Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A plug for Knife Thursday

I love knives.  Ever since my first Swiss Army knife I have loved knives. 

Knives have become an expensive hobby for me.  I just bought my most expensive knife yet.  The Zero Tolerance 0561. 

I think most people that find my blog enjoy knives as well.  If that is the case then Knife Thursday is for you. 

Knife Thursday is a blog/website where people who love knives get together every Thursday and share their pictures and stories.  Usually once a month the staff does a knife giveaway, that you enter by doing something knife related and using your post as an entry. 

You should check it out:Knife Thursday

Monday, July 15, 2013

Summer Carry Guns

I have carried a Glock 22 (that is a .40 S&W) the Smith and Wesson 637-2 (.38 special) and a Walther PPQ (9mm) as my carry handguns.  The Glock 22 was just fine to carry in the winter but it is just too big to carry in the summer time, just because clothing is tighter and you cannot wear the same kind of cover clothing. 

The Smith and Wesson 637 was a fantastic summer carry gun.  I carry it in a Desantis Nemesis pocket holster.  Pocket carry was great, and perfectly safe because I didn't put anything else in that pocket. One thing that I really liked is that if the need arose I could put my hand right on my gun in my pocket and be ready to go.  ( This did happen once where I did have to put my hand on the gun in my pocket).

The Walther PPQ is a great mix of the two guns.  I can carry 15 rounds of +P 9mm in a IWB holster and conceal it underneath a t-shirt.  It is still too big under some circumstances.  I feel that it makes a good mix between a winter and summer carry gun. 



The trigger on the PPQ is a fantastic trigger, it was even better than the trigger of a Springfield Armory Loaded 1911 that I just shot.  That 1911 trigger seemed like it had more creep than my PPQ and it was less predictable. 

Now that I said all of that, I still want the Springfield XDS 9mm.  I would be able to conceal that, even better underneath just a t-shirt.  8 rounds of 9mm is a big step up from 5 rounds of .38 special.  Plus it would be way faster to reload, compared to the Smith 637. 



Cautious Paranoia

I am a firm believer in practicing cautious paranoia.  I heard this term from Jared Diamond.  You may know him as the author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, and The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies.  I highly recommend both of those books.  

Jared Diamond started his academic career as an ornithologist in Papua New Guinea.  He had experiences there that gave him the idea for the term cautious paranoia.  He had experiences in New Guinea where if he had practiced cautious paranoia things may have gone differently.

In the first story he was with ten New Guineans.  He was bird watching and doing research and the New Guineans were his guides and porters.  It had been raining all day long and all of them were very tired.  Jared went to sleep in his tent for the night and during the middle of the night he saw someone out side of his tent, he didn't think much about it because he was so tired and he thought it was one of the New Guineans that was in his group.  But there were foot prints outside of his tent and none of his party had been around his tent at night.  The New Guineans freaked out!  Someone had entered their camp in the middle of the night and there was a witch doctor in the area that was known for killing people.  If Jared had practiced cautious paranoia he would have shouted out to his companions and the man would have run away.  Jared reflects that he was very lucky that this man did not kill him. 

I lived in South Africa for two years and I learned how to have Cautious Paranoia there, I do believe that it saved me from being robbed a few times.

Really when it all comes down to it, Cautious Paranoia is another way of saying Situational Awareness, and think ahead before doing something. 

For example: My girlfriend will put her feet up on the dashboard while we are driving on the freeway.  I told her don't do that, if we get in a car accident then the airbag will break your legs and your feet may go through the windshield. Then you are screwed.  That to me, is a great example of Cautious Paranoia.