Hiking and Backpacking Guns

[Cycletroll]

Mainsail,

Thanks for sharing your photos! I spend a great deal of time hiking here in the Southern Rockies of New Mexico and seeing your home terrain is a welcome contrast

As to preparedness on the trails:

This thread has brought up some interesting (and some not so interesting or polite) observations about preparedness. I have a personal mantra about packing my own chute which boils down to being the most preparred I can at any given time. There are many factors which contribute to what I carry on a given day; some is rational (experienced) assessment, some is guessing, and some times it just boils down to following your gut.
I have spent 30+ years outdoors in the mtns of NC and NM and have seen my share of bears, mtn. lions and crazy humanoids.
The only potentially dangerous bear situation was a mama bear who decided the bunch of us mtn. bikers were a threat do her cubs and charged. Fortunately we had a long downhill meadow and were able to haul ass and keep ahead of her until she figured we were not a threat anymore. Had I been on foot without a firearm I would have been a bear taco! She was pissed!
Generally in my experience wild animal don't attack people unless they are scared, injured, pissed, or starving. In any of these cases I don't believe bear spray will do didly!
BTW, my usual rig for weight conscious hiking/Hunting backup is a S&W 386 Mtn. Lite (3" L-frame Ti/Scandium 7-shot .357). fully loaded it goes 23oz. I usally carry it with a wadcutter 1st chamber (never know when you might get a shot at a tasty grouse or bunny, followed by 2 or 3 125gr Barnes DPX (work on humans and mtn. lions and small black bears) followed by 3 or 4 180gr Hornady XTP's@1100fps (expand to .52 or so and penetrate 5 gallon jugs. Sometimes I put a 180 or 200 gr hardcast as the last shot for Hail Mary penetrate anything load.
I usually carry one speed loader of 180gr XTP's.

As pointed out by Mainsail and others, the likelihood is that you will never need a gun in the forest, so weight is a concern. I have pistols in many sizes and shapes but given that I probably won't encounter 200 Zombies in the woods and my .357 will easily kill any critter I will run to should it decide to attack me, weight, accuracy, power, and reliability all favor the 386Sc.

YMMV

 

[Buck Kramer]

What kind of chest rig is that????

 

[Mainsail]

The chest holster came from West Woods Landing. I still have it around here somewhere even though I sold the big Ruger. (Free to anyone wants it). Westwoods is a fantastic company with stellar customer service. That said, I hated the chest holster. Nothing to do with the holster itself, which is very well made, but everything to do with the way it flops around and the way it attaches.

 

[Buck Kramer]

If you can find it I'm interested!

 

[revolversrbetter]

A lot of people don't expect it but DEER can kick some ass

The only critter I've been challenged by was a buck that stood tall and would not yield the trail in a fireroad smack in the middle of the San Francisco suburbs. This was about dusk, five blocks from my home, and during the rut! I backed down and went home the long way!

Other than that, I spend a fair amount of time hiking offtrail, alone, in the Sierras. I've settled upon a Ruger 6" stainless Security Six loaded with Doubletap 200 gn .357 mag. The 6" Security Six weighs less than my 4" GP100 and gives me the power of a .41 mag.

Occassionally I toy with the idea of carrying a rifle, but my sense is more injuries are caused by falls than by anything else, so, at the end of the day, I find a walking stick in my hand preferable to a rifle.

 

[NM Mountainman]

Thanks for sharing.

Mainsail,

Thanks for sharing your writing, web site, knowledge, and photos. Although I have been backpacking in the Southwest and the Rockies for more than 50 years, I will not offer any advice because you are obviously experienced and well informed.

Like you, I have studied and used most of the handguns suitable for backpacking. Like you, I concluded that the Glock 20 (along with pepper spray) may be one of the best all around backpacking handguns. Only when I am hiking in areas with grizz or known problem bears, do I carry my 4" barrel 629 instead of my Glock 20. But like you said, It's generally dead weight, so sometimes I carry nothing but the pepper spray or no animal protection devices at all.

Although most of my backpacking has been in the SW and Rockies, your stories and photos reminded me of why I have also loved backpacking in the NW states, particularly WA.

I am definitely bookmarking your hiking web site for future reference.

 

[destrux]

This is a great thread. I need to get out and do more of this, I've spent too much time indoors the past few years.

 

[lizziedog1]

Great pictures and writing Mainsail.

Since I have moved to Nevada I do a lot of desert hiking. The landscape doesn't look quite like yours. We have rocks, dirt, and sagebrush. We also have tons of ghost towns to explore.

I always carry some sort of sidearm. More for plinking fun than for any serious threats.

If someone is so afraid of the woods that they must have a gun, they shouldn't be in the woods in the first place.

 

[Erik]

I spend a fair amount of time in Grizzly country and opted for a Ruger Redhawk with a 4.2" barrel chambered in .45 Colt as my trail gun. Outside of Grizzly country, I'd likely opt for a Glock 20 or 1911 in 10mm.

 

[shtinkypuppie]

I'm a lightweight backpacker, and my favorite carry is a Beretta 950 "Jetfire". It's still the lightest gun I've yet seen (328 grams loaded) and it's reliable as taxes, even dirty. The ability to half-cock it means I can confidently carry it with a round chambered. I just need to work on the holster, right now I just keep it in the zip pocket of my hip belt.
And before everyone starts telling me a .25 won't help against a bear/cougar/bigfoot/yeti, I KNOW. I'm just not willing to carry 5 pounds of something I'm so hideously unlikely to need. By far the most dangerous thing I'm going to encounter outside of Glacier, Yellowstone and Alaska is people, and they can be made to think twice with nine rounds of .25.

Mainsail - I usually get up to Olympic two or three times a year, if you're interested in joining of a 7-8 day backpack let me know and I'll include you in my plans!

 

[eldon519]

Mainsail, I am an avid hiker, and I bookmarked your webpage. Your pictures are excellent. I hiked the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in August with my father, but I am yet to make it to Washington. I think your trip reports will have to move that idea up my list of future trips.

I would like to add a consideration that was seemingly unmentioned during the initial spat about the wisdom of carrying 10 cartridges. That consideration is the idea that additional weight in your pack can actually present a danger to you. There is no magic threshold or ounce that will break the camel's (or hiker's) back, but additional pack weight increases your chances of trips, slips, and falls as well as the severity of any injuries that may be sustained in these accidents. For instance, a misstep that results in nothing more than a stumble for a light day hiker may become a sprained ankle or a broken wrist for someone carrying too much pack weight. Such injuries can be a reality. I noticed in Mainsail's Big Hump trip report, a hiker fell and broke his fibula for instance (nothing mentioned it being a product of excessive pack weight though, just noting that hiking misshaps do happen and can cause injuries).

 

[480 Alaskan]

Heres a pic of my Alaskan and G20


and thanks for the pics, around here open carry gets all the soccer moms in a uproar....not many places to get away around here.