Friend of mine hikes various trails with his wife and his revolver. Quiet, decent, good guy who will not be a victim for some psycho.
Friend of mine hikes various trails with his wife and his revolver. Quiet, decent, good guy who will not be a victim for some psycho.
Racket wrote:
Nuclear Lake wrote:
I always carry a knife and sometimes wish I had a firearm for a potential rabid animal or human being .
The AT crosses many State and National Parks where it's illegal to carry a firearm. Just sayin'
Only illegal if you get caught.
I spend a lot of time climbing, hiking and running trails and I look at this sort of thing as something of an objective hazard, like an animal attack, rockfall, fluke weather, etc.. Hopefully the victims can find support and solace over time.
YMMV wrote:
I spend a lot of time climbing, hiking and running trails and I look at this sort of thing as something of an objective hazard, like an animal attack, rockfall, fluke weather, etc.. Hopefully the victims can find support and solace over time.
This. I’m way more likely to get attacked by a bear or mountain lion. Maybe shot by a hunter. I see at least a couple bears a year while running in remote locations. Life is too short to be afraid all the time and carry weapons around.
romantic past wrote:
You are right, a lot less violent crime now than the 70’s.
This is true. In fact it's not even close.
Wolf's Bane wrote:
Also there is a ton of stuff an attacker could hide behind out on the trail. This is really a doomsday scenario for a hiker. You see some guy on the side of the trail, seemingly going into his pack.. Seconds later, there is a blade cutting your throat.
Seconds later is enough time for the quick of wit and fleet of feet to evade the attacker or even preemptively draw their own knife. Who doesn't hike with a knife in their pocket?
Experienced outdoorsmen detect this kind of ambush the same way wild animals do. You can spot their ill intent in their body language and eyes and smell the evil in their sweat. If they hide behind a tree, there will just seem something not right about the tree. Maybe its shadow is too thick, or the animals are acting strange. It all depends on what kind of hiker you're talking about. And again, on how many. The machete guy's mistake was thinking he could get two at once.
Bad Wigins wrote:
[quote]Wolf's Bane wrote:
shadow is too thick
Damn right Shadow is too thicc. Sonic looking anemic.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Wolf's Bane wrote:
Also there is a ton of stuff an attacker could hide behind out on the trail. This is really a doomsday scenario for a hiker. You see some guy on the side of the trail, seemingly going into his pack.. Seconds later, there is a blade cutting your throat.
Seconds later is enough time for the quick of wit and fleet of feet to evade the attacker or even preemptively draw their own knife. Who doesn't hike with a knife in their pocket?
Experienced outdoorsmen detect this kind of ambush the same way wild animals do. You can spot their ill intent in their body language and eyes and smell the evil in their sweat. If they hide behind a tree, there will just seem something not right about the tree. Maybe its shadow is too thick, or the animals are acting strange. It all depends on what kind of hiker you're talking about. And again, on how many. The machete guy's mistake was thinking he could get two at once.
This isn't a guarantee. Especially when you've been hiking for 6 weeks. Most everybody on the trail is friendly. Why would you be expecting something crazy like this?
Even if you're this great outdoorsman, you'd expect someone off the side of the trail saw something cool. Or what if it was some guy on the trail, who got his pack off, and started reaching in as you walk by. You'd think he was taking out a clif bar or something. Even if he had a large knife, that wouldn't be unusual for someone through hiking, you might be wary, but especially in the middle of a 20+ mile day, you'd not expect an attack coming.
Further a lot of AT hikers aren't experienced outdoorsmen; they're just people with a bucket list item wanting to get out in nature. Many have never done more than day hikes before they start out.
I'm glad most people are sane, but somebody like machete guy who was a bit less greedy and a bit smarter could have done even worse.
wtfunny wrote:
The world clearly needs more good guys wielding machetes.
Gun violence must be stopped.
