A whole new hazard

[Phil]

Just....Oh Man! Really?

Next thing you know it'll be 11 pieces of essential safety gear...#11: your Glock 17

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/71859 ... artslide=0

[AlmostThere]

That would be why I only hike in designated wilderness areas. No roads nearby, no bandits who steal thousand dollar radios.

[Phil]

Remember when wilderness rangers weren't armed? Sadly, the advocates for allowing people to carry firearms in national parks are going to take this and run with it.

They'll find these guys, and then they need to lean on them hard. Make a real example of them!

[AlmostThere]

Except it wasn't in a park. It wasn't in a designated wilderness area. It was in a section of the PCT that was an easement and between two roads. Every crime that happens on a trail is near a road.... The murders on the AT were because of roads...

[Phil]

Yeah, but things like this have a way of becoming convoluted and taken out of context. Read: backpacker, rescuers, armed assailants, popular trail, proximity to other people of unknown character...most people couldn't tell you the difference between a designated wilderness and the hiking trail in their local park. All they'll know is that being alone equals potentially enhanced personal danger and vulnerability. Two banditos carrying guns, multiply that times several million potential perpetrators of unknown character and intent, throw a little reactive knee-jerk fear and propaganda into the mix, and you might just get enough sympathy to push it through. People on a mission have succeeded with far less. Deliver us from evil, please.

How many times have you been in REI and seen someone checking out big cans of bear spray for a trip to Yosemite? We know that it's unnecessary, fundamentally wrong and cruel, and illegal, but do they? It just sounded like a good idea at the time when it came to leveling the playing field.

[balzaccom]

I'm still thinking this robbery had to do with a pot growing plantation...

[AlmostThere]

SAR teams are all trained to expect to run across pot farms or other illicit operations in low elevations -- near roads. Which is why most backpackers don't need to worry about them, they usually stay far from the trails because those are traveled by potential witnesses. If those were pot farmers they were exceptionally stupid ones.

[Phil]

We live out in the boondocks, surrounded by even more boondocks. We've run across quite a few grows over the years. If they're guarded, most of the time they run away or hide, which is what they should do...what the smart ones do. They don't grow for long if they revert to confrontation and theft (the big one is people occasionally trying to tap into our water lines), but we've also gotten to the point where we've determined that our personal safety might hinge on being armed ourselves, so we are, almost always.

Think about the response to this; they long lined in SWAT. That's a serious military air assault tactic. Not exactly worth the value of a crop in comparison to scoring a couple Motorolas and a whole lot of attention.

People hear about things like this incident and start wondering if it wouldn't be prudent to slip that 9mm into some nook or cranny in the bottom of their pack, just in case.