Best Self Defense Pistol

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Until you can legally carry a gun, get some bear spray, carry a knife (a legal one) and a stick. Don't be out at sunrise and sunset, and look UP frequently when you walk.

Don't carry illegally. Not only will it bite you, your parents are likely to be charged. If you don't think the above measures ensure your safety sufficiently, then don't go out there.

Springmom
 
Thanks for advice people I am taking all of into considereation, and I guess I should've read that wikipedia article better. :p Regardless, it can still kick my ass no matter how tall or strong I get. Anywho, I have been taught gun safety ever since I was small and wasn't even allowed to have a BB gun and the idea of taking life is one that makes me uncomfortable and don't want to do it unless I have to (ex. the other thing is going to kill me if I don't). So I am pretty responsible with guns (don't point it at anyone, not even my pellet gun because that can still hurt like hell if it misfires) and I am not going to just randomly fire off like some ******* kid with no disclipine.
 
Get a dog. Not a real big dog, but a relatively small quick dog. Maybe a 20-30 pound rat terrier. It'll scare the pee out of a cougar. The yapping drives them up a tree - literally.

A friend is a professional mountain lion/puma/cougar hunting guide. He carries a .22 LR revolver. He's told me that anything over a .22 RFM is overkill for a mountain lion. He hunts with four dogs, curs actually. They are always treed when his hunters take their shot. In order to do minimal pelt damage he instructs folks to shoot right below and behind the shoulder joint.

The danger of mountain lions is highly overrated.

In any case, if you take a dog with you the fight will most likely be you trying to save your dog, if there is one.
 
I don't really have the option of bringing a dog, nor the option of aquiring one. But I know someone who has a .22 revolver and maybe I can coax them into giving it to me (or selling either way it would be fine).
 
i thought bobcat = mountain lion

cougars are bigger.

either way, I saw both at the zoo last weekend. Bobcat is like 3x the size of a normal housecat. smallish. I read about a 60 yr old man who was attacked by one, caught it by the neck and strangled it to death. he was an ex-marine, though.

Cougar....those girls at the zoo were big. well over 100 lbs. It may jump up a tree bc of a dog, but i wouldnt want to shoot it w/ a .22. I wouldn't want to be near one at all, but I still think I'd have a .357 magnum just in case ;)
 
I don't really have the option of bringing a dog, nor the option of aquiring one.
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This is probably good news for you. There are plenty of tales here in Colorado of a dog high tailing back to its owner with a cat in hot pursuit.

Also, a Mt Lion is a remarkable machine. We had one in Boulder that went threw two of my buddies dogs like they weren't even there. A Beretta 9mm changed that.

If you can't carry a firearm, pepper spray, a knife and a club are your friends...so are your friends, travel in pairs. Remember that Mt Lions are to be fought, so if the pounce fight your a** off. It's not like a Grizzly wherein you play dead.

Look around constantly (this is not condition white terrain) and have others do the same, since the lion is going to spot you way before (or even if) you spot it. Look high - they frequently attack from above.

If you suspect you're being stalked, and have seen the animal, but cannot make it to safety in time, find a defensible position, gather rocks, sticks, or whatever else can be thrown at the cat and see what happens. Don't underestimate the power of a good "rock shower"; pelt it with plenty of force and it may think twice about you as easy game.

I hope this helps. Be careful but not paranoid. Have fun.

Take care,
DFW1911
 
People are giving advice on the best handguns for a 15 year old to carry by himself? :rolleyes:
 
If you suspect you're being stalked, and have seen the animal, but cannot make it to safety in time, find a defensible position, gather rocks, sticks, or whatever else can be thrown at the cat and see what happens. Don't underestimate the power of a good "rock shower"; pelt it with plenty of force and it may think twice about you as easy game.
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This is good advice. Animals are programmed to flee when things are launched at them. I have scared vicious dogs away just by bending down to pick up a pretend rock. They know what's coming next.
 
first wait till you can buy one proper.

then go out and buy 30 or 40 deffernt pistols. work them for a year or ten.

the best pistol "for you" is the one you shoot the most and like the best.:eek:


:what:


.
 
Can't really say - too many variables.
For my area, .357 magnum is hard to beat. I'd like to have one but right now I make do with a 9mm. Not ideal against a bear but with FMJ ammo it's still at least something that should penetrate. It'll have to do for now anyway.

If you are underage, don't even think about a handgun yet.
I always take one but I've never even come close to needing it. Even on the half dozen or so times I've seen bears they haven't done anything agressive. If anything, I actually consider it kind of a priviledge to see a bear in the wild.
The one time that I did have to defend myself against an agressive animal, I was about 10 years old. Luckily, I had a six foot walking stick that my dad had cut from an inch and a half hickory sapling.
I stood off a 140 pound rottweiler with that stick until his owner showed up and ran his mouth at me for threatening his dog!
But I digress...

