Kevon....I read that article too. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I'll bet what happened is that the pilot's Glock (not sure but likely) got triggered in his pilot brief case by something it caught on. Glocks don't have external, manual safety's....if you pull the trigger, it fires. No excuses, I say. If you are going to fly with something like that, it better have 100% of your attention. That makes 200% since 100% is also flying the airplane. Now, theres a market for aircraft safe firearms! You watch!


As far as gun forums go....I'm not on any but I do read from time to time. Once in a while there's a backpacking post of some kind and the poster doesn't get flamed. They do get some interesting responses though, no different than here.


Quote:
Wouldn't a can of bear spray work just fine?


Maybe. All depends on where you are hiking and what the likely threat might be.
In my case, I carry nothing, other than one trekking pole, 99.999% of the time. My wits are much lighter... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Where I do carry is on the Tex/Mex border, where bear spray would do nothing but taste good on tacos. I took some cop training last year and learned that about 30% of humans aren't affected by chemical sprays....which is why Tasers are popular.
I also sometimes carry when doing trail work. I've carried spray but find it doesn't do anything for dogs, wind direction is important, and after a couple years doesn't come out of the can at all. Our animal control guys all carry guns now.
I've never carried, nor am likely to, in cat or black bear country. In grizzly country, one of our party was armed, a pro guide, and carried no spray. His point was....again, depends on where you are hiking and how much time you have between you and bear. We went through many patches of 'devils glove' which bears nap in. Very different than seeing a few bears out on the sand bars.

So, it's all in where you hike and what you are likely to come up against, weighted against the odds of attack and willingness to haul dead weight. Most of the time I chose to 'take my chances'....and I'm over a half century old. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
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paul, texas KD5IVP