Linj – Do you have a magic “keep you safe” talisman?

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From TUAK:

Neither do I. The older I get, the more I have to fight the urge to ridicule keyboard kommandos who think “prepping” is all about guns and gear and a case of MREs. I try to suppress the urge because I despise hypocrisy in all its forms and especially when I’m the hypocrite. And the truth is I was a proto-keyboard kommando: I was into “guns and gear” prepping long before keyboards – and preppers – became so ubiquitous. Yes! I was a faithful follower of Father Mel Tappan. I wore out my copy of Survival Guns in a way that would have made a Christian quite proud if it were his Bible. I was … a dumbass. And I kept it up for far longer than was wise.

Outstanding post and I suggest reading the whole thing more than once. My own impressions to follow.

8 thoughts on “Linj – Do you have a magic “keep you safe” talisman?”

  1. Great read, thanks.

    This kinda reminds me of the most important lesson I learned from the self defense classes I took: I suck at fighting. Gotta use all the tools in the toolkit to stay safe and happy. Punches, kicks, and guns are a last and not so great resort.

  2. Thanks for the link. It was a good read, not many of us live in such solitude so he has to be in charge of watching out for hisself. I’ve been with only with my own company for a period of a week in the wild – it was lonely. But did give me some clarity of thought without distractions.

  3. That was me, too. Some of the ideas in Survival Guns were valid then and still are, such as the usefulness of airguns and .22 rimfires. I have bigger calibers, but the small stuff can do a lot at a lower cost, and with less noise.

    Hardware has changed, though, since Tappan’s book and so has my software. My biggest regret is that I didn’t pursue more training (rather than guns/ammo), as well as other skills, when I was single and had more disposable income and free time.

  5. 1- Americans focus on stuff instead of skills. We are a consumer culture.

    2- Ballistic Americans tend to be worse. Part of it is driven by the inputs of magazines, blogs, etc. Part is that it’s easier to buy a new widget then to get oneself to do dry fire multiple times a week and shoot every/ every other week. It is easier to buy a new less lethal toy then to lift heavy shit and do combatives.

    3- Many survivalists are just closet gun nuts. Dudes want to buy a 5th rifle and accessorize it more than they want to put a couple grand in cash in a savings account.

    4- Tamara K once used the fire extinguisher analogy. Many of us see the reason to own one. We see the reason to know how to use it. However we aren’t always getting rid of our Extinguisher 3000 to buy a Extinguisher 4000. Nor are we going to weekend Fire Extinguisher school.

    I’m not saying it’s a perfect plan but the person who buys a .38, shoots it once and puts it in the nightstand is pretty common. I think the survivalist who buys an AR/AK, a dozen mags, a case of ammo and once a year clumsily unloads a couple mags into a hill/ gravel pit is pretty common.

  7. I have TWO lucky talismen – an M&P .40 loaded with segmented JHP on my nightstand and Sam, my 100 pound lab / pit mix. Feel pretty safe… 😀

    Best Regards

  8. Good points.
    As others I have heard it said before – the best defense is never being in a place you need one. Or as Tam once said – I carry a gun in places I don’t expect to need it. I don’t go places I expect to need a gun. (paraphrased from memory, of course).

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