Category: Self-Defense

Undersea Solution

Self-Defense

I see that this has happened yet again in the Bay of Biscay:

Orcas have sunk a yacht off Spain‘s north-west coast after ramming another three in the same area.  Two people on board the pleasure craft called Idem had to be rescued after their rudder was destroyed and their boat began to sink.

This is not the first time I’ve commented on this phenomenon, but I think the time has come for us to explore the topic more thoroughly.

It seems to me that these orcas are getting a little too big for their boots, so to speak, attacking humans at will and endangering lives.  So it’s time we reminded these assholes just who is at the top of the predator scale, with a little massive retaliation.

I know, I know:  there aren’t many problems that can’t be solved with a sufficient quantity of high explosives.

Of course, that would end the problem right there.  But there are admittedly a few problems when it comes to arming pleasure craft with high-explosive devices of this type.

First and foremost, of course, is that for some reason Teh Orthoriteez — especially of the Euro type — seem to look askance at private citizens exercising their right to self defense.  If there’s any depth-charging to be done, they would say, then we’re the ones who are going to do it.  Except they won’t, as we all know, because the Usual Suspects in the Pore Likkul Animules Support Group might get upset.

Second comes the problem of supply.  Because of said Gummint reluctance, depth charges are not just things you can buy off the rack at your friendly Merchant Of Death’s establishment — not even in Florida or Texas, let alone in Spain.

Third is that the delivery device of said things can spoil the looks of one’s pleasure craft / yacht:

Finally [sic], while depth charges are unquestionably a worthy solution to the orca problem, one has to admit that it’s something of an overkill solution, like using C4 to rid yourself of that fire-ant nest in your backyard.  In both cases there is likely a chance of some collateral damage — in the Bay of Biscay, for example, a whole bunch of otherwise-edible fishies are going to get pulverized, as would your neighbor’s foundations in the fire-ant scenario.

There is at least one solution.

…or, seeing that it’s Spain we’re talking about, I’m sure there are a few of these still lying around:

Now granted, it may be difficult to lay one’s hands on either of the above, but it would be easier than getting both depth charges and their delivery device.  And let’s be honest, they don’t take up a lot of storage room.

No, I think that a box of these would be a perfect solution to the problem, especially as they require only a Mark I launch mechanism:

  or

And should some nautical federales show up, wanting to search the boat for any reason, the said devices are easily disposed of just by dropping them over the other side of the boat.  (It may not be advisable to get rid of them by tossing them at the fuzz, though.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts.  Any comments?

Victory At Yorktown!

Self-Defense

Apparently, Gen. George Washington has just forced the English Army to surrend– oh, you knew that already?  Well, here’s some more of that kind of news:

Because Everyone Needs a Boot Knife
While EDC knives are certainly tools, I think anyone who carries a gun also acknowledges that they’re a backup weapon as well. Especially in a weapons retention situation. Even if you don’t carry a gun, if you carry a knife you’re probably cognizant of its defensive potential if needed. While there are a lot of knives out there that you can choose from, with a lot of good reasons why, let’s take a look at the humble boot knife.

I don’t know where he’s been living, but a boot knife is anything but “humble”.  I’ve been carrying one almost my entire adult life — whether the local constabulary had declared them “illegal” or not — and I loves it, oh yes I do.

Here it is (next to my 1911 for scale):


(Kershaw “Special Agent”)

Now I must confess that it’s not an everyday carry (EDC) thing for me, mostly because I don’t wear boots, cowboy or otherwise, every day.  And it’s a little too big and bulky to be worn on my belt — so I prefer to carry a decent folding pocket knife instead.

But if I’ve got the old Ariats on, you’d better believe that the Kershaw is clipped inside (the left boot, so that my right is free to wield the 1911, of course).

So of course everyone needs a boot knife.  I bet ol’ Cornwallis didn’t have one clipped to his boot.  Now I’m not saying that’s why he lost the battle, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Shooting Them Down

Self-Defense, Shooting Sports, Wars & Other Fun Games

Interesting stuff, this (via Insty):

I Have Seen the Future of Anti-Drone Warfare, and It’s Dirt-Cheap

I vaguely remembered reading something about the Sting a year or more ago, but I just learned today that they’re both dirt-cheap and extremely effective — mostly at shooting down Russia’s Geran-2 one-way attack drones, which are licensed copies of Iran’s Shahed that have caused us considerable trouble in Operation Epic Fury.

Ukraine needs tons of these things, because Geran is essentially a terror weapon aimed in large numbers — currently 100 to 200 per attack — at Ukraine’s cities and infrastructure. Larger attack waves include anything from 300 up to just over 800 Geran-2s in one night.

So the concept behind Sting is simply enough: Make something cheap and fast to build, easy to use, yet still capable of knocking a Geran-2 out of the sky far enough out from its target for some degree of safety.

And the Ukrainians did just that.

Of course, that’s all well and good in a military context, and our own .dotmil needs to hop onto this with all due dispatch, if they haven’t done so already.  (I assume they have, but whatever.)

What interests me as a civilian, however, is a solution closer to home [sic], in that these little airborne nuisances can also be used by anti-social elements to both spy on people and, in the worst case, to kamikaze themselves into a target — such as, for instance, your home or similar.  Why go to all the trouble of kitting yourself up with a suicide explosive vest or a rifle in order to inflict death and damage on (say) a church or synagogue, when you can essentially outsource the suicide bit to something you hand-built in your garage?

