Why one cop carries 145 rounds

[ToddG]

Didn't get his hands up or anything to stop his fall. Just bounced his head off the pavement.

... six or seven times. Or at least that's how to report got written.

Kidding, of course. Good job by your guy. I hope the other officers were unscathed.

[BLR]

“Blessed are those who, in the face of death, think only about the front sight.” Jeff Cooper. That Cooper coined this idea is not likely, as I'm sure some archery instructor in Egypt 5000 years ago uttered something similar. And Larry Vickers has a similar one with "Speed is fine, accuracy is final."

Though, I can't imagine how difficult that is to do while someone is banging away at you.

[JHC]

Probably worth pointing out that he did solve the problem with the ammo he was carrying on him at the time and had 14 rounds left over, so not sure why another 100 rounds that he didn't need would have made that much difference.

But I understand the thinking. I don't have any ultimate experience "seeing the elephant" but in just a handful of tricky scenes near small elephants, I got the desire for as much "kit" as one could possibly carry. Like the one armed deputy in "Unforgiven". I wonder what Jim Cirillo's load out would be on the stakeout job today. That might be a thread.

If Cirillo was on a new stakeout squad today, what would be his basic load? Maybe too easy. I'm thinking G21/G20 with G30/G29 backup and four spare mags, a G27 on his ankle and a SBR 6.8 SPC AR with EOT and I don't know how many rifle mags.

[David Armstrong]

That wouldn't result in this much discussion.

Yeah, I know. Just like to point out the obvious every now and then as that seems to sometimes get lost.

[ToddG]

I'd imagine the officer in question used to think, holy cow, I'll never come close to needing all the ammo on my belt! Then he got into a fight with just one guy who needed multiple magazines worth of ammo to put down. While overly simplistic to be sure, it's not hard to see the base logic in "33 shots per bad guy = 6 magazines to deal with two or three evildoers."

Having too much ammo costs you nothing. Having too little, on the other hand...

[David Armstrong]

from JHC:
But I understand the thinking. I don't have any ultimate experience "seeing the elephant" but in just a handful of tricky scenes near small elephants, I got the desire for as much "kit" as one could possibly carry.

I don't understand the thinking. I've always had trouble understanding the reasoning that says "I was able to do the job with what I had and could have continued doing the job with what I had because I still had some left, so that means I must not have had enough and now need to have more" particularlylwhen we find almost everyone else is able to do the job with less. It's cool to carry lots of stuff around, but at what cost? Most of the LE job is not getting into extended gunfights, it is moving, running, climbing and so on. Balance is the key, and when one gets off-balance and focuses on one aspect of the job instead of the job as a whole I really question the reasoning. YMMV.

[David Armstrong]

I'd imagine the officer in question used to think, holy cow, I'll never come close to needing all the ammo on my belt! Then he got into a fight with just one guy who needed multiple magazines worth of ammo to put down. While overly simplistic to be sure, it's not hard to see the base logic in "33 shots per bad guy = 6 magazines to deal with two or three evildoers."

Having too much ammo costs you nothing. Having too little, on the other hand...

Having too much ammo DOES cost you, that is part of the issue. Added weight reduces speed, impacts movement, and a host of other factors. Far more to the job than gunfights, and reducing the efficiency of those things may lead you to a position where you have to start shooting when you might not otherwise.

[ToddG]

Admittedly, I'll be surprised if the guy goes the rest of his career carrying six spare mags (two of them 33rd). But compared to the guy who normally just carries two spares, how much extra weight is this guy really lugging around? A hundred rounds of ammo and four magazines probably doesn't hit four pounds.

[Chuck Haggard]

A couple of times I have been in the water and was worried about having a 5906, a 6906, three mags and two knives on me, along with the huge brick of a radio we used to carry. two sets of cuffs, etc.

Other than that, not so much.


I found out that most vests actually float due to being sealed up against sweat, so that was a plus.

[JHC]

when one gets off-balance and focuses on one aspect of the job instead of the job as a whole I really question the reasoning. YMMV.

But why presume the officer in the OP or anyone else for that matter is getting out of balance just from adding some mags? He could be hitting the Krav Maga daily too for all we know.