Why carry a gun?

wake_the_dead · 2012-05-26T22:25:27.972658+00:00

That's not the comparison I'm making, though.

From a statistical POV, it makes more sense to wear a helmet in your car than it does to carry a gun every day.

jleonardbc · 2012-05-26T16:13:45.767428+00:00

There is zero chance that Mittens thinks same-sex parents fit into the "a mom and a dad" paradigm he mentions. jleonardbc is completely on point.

Stargun · 1 day

Er, except it does exist. You carry three knives.

Stargun · 1 day

Yes, you'd be safer driving if you wore a helmet. Head injuries are extremely dangerous.

You're much more likely to have a car accident than be involved in a violent crime. There were 33,808 car accident fatalities in 2009, for example, but fewer than half that many murders.

schlitz100 · 1 day

You have excellent taste. Great collection!

Stargun · 1 day

No, I don't mean to come down on people who only carry single-blade knives at all. If that's all that's useful to you, then that's the right knife to carry. (How many well-made single-blade non-lockbacks are there, anyway?)

But I'd pick one that isn't all stabby-looking to avoid alarming other people, just as a courtesy.

wake_the_dead · 1 day

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Giffords was shot because she was a public figure a crazy person had fixated on. Public figures, especially (but not exclusively) political ones, have very different security needs than you and I do.

wake_the_dead · 1 day

Because the possibility of needing one in normal, everyday life is VANISHINGLY, INCREDIBLY SMALL.

It'd make more sense to wear a helmet in your car, but nobody does that.

Stargun · 1 day

a knife is a knife...

Well, that's manifestly not true. I mean, there's a world of difference between a Gerber Mark II and a Swiss Army Knife, right? That's one reason I choose not to carry a tactical folder. The other is I find the other tools useful, and I want access to them without carrying multiple knives.

I admire the workmanship of fancy lockbacks, but I only rarely carry one (ie, hiking or camping or hunting).

Stargun · 1 day

You must carry very, very light ammo, then, because I'd wager the weapon part of your loadout outweighs the rest. My Steyr is polymer, but if I load it it weighs more than my wallet, keys, cash, and phone combined.

It's not about carrying a gun. Sure, some people do that. I put a pistol in the car if I'm traveling at night, even. But I tend to think of office workers who carry a gun on their person every day as kind of creepy wannabe Rambos. Especially if they're carrying in a place where policy prohibits it.

Backing the gun with THREE knives is where you wander off in to vaguely survivalist territory for me.

Of course, the constant retort is the "gosh, I hope somebody's carrying when YOU need it!", but it carries little water. Violent crime is exceedingly rare; it's even more rare for people who work in offices. OTOH, there are lots of dangers far more common that nobody in EDC is preparing for, as far as I can see.

What this says to me is that a good chunk of folks here are just interested in carrying lethal weapons around -- sometimes lots of them -- despite the overwhelming likelihood that they'll be a burden more often than a boon. If that's the case, I wish more people would be honest about it.

Stargun · 1 day

I actually use the other tools on my SAK more than the blades -- scissors are crazy handy. Mine is a little chunky, but since I rarely have to open PCs anymore I could probably switch to a smaller one.

There's also a nontrivial benefit to carrying a knife that doesn't scream IMA STAB A BITCH to some people.

Stargun · 1 day

Check the stats. A helmet would actually make you much safer, and the stakes in a car are certainly as high as in any theoretical violent encounter.

Now, it could be you just like carrying a lot of weapons around for reasons not justifiable in black and white terms.

Bulwer · 1 day

The best part of that dial is that "Midway" is listed.

Stargun · 1 day

Obviously. The point is how much he's carrying that doesn't actually produce any additional efficacy.

Stargun · 1 day

Falling down or having a car accident that results in a dangerous closed-head injury is way more likely than violence. What kind of helmet is in your EDC?

I see all these "tactical tommy" load-outs for IT people whose most dangerous activity is probably driving to work, and it just makes me giggle. Do all your friends know you're ready to stab someone at a moment's notice? Nobody thinks this is a little odd?

Stargun · 1 day

Do you often walk into situations where you think you'll be threatened? Are there terrorists in your data center?

You seem to spend a lot of time thinking about ways to defend yourself with violence. As a white-collar American worker, on the other hand, your chances of encountering such violence are vanishingly small. It seems weird that, in the face of such a small threat, you'd spend so much effort having so many ways to hurt someone in your EDC.

I support the right to carry. I live in Texas, fer Christ's sake. I just think it's a little creepy to go so far with it.

Stargun · 1 day

Nope. See my original comment. He's carrying a Leatherman, a "beater" knife, a "stabbing" knife, AND a gun. Seems excessive to me, which was my original point.

Stargun · 1 day

Bollocks. I've carried, and used, a nonlocking Victorinox for 20 years and have yet to cut myself because of inopportune folding.

People carry giant-ass folders because they like the tactical look, which is fine, not because they're superior tools for most applications. I can open boxes with mine just as well as you can with yours. I can also open a bottle of wine, tighten a screw, strip a wire, etc., etc., etc.

Who's prepared now?

steeltownescapee · 2 days

Man, I can't believe you'd leave the house without at least two more knives and a gun. What kind of weirdo ARE you? ;)

ChiralDude · 2 days

Namiki Vanishing Point and the obligatory Moleskine. I've been using both for years.

I've recently branched out into the revival Blackwing Palomino pencils, and with a Lamy Safari for a "cheapie" pen. Both are great, too.

I_27_04 · 2 days

I think the Utilikilt people predate the 5.11 joke, don't they? I've had my UK for years.

I_27_04 · 2 days

I have a Utilikilt. I'm here to tell you, friends, that I really wish I'd had one back when I was single, because HOO BOY do women dig it. Much to my wife's occasional chagrin.

Also, if you live someplace hot, the updraft is your friend. It's my favorite pair of cargo shorts, for sure.

Stargun · 2 days

Yeah, me too. That's why I carry a Swiss Army knife.

I don't remember the part in Scouts about carrying an arsenal.

MrKyle666 · 2 days

If that scene doesn't leave a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes, I don't know what's the matter with you.

LeonSan · 2 days

I live in the middle of a big American city, and I earn a comfortable living, but the meal I am most likely to get if I'm by myself and feeling lazy or need comfort food is a large, thin and crispy Pizza Hut pizza with pork and mushroom.

I grew up in south Mississippi, and when I was a kid this was the only kind of pizza in town. I enjoy better pizza, too -- there's a great traditional italian place near my house with an awesome wood-fired pizza oven and fantastic fresh ingredients and the whole nine yards -- but sometimes, it's gotta be the Pizza Hut.

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