Carry A BUG

[clearconscience]

I shake with my left hand.

 

[gimpyhunter]

I'm too old to carry one or more heavy weapons anymore for my daily carry. I choose to carry my Kel-Tec PMR30. It's a 22mag with personal protection ammo. With thirty one rounds, I don't need extra clips and don't carry a BUG. While some may wince at carrying a 22mag, it's the same knock down power as a .38/.380. As long as I can hit my target, I think I'm pretty well covered.

The few times I don't carry my Kel-Tec, I have my 22mag derringer.

I'm not LE so my needs are minimal.

 

[EUGENE the REALTOR]

I'm guessing I'll never have to use my gun in a SD situation. I'm probably more likely to win the lottery and be hit by lightning the same day than need a backup gun.

Unless you are a LEO or a lot of people want you dead, it's a little over the top in my opinion...

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I EDC a Sig 9mm w/a 6rnd mag, IWB. Its a compact. I also carry two 8rnd spare mags in Leatherman tool pouches on my left side and a folder on a pocket clip.
When I very rarely carry a BUG it's my Ruger .380 LCP, just slipped into a pocket.
I only recently began carrying the second spare for the Sig. It seems to me that violent crime is increasing lately, just not enough to carry two handguns everyday!

 

[Strykervet]

I carry a G27 IWB or a G17 on the hip. But I always have this little 340PD. It's almost weightless and I've literally forgotten it was in my pocket on a few occasions.

A backup has it's place. I'm no Rambo, but I was a doorkicker in the military and having SOMETHING to pull when you crap goes click is nice.

I've done shoothouses where we intentionally put dummy rounds in the mags and issued them. You don't know if you have one or not. We scurried in, my buddy in front goes "click" after one burst and he drops to fix his junk and I blow right over him with a SAW without missing a beat.

In reality, he'd have been dead had he had no backup, be it another person or simply a handgun. Later on many of us got pistols if we wanted them.

Not many of us have a SAW gunner behind us in public, so it's best to have that extra piece just in case. Doesn't need to be heavy, it's a backup, so a 340PD (reliable, no more clicks) or say a Rorbaugh (sp?) if you're in to those.

Now if I was Rambo like the guy above said, well, I'd probably run around town with my suppressed SBR in .300BLK with my DTA .50 strapped to my back wearing my old Paraclete lvl. 4 complete with dope and my trusty old "operator" helmet with the NODs on.

 

[gimpyhunter]

If I were the predator and not the prey, I'd carry a BUG also. Any type of LE, be it local or military would be crazy not to carry anything extra that could be necessary. However, I'm not going to be "going after" someone in regular civilian life. Even in a SHTF situation, I'm only there to stop the threat against me and mine. The rest should be left to others with the training and effective support.

Just my 2 cents. At my age and place in life, I'm not paid to be the enforcer and don't have the free legal backup to handle the fallout that will follow. My family and my future is what matters most to me, not being the hero.

 

[Strykervet]

I'll leave it at this. IF you've never had a pistol go click (or worse, how about a KB when you least expect it?) then I guess you don't need a backup. If like me you have, you see the value in it.

Backups should be light, small and easy to carry and conceal. Rorbaugh, Keltec for semis, that 340PD is hard to beat for a wheelgun. I'm sure there are others.

 

[Flopsweat]

I don't routinely carry a BUG but if I did it would probably be really tiny. My default defense strategy is to GTFO (I'd rather be a wuss than a defendant), so I guess any primary carry is like a BUG for me.

 

[solv3nt]

I dont normally like "little guns" my primary carry is a 5" 1911. That said, my boss is pro gun, and we've traded guns in the office, but he later found a line in the employee hhandbook forbidding it. He's got a chl, but is worried about breaking the rules. He's a sharp guy that I know could sniff out my iwb tuckable clips, so I didn't carry while at work. Yesterday, I picked up an LCP, which will live on my ankle, but I'll still take my colt when I'm not at work. So, I guess I'll technically have a BUG.

 

[usagi]

practice practice practice using your BUG.

murphy's law says when SHTF you are going to go into panic mode, your IQ is going to drop to 57, and you are going to forget all about your BUG when your primary has an issue.

 

[Gunguy45]

One man's paranoia is another man's preparedness.

