might also work against panhandling bears, even the really aggressive ones who've spent time bumming on the street of NYC.
Holy $#!t, 2 people pack heat on the Appalachian Trail?!?!
Anyhoo, I have a 1" long blade on my Swiss Army Knife, and my Hiking Poles. Having said that, I don't think I would ever get at my knife in time, and the wounds it would cause would be minor.
I'm the guy you'll see swinging his poles like a madman!
But... If I ever have the chance to hike in Glacier National Park or Alaska, I wouldn't think of traveling into the woods without a shotgun. But the AT is simply too domesticated with no real dangerous animals. Just don't step on a copperhead, and try not to chase blackbears.
"A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days".
...Ralph Waldo Emerson
GA-ME Someday (Maybe '06?)
Many Miles in Massachusetts & Vermont...
For the most part Jack is right.
Carrying a weapon, any weapon, without reasonable preparation and training, both mental and physical, is of marginal defensive value. Yes, even a marginally trained person can use a firearm effectively for self-defense IF they have enough time and distance between themselves and the bad guy to overcome their lack of muscle-memory level proficiency. Time and distance can be a rare thing in self-defense situations. An angry dog, or violent human can cover 50 feet from a standing stop in less than 2 seconds. How long will it take you to get that big sheath knife, can of mace or gun out of the depths of your pack. or even out of a belt pack if you haven't practiced, practiced, practiced until you can do it instantly and with little conscious thought. That goes for any and all weapons.
Now with that out of the way, you have less need of a defensive weapon on the AT than you have of one on the streets of your home town. Monastaries and abbeys are probably less safe than the AT (at least as far as human predation is concerned.) Animal threats are minimal on the AT as well. The loose dogs you find roaming the streets of your home town are more of a threat than the wild animals along the AT.
Common sense, both on the streets and on the trail, is your single best defensive tool. Just stay aware of what's going on around you and pay attention to your instincts. If your gut tells you things ain't right, they are probably right and it's time to get into a friendly crowd or beat feet. Generally a thru-hiker is going to be in better condition and more certain of their footing in the woods than your average cretin, so running away is probably a real good option.
What do I carry for defense on the trail? Usually not a damned thing except a prepared mind. Chance favors the prepared mind.
Truly, do not get yourself all wrapped around a post over this issue, it is a non-issue on the trail...or maybe not a non-issue, but almost inconsequential.
Andrew "Iceman" Priestley
AT'95, GA>ME
Non nobis Domine, non nobis sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam
Not for us O Lord, not for us but in Your Name is the Glory
Just carry your common sense and instincts with you and follow them ...
The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.
It's kind of scary to think that 8 people have already responded that they carry guns on their hike.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." Abraham Lincoln
protection on the trail
Well, the lubricated ones are quite good....oh wait wrong protection
Anyone who knits can tell you metal needles number 1, 2, 3 or 4 will puncture in the skin that will take a good 3 months or so to heal. Beware of "Hell's Knitters!"
According to airport security a pair of nail clippers will do some damage, why else would they be confiscating thousands of them since 9/11.
Why?It's kind of scary to think that 8 people have already responded that they carry guns on their hike.
Do you think their guns are going to attack you?
Seems to me I saw a picture of you wielding a HUGE Bowie knife on the trail somewhere awhile back
John Carnahan
[email protected]
When I started the AT, my father wanted to make sure that I had a big knife to fend off larger animals, such as wild boar. Truth is, unless whatever you carry is (1) immediatly accessable and (2) you know how to use it properly, you are probably better off without it. Clanging hiking poles together can be helpful in scaring off bears and other animals, but I wouldn't want to try and spear a black bear with my Leki.
-chomp
I saw a fair number of people carrying pepper spray to fend off dogs. There seemed to be a lot of out of control dogs in the south, so this may have been a good idea for people who are not all that experienced in dealing with dogs. The personal sized ones usually come with their own belt pouch. By the way, don't entertain any ideas that personal pepper spray will affect a bear in the least.
I bet bear spray would get a dogs attention!
Common sense.
Glock 9mm
Leki Poles : Gun Simulators
Sometimes when I am being silly (or am down for whatever reason) I make my wife hold out her arms, I put the poles under her arms from behind, start making plane sounds "RRRRRRMMMMMM" then start the straffing run : "RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT" It always cheers me up!
I swear on my next thru hike we are going to do that coming into every shelter!
Gravity Man
Posting Permissions