909u wrote:
Friend of mine hikes various trails with his wife and his revolver. Quiet, decent, good guy who will not be a victim for some psycho.
How quick a draw is your friend? A gun doesn't win every encounter with a knife -- IIRC you want at least 30 feet between yourself and someone charging with a knife.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Wolf's Bane wrote:
Also there is a ton of stuff an attacker could hide behind out on the trail. This is really a doomsday scenario for a hiker. You see some guy on the side of the trail, seemingly going into his pack.. Seconds later, there is a blade cutting your throat.
Seconds later is enough time for the quick of wit and fleet of feet to evade the attacker or even preemptively draw their own knife. Who doesn't hike with a knife in their pocket?
Experienced outdoorsmen detect this kind of ambush the same way wild animals do. You can spot their ill intent in their body language and eyes and smell the evil in their sweat. If they hide behind a tree, there will just seem something not right about the tree. Maybe its shadow is too thick, or the animals are acting strange. It all depends on what kind of hiker you're talking about. And again, on how many. The machete guy's mistake was thinking he could get two at once.
I've done an ER rotation at an inner-city hospital that serves a rough part of the city, and a surgery rotation at a suburban medical center that receives trauma from multiple counties. When talking to patients ranging from victims of violence to accident victims, the absolute most common thing I've heard about how their incident unfolded has been some variation on "it happened so fast I didn't even have time to react."
Everyone thinks that if they run into trouble on the highway, they'll have ten seconds to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid an accident like they're in a Vin Diesel movie. People think that if they get attacked while going about their lives they'll be able to fight or run. That just isn't how it goes down in the real world much of the time.
Mostly you just have to rely on the fact that most people don't actually want to hurt anyone, which is a safe bet the vast majority of the time. But if someone wants to hurt you, they can.
The US has to be the sketchiest highly developed country to hike through the rural areas of. There are many places along the AT that I would be on high alert hiking through due to the people that live out there.
No reason to be scared, but reason to be on high alert and ready to fight or flight.
culture of fear wrote:
YMMV wrote:
I spend a lot of time climbing, hiking and running trails and I look at this sort of thing as something of an objective hazard, like an animal attack, rockfall, fluke weather, etc.. Hopefully the victims can find support and solace over time.
This. I’m way more likely to get attacked by a bear or mountain lion. Maybe shot by a hunter. I see at least a couple bears a year while running in remote locations. Life is too short to be afraid all the time and carry weapons around.
I agree the attacked by a crazy man is an anomaly, but any hunter that shoots a person is definitely trying to shoot that person. Unless they're a dumb@$$ and trips with a loaded gun and it happens to shoot his/her friend that's hunting with them. You obviously don't hunt if you think a hunter will accidentally shoot a person thinking they're the animal they're hunting.
not a movie wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:
Seconds later is enough time for the quick of wit and fleet of feet to evade the attacker or even preemptively draw their own knife. Who doesn't hike with a knife in their pocket?
Experienced outdoorsmen detect this kind of ambush the same way wild animals do. You can spot their ill intent in their body language and eyes and smell the evil in their sweat. If they hide behind a tree, there will just seem something not right about the tree. Maybe its shadow is too thick, or the animals are acting strange. It all depends on what kind of hiker you're talking about. And again, on how many. The machete guy's mistake was thinking he could get two at once.
I've done an ER rotation at an inner-city hospital that serves a rough part of the city, and a surgery rotation at a suburban medical center that receives trauma from multiple counties. When talking to patients ranging from victims of violence to accident victims, the absolute most common thing I've heard about how their incident unfolded has been some variation on "it happened so fast I didn't even have time to react."
Everyone thinks that if they run into trouble on the highway, they'll have ten seconds to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid an accident like they're in a Vin Diesel movie. People think that if they get attacked while going about their lives they'll be able to fight or run. That just isn't how it goes down in the real world much of the time.
