Play the odds. Odds of you needing the pistol quicker than you can access it from the box vs odds of tragedy if child accesses it.Originally Posted by Gun Nerd
Sleeping with it in a retention holster is probably a solid option as others have mentioned.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Ive slept out under the stars, in tents and in the back of my truck a bit, maybe 2500-3000 nights or so. Depending on the place and perceived risk, Id usually sleep in skivies, and with the gun under the pillow, or in front of my chest in the sleeping bag. A few times and places I slept on my back with the pistol in my hand on my chest, mostly the old Smith 29 or a single action. I got tired of waking up with a 1911 cocked and unlocked under the pillow, and sometimes pointed at me when I woke up, it was part of the reason i tended away from self loaders over time as field guns.
More recently I sleep with the gun under the pillow and another under my clothes next to the pillow, one on each side so if I turn over theres one close to hand. The rifle goes under the edge of the blankets or sleeping bag, on top of the tarp groundcloth or on top of the sleeping pad so its not obvious to someone, but easy to reach. A few times ive slept with them against my body chamber empty in the blankets or sleeping bag, but its not very comfortable when you need to turn over. Ars suck to sleep with compared to a lever action. Lots of uncomfortable stuff sticking out at odd angles and not very compact.
A lanyard hooked to a glock lanyard hole makes it easy to grab something to have attached to you and no holster needed if you get up in the middle of the night. The so-called tanker type holsters are nice in that role, but I dont care for them otherwise for extended wear.
Obviously no kids, but keeping it under direct physical control at all times, basically touching you, is the main thing I think, even if not worn in a holster. Having the gun in a holster in the sleeping bag or blankets would increase the safety factor but may not be operable with one hand.
In my neighborhood there have been some instances of bears getting into tents, in one instance a sow grizzly with cubs got into several tents in a campground, raised a huge ruckus, then it was later discovered they got in one tent and killed and partly ate a guy. Several others in the campground were injured with bear bites. Theres been several instances of them tearing through the side of pop-up tent campers also. They sometimes put hard sided camper rules in effect, short term or longer term in campgrounds most affected by bear activity or until the outlaws are apprehended.
My dog(s) have woke me up numerous times low growling at something out in the darkness, a light usually reveals a curious coyote out wandering by trying to figure out what we are and what we are doing there. I had one bear try to come into camp about dark as i was setting up the tent, it didnt leave for about 20 minutes, both dogs were going ballistic barking at it. I decided to sleep in the back of the truck that night, but Ive slept out under the stars and in tents many times in grizzly country if none were known to be close like that one.
Theres a spare pistol in a lockbox in the truck under the rear seat. I keep the key for it and the door remote on a cord around my neck at all times im awake or driving, and in camp it would be good to sleep in it. I never set the combination. No worry about the battery, but I guess it could be handy to be able to open it without the key, but thats the same reason I didnt set a combination.
Last edited by Malamute; 07-21-2019 at 04:54 PM.
As a lifelong coon hunter I support this ^
I keep my gat in my kit bag along with my other essentials, in my sleeping bag.
I know I'm going to take some flack for this but regardless how well the child has been "trained" I don't leave unsecured firearms around children.
In general children have poor impulse control and all the training in the World won't change that.
Research indicates the human brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that processes rational thought, doesn't fully develop until approximately 25 years of age.
Granted, some develop earlier some later but in general a juvenile's world is ruled by their amygdala. That's the part of the brain that tells the kid (against all better judgement and training) that it's OK to sneak out of the house and steal dad's car.
Train the kid but lock up the guns.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyc...ContentID=3051
Amen.
I can't like this post enough.
I was "Trained" not to dick around with the guns in the house too, but when I was 14 years old I still found myself figuring out how to safely de-cock the loaded H&R sportsman revolver that I accidentally cocked while I was fucking around with it even though I'd been trained not to.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
Most of my camping has been gunless, back in to the day before guns were a thing for me. I am in a fog the first 10 to 20 seconds I wake up and numerous occasions talked with my wife and done other small things without remembering.
With kids around definitely a lock box, I have a small V-Line box for travel in hotel rooms with the little ones and the code gives me a hard break to wake the fuck up before handling a gun.
What, you don't?
James Baroud, hard shell.
Pros: sleep on top of the car, up off the ground; better aerodynamics/gas mileage than soft rooftop tents; struts inflate the thing instantly upon unlatching--set up in literally under a minute from pulling the jeep in; solar-powered fan and flashlight; can grab our tupperware bin with the coffee stuff, pots/pans, fire starter/propane and coleman 2-burner green stove and be out the door and camping in 30 minutes (which means we actually DO camp once in a while, if we finish with clients early); 4 inches of memory foam stuffed in the bottom of that bitch for dreamy ZZZZs. Ours is on our trusty old "in your face, winter" Jeep Liberty, but you can mount these things on a Subaru or Mini cooper, if that's all you've got.
Cons: initial cost (we bought ours second-hand); limited to 2-people, due to the footprint being limited by the car dimensions; permanent attachment on the jeep can be a bit of a drag, literally, for highway travel not involving campfires, grilling brats, and pistols.
This thing is awesome for state park hopping; comes with an aluminum ladder, low hassle, excellent comfort, and panache. #wouldbuyagain.
Last edited by Totem Polar; 07-21-2019 at 11:49 PM.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
I was hunting by myself by age 12 and could take any long gun and shoot it on my own even younger. I wasn't allowed to touch the revolver. Even though it remained in plainview, I never once messed with it. Kids vary. Nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution, but I'm fine with my 13 y/o having access to my gun while camping.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
I've slept in the driver's hatch of an M110A2 and on the hood of a 5 ton and in the AG seat of a M109A3 but never on the roof of a car
Same
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