chaim
Member
Yeah, yeah, I know- overdone. Bear with me though.
Well, with the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina come and gone, and the 5 year for 9/11 coming up, it got me thinking again about the likely SHTF scenarios we might actually see and what we can do about them.
I don't think the invasion or Gov't gone bad and everyone is in rebellion type scenarios lots of people like to talk about are going to happen, and I want to stay away from that kind of "SHTF" here if we can.
I'm thinking the realistic possibilities- riots, major natural disasters, and these days possibly a terror attack even along the lines of a dirty bomb or the like. One (riot) is a definate "bug in" situation, the dirty bomb is a definate "bug out" situation if you live in the effected area, and the natural disaster could be either.
Well, for the bug in situation there is no need to worry about a separate "SHTF" gun since your normal home defense set up with maybe some extra ammo should probably handle it. Of course, if the possibility of a Katrina/New Orleans style confiscation happens then the bug out criteria come into play even in a bug in situation. For a bug out situation (or confiscation if you are bugged in) there are different needs.
I've been thinking about the lessons learned from watching what New Orleans went through on the news. I don't think any kind of long gun is the answer. I don't want a small pistol or revolver because there could be dangerous characters out in groups, and when not in groups there are more out than usual so your chances of multiple encounters goes up, so the capacity to hold a lot of rounds or be reloaded quickly (or ideally both) would be nice. Also, the extra sight radius and more easily shot precision shots could possibly come in handy with a larger pistol. However, I don't want a full-sized service pistol either as I want it concealable. Something CZ 40B, CZ 75 Compact/PCR/P01, SIG 229, Taurus PT911/PT940, and Glock 19/23 size is about perfect.
Some random thoughts informing this choice:
1) Even if you are in a gun friendly area, Katrina proved that a CCW may not be enough. People are in the middle of an area with tons of looters and the cops confiscated guns and arrested people who wouldn't give them up. I don't want my gun I am counting on to be visible and likely to get the police's attention.
2) Even if in an anti-gun no CCW area, carry anyway. Services are down, people are hungry, thristy and society has collapsed locally- in many people the animal comes out. If looters (or worse) are out and about, I want to be able to defend me and mine.
Both of those demand a concealable gun, and no long-guns.
3) You never know, in such a situation I want to be prepared for as much as possible with my choice of firearm. Mobs, gangs (MS13 has just recently made its first Howard County appearance), and other nefarious groups of people may attack in such a situation, not just individuals. They may even attack from a distance and after a natural disaster your normal places to run and hide may not be there (especially if there are flood waters). So, this combination makes me want both some capacity and removable mags as well as a decent sight radius.
So, with all three in mind, I figure the medium framed, large CCW or small service pistol type guns are about perfect. If you are a 1911 guy (I am but I prefer DA on my defensive arms these days) or can conceal full-sized guns, or it is winter so most of us could, then I may adjust this to a full-sized pistol. However, the beauty of these mid-sized guns is they do have enough sight radius and capacity that you don't really NEED to go bigger.
In my personal case, once it proves reliable (I haven't yet taken delivery) my SIG 229 in .40S&W will probably be my choice. It should be reliable, it should be about the right combination of size and concealability for this role, it holds a fair number of rounds (12) in a hard hitting caliber. It also helps that I have 450 rounds of FMJ and 500 rounds of JHP on hand for the caliber and 3 mags for the gun (I will be ordering more mags soon).
Well, with the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina come and gone, and the 5 year for 9/11 coming up, it got me thinking again about the likely SHTF scenarios we might actually see and what we can do about them.
I don't think the invasion or Gov't gone bad and everyone is in rebellion type scenarios lots of people like to talk about are going to happen, and I want to stay away from that kind of "SHTF" here if we can.
I'm thinking the realistic possibilities- riots, major natural disasters, and these days possibly a terror attack even along the lines of a dirty bomb or the like. One (riot) is a definate "bug in" situation, the dirty bomb is a definate "bug out" situation if you live in the effected area, and the natural disaster could be either.
Well, for the bug in situation there is no need to worry about a separate "SHTF" gun since your normal home defense set up with maybe some extra ammo should probably handle it. Of course, if the possibility of a Katrina/New Orleans style confiscation happens then the bug out criteria come into play even in a bug in situation. For a bug out situation (or confiscation if you are bugged in) there are different needs.
I've been thinking about the lessons learned from watching what New Orleans went through on the news. I don't think any kind of long gun is the answer. I don't want a small pistol or revolver because there could be dangerous characters out in groups, and when not in groups there are more out than usual so your chances of multiple encounters goes up, so the capacity to hold a lot of rounds or be reloaded quickly (or ideally both) would be nice. Also, the extra sight radius and more easily shot precision shots could possibly come in handy with a larger pistol. However, I don't want a full-sized service pistol either as I want it concealable. Something CZ 40B, CZ 75 Compact/PCR/P01, SIG 229, Taurus PT911/PT940, and Glock 19/23 size is about perfect.
Some random thoughts informing this choice:
1) Even if you are in a gun friendly area, Katrina proved that a CCW may not be enough. People are in the middle of an area with tons of looters and the cops confiscated guns and arrested people who wouldn't give them up. I don't want my gun I am counting on to be visible and likely to get the police's attention.
2) Even if in an anti-gun no CCW area, carry anyway. Services are down, people are hungry, thristy and society has collapsed locally- in many people the animal comes out. If looters (or worse) are out and about, I want to be able to defend me and mine.
Both of those demand a concealable gun, and no long-guns.
3) You never know, in such a situation I want to be prepared for as much as possible with my choice of firearm. Mobs, gangs (MS13 has just recently made its first Howard County appearance), and other nefarious groups of people may attack in such a situation, not just individuals. They may even attack from a distance and after a natural disaster your normal places to run and hide may not be there (especially if there are flood waters). So, this combination makes me want both some capacity and removable mags as well as a decent sight radius.
So, with all three in mind, I figure the medium framed, large CCW or small service pistol type guns are about perfect. If you are a 1911 guy (I am but I prefer DA on my defensive arms these days) or can conceal full-sized guns, or it is winter so most of us could, then I may adjust this to a full-sized pistol. However, the beauty of these mid-sized guns is they do have enough sight radius and capacity that you don't really NEED to go bigger.
In my personal case, once it proves reliable (I haven't yet taken delivery) my SIG 229 in .40S&W will probably be my choice. It should be reliable, it should be about the right combination of size and concealability for this role, it holds a fair number of rounds (12) in a hard hitting caliber. It also helps that I have 450 rounds of FMJ and 500 rounds of JHP on hand for the caliber and 3 mags for the gun (I will be ordering more mags soon).