I won't fault anyone for any decision. Carry one, two, five or none. that's the beauty of freedom.

Personally, I just work with the odds. It's INCREDIBLY unlikely that I will need a gun to defend myself. Yet, I've needed them, twice. In one case it saved me a possibly fatal beating. In another case, it saved the life of a man who would certainly have been beaten to death on my paretn's front porch.

I could poo poo the odds based on that, but the facts were that in the first case I was working in a high-risk environment and job. In the second, my parents lived in a REALLY bad neighborhood. (I just happened to be visiting at the time).

I carry a gun every day. Sometimes it's a crappy little pocket .380. not much, but I can kill a man with it. Others I wear a S&W 4506 o/c. Others I wear a Springfield .40 IWB. Depends on how I feel at any given point. either way, I'm rarely unarmed. -Just sometimes better armed for a surprise than others.

If you feel better with a BU gun, I think you should carry one. For me, I look at the likely need vs. the incredible PITA and say: "No thanks."

I'm fine with one, two, five or none. Everyone gets to make their own choices. What I would advise against is telling people they "aren't prepared" with only one. That's just dishonest. Sure, 1 in a million times, that B/U gun is going to save your life. If that's how you live your life, you should invest heavily in lotto tickets. Your odds are about the same.

It is SO HARD to get even people with CPLs to carry EVERY DAY. Telling those people that the entry point is not one, but two guns, doesn't help anyone. -Hard enough to get them to carry ONE.

As long as you're not doing that nonsense, hey, whatever you want.

 

[Gunguy45]

I believe that you need to keep safety in mind at all times, but there gets to be a point of overkill or just being a tinfoil hat.
If life is at a point where you need to carry multiple firearms, or you have that much fear either you have some mental issues or you just need to move to the country.

You shouldn't be carrying a firearm to be in a firefight, it's about protecting your life or someone else's.
If I have to use mine it's to eliminate a threat and get the heck out of there as fast as possible.
Your first duty is to stay out of a threatening situations and if finding yourself in a threatening situation get out of it.

The other part of carrying is knowing what will happen if God forbid you do use your weapon and live. you need to explain to a Cop, Judge, and/or jury what happened and why you did what you did. And how you are not a threat to others. It's not always about the facts, it can be about perception with jury.

I work very hard and methodocally about being a good person, not breaking the law, being a great family man, and helping others any chance I can.

If I'm in a situation where I need extra mags, I haven't practiced enough, and didn't stay mindful of my security.

I have to agree with you on 99% of this post. But extra mags? what happens if you get a major stoppage? It's rare, but it's happened to me, especially with a new gun that hasn't been broken in yet.

The ONLY way to clear that stoppage is to eject the mag (now on the ground) and clear the stoppage, which is usually a couple of racks. Now your magazine (which may have been the SOURCE of the problem) is on the ground. Having an extra mag in your front pocket may well mean the difference between life and death. It takes NOTHING to carry an extra mag. You can stick it in your pocket, no fuss, no muss. and that one piece of simple equipment may mean the difference between life and death.

It's stupid easy, requires no great expenditure, nor involves any serious concealment effort. Why WOULDN'T you carry an extra mag?

 

[BillGabby1]

SR9C with 10+1, a folder and a PINK pepper spray . LOL
All that was available at the time. Too fat and old to carry more than one. Cant reach my ankle and I won't use a shoulder rig cause I can't reach across my fat gut, got to lose 20# pretty soon.
If I need more than 11 I'm in deep doo doo and probably won't be getting home for super.
In the event you are involved in a shooting and are brought to trial what do you think the judge and jurors are going to think about Rambo and his arsenal. They will think he is on a hunting expedition, I know that's your call but most of those peers of yours have never even held a gun much less shot one, and perception can get you hung quick as anything. Think about it, and put your self in Betty Boop, and Donald Duck's shoes and think about it the way you imagine they would. Pretty scary isn't it?
Gabby

 

[bakersman345]

Usually I pack a 38 as my primary. (because its good enough and conceals comfortably) Then as a BUG I carry a nna mini the pocket grip holster. It us no bigger then my pocket knife. If I'm doing something the requires bending or exposing my waist line I leave the 38 in the car and hope for the best