And in the above scenario, how would ordinary people — say, adherents of the Second Amendment — defend themselves or their communities against such nefarious electro-mechanical mosquitoes?

I’m thinking of something like this, of course:

That’s the semi-auto 12ga Browning Silver Hunter (and of course there are less-expensive options because America).  This differs from your standard home defense shotgun, say a 12ga Mossberg Maverick 88:

…in that the Hunter is not a pump action device but semi-auto (ergo  a higher rate of fire) and it has a much longer barrel (ergo  much greater accuracy at distance, ask any bird shooter).

I’m interested in this concept because it raises a couple of practical issues such as the type of ammo that would work best to bring down a drone (00 buck, or perhaps something lighter?).  Obviously, a 12ga slug would end the flight path of a drone with spectacular effect, but it has to be accurate:  far easier to spread the terminal effect with shot… but which shot?  00 buckshot is excellent, but it also kicks like hell — and getting followup blasts off quickly with said semi-auto action means a quicker target re-acquisition time is necessary.  Would 7/8 birdshot do the trick as well?  For that matter, would a 20ga shotgun be as effective as a 12ga under such circumstances?  (Almost all semi-auto shotguns are offered in both chamberings.)

I’ve owned a 20ga semi-auto shotgun in the past, and I have to say that the effect downrange is almost as effective as a 12ga (if those watermelons and milk jugs are at all indicative), but the recoil was far less problematic.

Of course I think that the Silver Hunter is just dreamy, in so many ways:

…and yes, the addition of a red-dot sighting device may certainly be of assistance (even though I think it spoils the look of the gun).

Feel free to discuss this topic in Comments, of course.

Breaking The Index

Self-Defense, The Gun Thing

I’m talking about yesterday’s post, and more specifically about this EwwChoob mini-video (which you should watch now if you haven’t already, because otherwise what follows may be incomprehensible).

As everyone here knows, I’ve spent most of my life shooting the 1911 pistol — most often the Government model, but a great deal of the Officer’s and Combat Commander model as well.  There’s also been quite a bit of IDPA shooting, less so of competition, but mostly as training because I’ve always thought that IDPA is quite good practice for what one might encounter in a truly bad self-defense situation.

I am of course therefore well acquainted with the concepts of “indexing” (keeping the gun aligned with the shooting arm) and “breaking the grip”, i.e. moving the gun out of the “proper” firing hold — in this case, to reload magazines.

Let’s talk about that reloading thing for a moment.

While I have fairly beefy hands, my fingers are not especially long.  So my shooting grip looks like this (please excuse the crappy photography):

As you can see, my thumb isn’t long enough to reach the mag release at all — which means that in order to drop the empty mag, I have to break the grip:

Not only has the grip been compromised, but the handgun is no longer indexed to my arm, being pointed both off to the side and upwards.

Is this important?  No, it absolutely is not — because the only reason for indexing the gun and having a proper grip would be if I were about to pull the trigger, which I’m not, because I’m busy reloading.

Once the fresh mag has been inserted, my left hand immediately comes up to assume the combat hold, and it forces the gun back into the proper indexed position relative to my arm, and the grip back into the locked position for firing.

I have practiced this action countless thousands of times, both “dry” (i.e. with an unloaded gun and mag) and “hot” (fully loaded, in the act of actual shooting), and the operation is as flowing and mechanical as changing gears in a car with a manual transmission.

In other words, I can’t see what all the fuss is about.  Of course all the approved positions are going to be compromised while I’m reloading, but who cares?  As long as it all gets back to the proper upright and locked position* in time to fire the gun, everything’s fine and dandy.

Or have I missed something?  (If I have, it’s probably too late to change anything anyway — some habits are just too ingrained to change.)

* even my shooting position is not in the “popular” manner;  instead of locking my arm straight, I have my elbow slightly bent, in the manner of Jeff Cooper:


…because I’ve found that it makes it easier to shoot from cover, and quicker to reacquire the target from recoil.   YMMV.  (Caveat:  it’s not for everyone, so adopt with caution.)

I probably sacrifice some accuracy thereby, but not enough to concern me — I’m shooting combat/IDPA, not Bullseye FFS.

Proper Means

Self-Defense, The Gun Thing

My response to this story should come as no surprise to anyone:

In a horrifying attack, Angeline Mahal, in her 50s, died after she was savaged by her [own] two XL bullies in east London yesterday. It was thought to be the first fatal attack by dogs exempted from the nationwide ban on the breed.

James Hare, a qualified dog trainer who teaches children how to behave around dogs, stresses that any dog has the ability to attack and we’re far more likely to get bitten by smaller breeds. But he adds that it is the size and strength of an XL Bully that gives them a stronger jaw lock and makes them more deadly.

…and then trots out all the usual useless bullshit about distracting it with food, etc. etc., when really all that’s necessary is

“Oh but Kim,”  I hear, “we live in Britishland where, by law, we’re not allowed to own eeeevil guns or dangerous items like pepper spray!  What can we do?” 

Vote for politicians who will overturn those stupid laws.  Otherwise, it looks as though you’ll just have to get used to being Alpo.