My advice is to cut yourself a good walking stick. I still don't go hiking without one.
 
It doesn't take too much to knock out a cougar. The problem with these cats is that they often get you from behind. If you stop to tie a shoe lace, back up against a big tree. Stooping down or running triggers a predatory response. So WALK in areas where you suspect cougars lurk and wear a backpack that will protect the nape of your neck.

Other means of protection, non-lethal, include a good walking staff, a nautical "horn" with compressed air (makes one hell of sound), and pepper spray.

I had a friend who was attacked by a cougar while checking fenceposts on his father's ranch. It dropped from a tree and rushed him. He had a Dan Wesson .357 in a shoulder holster and he stopped the thing with one shot. He subsequently sent the head to the Center for Disease Control in Denver and it came back positive for rabies. (If you see any animal, particluarly a raccoon, acting in a peculiar fashion, either shoot it or take off, especially if it appears to be dragging its hind legs. Paralytic rabies starts with the legs and works its way to the heart, eventually killing the animal.)

Again, your biggest threat is from behind. A surface to air missile won't help you if you're not watching your "six."

BTW, a .357 is a great caliber, but make sure you can handle it before taking one out in the wilds.
 
People are giving advice on the best handguns for a 15 year old to carry by himself?
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Ssssssssh. ;)

I think I'll get a .357 once my family is in Neveda so I can buy it over the counter and without this "registration" stuff. So in the mean-time I'll invest in a 14" knife for around the house and anywhere else and an Eastwing axe (with the knife too of course) while I am hiking.
 
Another bit of advice - with some exceptions, a 14" knife is too big to be good for much.
I'd think it would also draw at least as much attention as a gun, probably more. An axe is a useful tool to have around but as a weapon, it is kind of slow and poorly balanced. And the best reach you'll get is probably about 12"-16".
I'd still prefer the 6 feet of reach that a walking stick gives me over the 7 to 16 inches that a knife or small axe will give. And if you screw up in your panic to fend off a predator, you just wind up with a bruise. I'd much rather deal with bruise than with a nasty, deep cut from a knife if I was out in the back country with the nearest help several miles walk away.
It may sound kind of rediculous but there was some research around indicating that even trained soldiers are often injured by their own bayonets in hand to hand combat, so it's not something to be ignored.
And a sturdy stick won't draw attention from any LEO's or do-gooders if any should cross your path while you're hiking.
Last, I find that my walking stick gets used more than any of the rest of my equipment - only the canteen sees nearly as much use. It's useful for feeling out holes so you don't step in them, prodding places where you think a snake might be hiding before you step there, acting as a third foot in rough terrain, and it can be used to help support a shelter.

Moving to Nevada probably won't do much good on the technicalities of buying a gun. I'm pretty sure that you have to be 18 to buy any gun anywhere. Even in Nevada you'll still have to fill out the 4473. But it will be more gun friendly overall.
If you do manage to get somewhere more gun friendly, maybe you could talk your folks into a single barrel NEF 20 gauge. Mine is light and handy, works fine with slugs or shotshells, and was $69 used so I don't feel bad about using it. A 20 gauge slug will do fine on most predators in the lower 48.
It's not exactly cutting edge, but it's also not a bad choice until you're old enough to buy your own handgun.
 
I agree with jhco, Glock 20 in 10mm with Double Tap ammo. 15 rounds (+1) of pure power. Not the bigest, not the most powerful, but a great all round gun/cartridge (and this from a 1911 guy :eek: )

Matt
 
.357 magnum in a K frame with a four inch barrel. Powerful enough to handle anything you might encounter in the USSR of C (mostly the wrong people)... and light enough for comfort. You can carry more ammunition then you can with a .44 of any design.
 
14" is too long for a knife, and too short for a sword.
A 14" knife is enough blade stock to make at least two good fighting knives!

Anything over 7" or 8" max on a fighting knife becomes unwieldy and slow. And it's hard to exert maximum cutting force out on the point with 14" of leverage working against your wrest.

rcmodel
 
Moving to Nevada probably won't do much good on the technicalities of buying a gun. I'm pretty sure that you have to be 18 to buy any gun anywhere.
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I know but by the time I move there I'll be 18 (my dad is setting up a high-speed wireless internet backbone from North State to Neveda).

What kind of wood would be best for a staff? Pine is sticky and was thinking about maybe oak.

About the knife, um I don't think I would have trouble with speed. I am quite fast and 14" isn't that big for me (I am 6' 2" at last measurement some months ago).
 
Well kid..you've given me a good laugh and have gotten a good rise out of a bunch of folks on this forum. Good luck to you.
 
+1 on the ash.
That's what ball bats are made of.
if you can find hickory, go for it.

Basically you are looking for a strong sapling, practicing your whittling skills to clean it up, hang it up to dry and apply cheap preserving finish if you want.
 
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