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Campgrounds are generally pretty safe places. I'd not recommend a gun unless you're an experienced law enforcement officer. Get a can of mace or something similar if anything. It's less apt to get you killed.
You don't need to be an experienced law enforcement officer to safely own and operate a gun. If that were a requirement to prevent getting killed, a whole lot of Americans would be dead. Do you know how much gun sales increased just during the time after Obama got elected? A lot. NRA made him their salesman of the year! Prices went through the roof, and gun shows in my town are still packed with people. Concealed carry classes are full too, and neither place is made up of experienced law enforcement officers. Far from it.
My answer is a resounding YES, have a gun, and that's for a male OR a female, especially camping in the middle of nowhere, to avoid the same helpless feeling as an intruder breaking into your home at night. 911 might take a little longer to respond in the 'boondocks.' Ya think? And if you fear being attacked by a bear, make it a .45, shotgun, or really good hunting rifle. Check state laws on possession for every state you drive through.
I think it would be even more fun if we had a travel trailer or Class C, so we could get into national forest spots. DH insisted on a 33' 5th wheel and the thing is just too tall to get into the forests and state parks around here. But it's not bad anyway, we've had good park neighbors so far.
People need to know what types of camp sites allow what types of vehicles and I'll bet RV salesmen aren't explaining this. They probably don't even know. That's one expensive mistake to make. Why would forests and state parks limit the heights of trailers any more than anywhere else? Why won't a 5er work?
I see 'DW' used to refer to a wife, and 'DH' to refer to a husband. If that's not a common abbreviation to avoid cursing, I sure have no clue what it is. (i.e. dang wife?, dang husband?).
You don't need to be an experienced law enforcement officer to safely own and operate a gun. If that were a requirement to prevent getting killed, a whole lot of Americans would be dead. Do you know how much gun sales increased just during the time after Obama got elected? A lot. NRA made him their salesman of the year! Prices went through the roof, and gun shows in my town are still packed with people. Concealed carry classes are full too, and neither place is made up of experienced law enforcement officers. Far from it.
My answer is a resounding YES, have a gun, and that's for a male OR a female, especially camping in the middle of nowhere, to avoid the same helpless feeling as an intruder breaking into your home at night. 911 might take a little longer to respond in the 'boondocks.' Ya think? And if you fear being attacked by a bear, make it a .45, shotgun, or really good hunting rifle. Check state laws on possession for every state you drive through.
Good post, but I must add that you should not rely on .45ACP for bear protection. A lot of people make the mistake thinking a .45ACP is sufficient for our very large black bears we have here in Oregon. The Coastal black bears can be over 400lbs, almost the size of grizzly bears. On another note, black bear attacks are not really a big problem here in Oregon. However, if you want a bear defense gun, a .44 Mag or hot .357 Mag load will suffice. Bear pepper spray is a valuable weapon to have for a person living on the road. It is useful for both human and animal defense.
Indeed, many gun saavy people are by far better and more experienced shooters than law enforcement officers. Long hours of gun training is not a requirement for law enforcement officers. THere is many people who put in much more range time than those in the LE field. It is a great misnomer by many brainwashed people that only police can be relied on for protection with a firearm. More police than not, are very happy that many law-abiding citizens are armed and trained with firearms, which helps reduce the amount of stress that are placed on officers. Without well-armed law abiding citizens, our police would have an overwhelming job. Look at cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Wash DC, were citizens are still stripped of their Constitutional rights.
Crime went down dramatically in my state when they passed concealed carry. I scored a perfect 250 on my range test, and don't have much range time at all, and hadn't fired in years. The class instructor, an ex police officer, said only approx. 5% of people in the classes make perfect scores, meaning all 50 rounds were within the innermost rings on the target. I was pretty proud of that, given my experience level, and the fact that I was using .380 pocket pistols that kept jamming. I just wasted my money on one and would barely anymore trust that thing to save my life than a baseball bat. Someone told me, 'get a Glock, they never jam.' The whole experience turned me off to semis, and I'll prolly use the pistol as backup to something else. But I really wish I hadn't bought it. It was slightly comforting to learn that few people buy their first semi and it's exactly what they want. I'm going to look at that Colt .45 or whatever the one is that fires the skinny shotgun shells. I don't know if it'll stop the bear, but it'll sure stop a rapist.
