10-Ring

As the OP I appreciate everyone's comments. In the situation that triggered my questions there were actually two "offenders" present. The father was the aggressor and his grown son remained in his truck. This has gotten me to thinking that holstering the weapon is a bad idea. I'm familiar with the father/son duo and they are known as local trouble makers and law enforcement is aware of them and they have had problems with them as well. So say that you have to shoot the father but the son remains in the truck. As long as he remains in the truck and does not present himself as a threat I'm not going to shoot him. But I'm also not going to holster my weapon. I would send instruction for whoever is calling 911 to state that there has been a self defense shooting and one of the offenders is still alive and being held at gunpoint. I know that this is a stretch of the truth but it would let the police officer know that I will have my gun in hand when he arrives. I realize that the officer is likely to draw his gun on me when he arrives but I should be okay as long as I don't point it in his direction. May even be able to put it on the ground as he is pulling up. We are dealing with aggressive irrational hillbillies out here, you never know what they might do.

Not sure of the brand of holster that I'm using Dolomite as it doesn't say anywhere on the holster. Same style as the one you have there, and it seems to work well. That's a good looking holster you have there by the way.

I recommend carrying all the time of course but especially when staying in remote cabins. A few years ago my brother and I and a few friends stayed at a cabin in Gatlinberg that was off of the beaten path. I was on the couch in the front room when my brothers car alarm went off around 4 am. I figured a stick must have fallen on it or something. About that time he came down the stairs yelling and telling me to get up because the only way to set the alarm off was by lifting the door handle. There are crooks in the area for sure that pillage off of careless vacationers that leave doors unlocked. When you figure that there is a local meth problem as well (Yeah they don't buy billboards and advertise that fact) there is no way I would stay at some of those locations unarmed. That said my family stayed at one of those deals I refer to as a log house subdivision a few years ago. The rental cabins are privately owned but managed by what could be compared to a super strict HOA. They had a strict no weapons policy on all of their property, my family did not stay there again. Yall can have Gatlinberg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville. I'm going to stay on the other side of that range where it is nice and quiet.

We've all heard it time and time again, "Wear a good belt, it will make carrying more comfortable." I always figured my leather belt made by Dickies, that I've been wearing for the last 10 years was good enough. Seems I've always had issues with guns that aren't supposed to feel heavy, feeling heavy, my hip usually hurts by the end of the day as well. A Glock 27 was even uncomfortable to carry for a whole day. So, the other day I ordered a Blackhawk riggers belt and I can't believe the difference. I got it off of Amazon and paid $25 for it shipped. I literally forgot the gun was there for most of the day. I usually take my weapon out of the holster and put it on a shelf when I get home because it has been irritating the crap out of me for hours. Today I felt like a could walk around for another 10 hours without it bothering me. Thing has a 7,000 lb tensile strength as well so I guess I'm wearing a tow strap if I need one. Money well spent for me, if you haven't gotten yourself a good belt yet do yourself a favor and pick one up.

Right on Whiskey! Last three hogs I saw go down were to a 9mm (2) and a .223. Two of them dropped on the spot and one made it a few yards before collapsing. I wouldn't pick either of those calibers to go hunt hogs but that's what was handy when the hogs gave themselves up and they worked fine.

I've been fascinated by this term since I first heard it when I was in my mid 20's. First time that I ever heard it was in Cookeville, TN, but I didn't hear it often there. I grew up in Middle TN and never heard the term at all. Now I live in East Tennessee and spend a good amount of time in Western NC, it is spoken regularly in these locations.

Good info, I don't want to go into a lot of detail but I work in a remote area without cell service or other means of contact. If something were to happen at work, then more than likely someone (possibly a stranger) would have to drive to an area where there is coverage and call it in. Therefore I would not have an opportunity to talk to dispatch myself. Also in my particular situation once the initial threat is eliminated I feel certain that the threat would be over unless the perp had someone else with them. I also know most of the local LEO and they know me so I do have that going for me, I still can't be too careful or count on that. They are aware of the dangers that I am facing and are aware that I carry (I carry open at work and have had several positive conversations with the LEOs.)

I have a friend that does the pre-paid legal thing as well. I think the issue that I would have with pre-paid legal is that they could send anyone to represent me. Much like my weapon of choice it is one of those things that I'm not looking for the most economical one out there, I'm looking for the best one out there. I'm a tight SOB but there are some things that smart people spend good money on. Guns and lawyers (if my butt could be going to prison) are two of those things.

An acquaintance of mine came very close to having to use his weapon recently and it has really got me to thinking. I want input on what measures need to be taken in the unfortunate event that someone needs to shoot another person in self defense. I've spent a lot of hours recently going over what happened to my buddy in my head and asking myself what I would have done. I'm a pretty logical person and of the mind set of "don't step out the front door unarmed" but thinking about this incident sometimes just gives me the chills and makes me feel very anxious, but I think that's just because what happened to him could have just as easily happened to me. Lawyers- Should all of us that carry have a lawyer in mind that we would have represent us? I'm thinking that this would be a great idea and also to carry your attorneys business card with you. If I had to shoot someone I think I would politely tell the detective when they arrive that I wish to speak to my attorney before speaking to him. It might even be a good idea to call the attorney before the police arrive? How can we find a good lawyer? I recently did business with a local attorney on something very minor, he does criminal law too but I would not want his goofy butt defending me in anything serious. Anyway, here is what I would do afterwards if I had to shoot someone in self defense. 1) Secure weapon so that it is not on my person when the police arrive. 2) Don't disturb anything that could be considered as evidence. I have no formal medical training, so I don't feel as if I could help my assailant if he is still alive. Thoughts on this? 3) Try to remain as calm as possible. 4) Contact attorney ASAP. 5) Make sure that I in no way appear threatening to the police when they arrive. 6) Don't discuss the matter until I have spoken with my attorney. I would appreciate any additional input. I'm just going with my gut on all of this and I'm not an expert so please feel free to tell me if any of these are dumb ideas.