Mostly you just have to rely on the fact that most people don't actually want to hurt anyone, which is a safe bet the vast majority of the time. But if someone wants to hurt you, they can.
Exactly. Most attacks are premeditated and carried out with motive. If some sociopath sets up and decides he's going to hurt or kill the next person who comes along on a trail, its game over.
I've thought about this before and realized if I was out running and I was the next person who came along, I'd probably die.
I try to avoid areas that seem sketch when I run, but this sort of thing could happen in any moderately trafficked area or even a heavily trafficked one late at night. Pepper spray, mace, or a weapon might help, but not if someone gets the jump on you or has a firearm pointed at you from a distance.
Wolf's Bane wrote:
not a movie wrote:
I've done an ER rotation at an inner-city hospital that serves a rough part of the city, and a surgery rotation at a suburban medical center that receives trauma from multiple counties. When talking to patients ranging from victims of violence to accident victims, the absolute most common thing I've heard about how their incident unfolded has been some variation on "it happened so fast I didn't even have time to react."
Everyone thinks that if they run into trouble on the highway, they'll have ten seconds to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid an accident like they're in a Vin Diesel movie. People think that if they get attacked while going about their lives they'll be able to fight or run. That just isn't how it goes down in the real world much of the time.
Mostly you just have to rely on the fact that most people don't actually want to hurt anyone, which is a safe bet the vast majority of the time. But if someone wants to hurt you, they can.
Exactly. Most attacks are premeditated and carried out with motive. If some sociopath sets up and decides he's going to hurt or kill the next person who comes along on a trail, its game over.
I've thought about this before and realized if I was out running and I was the next person who came along, I'd probably die.
I try to avoid areas that seem sketch when I run, but this sort of thing could happen in any moderately trafficked area or even a heavily trafficked one late at night. Pepper spray, mace, or a weapon might help, but not if someone gets the jump on you or has a firearm pointed at you from a distance.
Wow! Not something Fake News Media Coverage will tell you! With Secular AGENDA. SAD!
666 wrote:
Racket wrote:
The AT crosses many State and National Parks where it's illegal to carry a firearm. Just sayin'
Only illegal if you get caught.
No it is still illegal. You will just not suffer the consequences of your criminal actions if you don't get caught but you are still a criminal.
asddafadsfdasf wrote:
666 wrote:
Only illegal if you get caught.
No it is still illegal. You will just not suffer the consequences of your criminal actions if you don't get caught but you are still a criminal.
My understanding is that it's only in Jersey that anything is legal as long as you don't get caught.
Shot by a hunter?? wrote:
culture of fear wrote:
This. I’m way more likely to get attacked by a bear or mountain lion. Maybe shot by a hunter. I see at least a couple bears a year while running in remote locations. Life is too short to be afraid all the time and carry weapons around.
I agree the attacked by a crazy man is an anomaly, but any hunter that shoots a person is definitely trying to shoot that person. Unless they're a dumb@$$ and trips with a loaded gun and it happens to shoot his/her friend that's hunting with them. You obviously don't hunt if you think a hunter will accidentally shoot a person thinking they're the animal they're hunting.
I don't expect to be attacked by someone with a machete either, but hunters (not good ones) do shoot people not in their party every once in a while.
https://www.denverpost.com/2015/09/15/mesa-county-investigators-id-hunter-who-killed-boy-in-national-forest/doctorj wrote:
joalturn wrote:
I’ve been planning a SOBO thru hike attempt in July. I guess I’ll add pepper spray to the list just in case.
A small .380 will do the trick better than pepper spray. But, its your life bro.
Ding ding ding. This is correct. Single stack 9mm would be a good option too.
Racket wrote:
Nuclear Lake wrote:
I always carry a knife and sometimes wish I had a firearm for a potential rabid animal or human being .
The AT crosses many State and National Parks where it's illegal to carry a firearm. Just sayin'
I think you're mistaken. Its definitely not illefal to carry guns in a National Parks and National Forest.