Btw, I heard in the class that more and more states are recognizing and accepting concealed carry permits of other states. One state in the northern mid-west, I forget which one, either Wis, Minn, N. or S. Dakota, passed a law that said, "If your home state has such a law and you're qualified to carry it there, bring it on, we'll honor it." Gotta love that. They may not even have their OWN such law. Can you imagine being legal in a state where the states own residents aren't legal? I may be mistaken on that last part, but I know you didn't have to re-qualify in their state if you're from out of state. From what I hear, a LOT of states are adopting such policies.
Sax, I have had perfectly good revolvers lock up on me. Contrary, to what many think, revolvers jam up more than people think. The main reason for malfunctions with semis is because people don't probably maintain and lube them. Also, using junky ammo could be another reason. I'd rather have my S&W M&P 9mm with 17rds then a 45 LC revolver as a defense weapon. The 9mm round has been proven more effective against humans then the lighter 45LC cowboy loads. The very hot 45LC loads can be as hot as a 44 Mag and have over-penetration issues. I'd advise against the .410 shells in a handgun. All those will do is p1ss off an attacker even more. They are very ineffective.
Sax, I have had perfectly good revolvers lock up on me. Contrary, to what many think, revolvers jam up more than people think. The main reason for malfunctions with semis is because people don't probably maintain and lube them. Also, using junky ammo could be another reason. I'd rather have my S&W M&P 9mm with 17rds then a 45 LC revolver as a defense weapon. The 9mm round has been proven more effective against humans then the lighter 45LC cowboy loads. The very hot 45LC loads can be as hot as a 44 Mag and have over-penetration issues. I'd advise against the .410 shells in a handgun. All those will do is p1ss off an attacker even more. They are very ineffective.
Mod Note:
Ummmmm, this isn't the Gun forum, guys............and sax6272 has been recalled to under his bridge so he won't be responding.
As someone that has spent winters in an 18' travel trailer (that has kept it's value after 3 years) I can say that it can be done and fairly comfortably done at that. Yes many RV parks are expensive and most national and state parks charge nightly use fees commensurate to the services available. If you stay for a week or a month, you often get breaks on the rates. There is always the Wally World parking lot but that is a destination of last resort IMO.
I commented in our first year of part timing it that we very rarely saw lone women traveling in RVs and that observation still stands. Part of the reason is social conditioning. Part is finding kindred spirits on the road as most of us are families or couples over age 50. Another part of the reason of course is the mechanical requirements of those motorhomes or trailers. If things break it is costly to repair. Shop hours are exorbitant and many automotive repair places won't touch them. Certainly AAA and Good Sam roadside assistance programs are helpful to the non-fixer but it makes sense to possess rudimentary skills to maintain your rolling home. Self assess your willingness and ability to learn and do that kind of work.
I won't get into the gun debate other than to say that we don't have one and have never felt the need to acquire a gun but I am also an extremely aware person and we tend to move on if I sense trouble and we also tend not to be in isolated camping spots to become a target of opportunity. That position may change in the future, but going regularly through Canada, a gun is a liability for us at this point. I'm not against guns, I just think that to get a gun because you are afraid of what might happen makes it a reactionary purchase and such fear before spending a night on the road argues against the whole going out on your own adventure IMO. Be safe, be smart, be prepared but be sure that you are comfortable with your choices.
If you feel the need to get a gun, be sure that you get good training so that you know how to properly use it. Training will also lessen the chance that it will be a liability that is used against you instead of an asset in a pinch. As for protection, many parts of the RV and the RV itself is or can become a weapon in a worst case scenario if you think in advance about it.
Whatever you decide, the best of luck to you.
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