Murgatroy, I also noticed in another thread that your scorpion appears to be professionally done. Most of the neck tats I see look pretty lousy. Seems that most of the tattooed people that I've come across that are trouble makers got their ink on Bubbas back porch while Bubba was working on his second case of PBR that evening if you know what I mean. I recall plenty of run ins with heavily tattooed people in another life that I lived but none of them had good ink, not a lot of thugs running around with quality work on their bodies for some reason???

Check out supercircuits.com they have a lot of DIY kits at decent prices where they will sell you everything that you need for a 4-5 camera setup or whatever you want. You should be able to tie in your DVR to your internet and view remotely as well.

I've had lots of negative interaction with people that had neck tattoos, I have yet to have positive interaction with such a person. I'm not saying that I would discount someone just because they had a tattoo on their neck, but I would proceed with caution. I don't consider it being closed minded I consider it to be taking into account previous life experiences.

I only mention these because no one else has and they are a lot closer to you than some of the other suggestions. I do admit that scenery wise these locations will be lacking when compared to your options on the East side of the state and, yes, I'm allowed to say that because the places that I suggest are where I stomped around growing up. My suggestions are Long Hunter State park and Cedar Forrest. Hunting will be a no no at Long Hunter but it is amazing how far away you can get from everything back there. I used to do overnighters backpacking and rarely saw other hikers. Cedar Forrest has tons of trails and you can hunt there. It is relatively flat as well.

Sounds like another good reason to just hold on to them. I realize that doesn't suit everyone though.

I've ran this scenario before, and have a plan, and a plan B. However anyone have advice for those of us that live in rural areas? I'm 15 miles from a police station and just about anything else. I had two guys (bear hunters) try to throw up a roadblock on me last year, which I fear a roadblock more than someone following me. Initially my plan if being followed is to just keep driving, however if I'm coming in from down and pass my house (I live on the main road that comes in from town) it's another 25 miles before I get to anything. Of course I always carry when I leave the house, and although I don't use cell phones I carry an old one to call 911 on if need be, not that it would do me much good with the coverage area out here.

I read the book "One Second After" lots of good info even though it's fiction. Imagine every single thing that you own which is electronic no longer works. That's how it is going to be. We will be living 150 years in the past but without the infrastructure that was available 150 years ago. It's some scary stuff, any one that hasn't read "One Second After" I highly recommend it.

Songs been out for a pretty good while, at least a year. I haven't seen the video yet though and don't know too much about Aaron Lewis. I hope he really is like the way he portrays himself in this video and not another Nashville sell out like pretty much the rest of country music. I liked the George Jones and Charlie Daniels Cameos. I caught CD's part on the radio but never noticed the Possum was featured in the song.

It would be just the thing for someone starting a prison sentence.

Here's a crash course...

I got that, but could it not be considered discrimination to deny the sale to someone such as Robtattoo, (hope you don't mind me using you as an example Rob) who is not a citizen but is in the country legally? What if, say it was an item that was less controversial to the general public such as a cheese burger. Are we going to tell Rob that he can't have a cheese burger because he was not birthed in America?

I wheel and deal from time to time and I've definitely thrown some low ball offers out there. I will not lowball without looking at something in person first, I don't even talk money until I go look at the item. When I do lowball it's because (or maybe sometimes I just tell them) that it really isn't what I want. For instance, if I'm looking at a vehicle I may say "We'll it's not in too bad a shape but it really isn't quite what I'm looking for. Plus that radiator is leaking and the tires are bald. I'm not sure how motivated you are to get this thing out of your yard but if you were interested I would be willing to give you "x" for it." I've had people take me up on my offer and I've had people politely decline. I never recall anyone's feelings getting hurt or anything. It's just business. On the mention of Craigslist, oh man I'm sick of it. I have a couple of vehicles for sale on there now, one being a motorcycle and the E-mails that I get are ridiculous. I think I've weeded out the real time wasters though by putting certain things in the ad. Motorcycles are so much worse to sell than cars because there are so many people out there that just want to take a joy ride. Therefore I put in all caps in any motorcycle add that I place "I WILL NOT MEET YOU ANYWHERE, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS BIKE YOU WILL HAVE TO COME TO ME." and "NO FREE TEST RIDES, NO ONE WILL RIDE THIS BIKE UNTIL I HAVE CASH IN HAND." Believe it or not this actually seems to work.

Just throwing this out there. From a legal perspective, since there is no law prohibiting the sale of ammo to non-residents, could the fact that Dick's will not sell ammo to non-residents be considered discrimination. I see no difference personally between what they are doing and saying "We won't sell ammo to people of certain ethnic backgrounds."

I hold doors and whatnot anytime I get the chance. A couple of years ago I had to wear a sling for a couple of months due to an injury. I was amazed at the kindness of strangers. I'm somewhat of a loner so I'm pretty independent but it can be a little tricky to manage with one arm, especially when you have things to carry. Numerous times people would jump ahead of me to get a door for me. The girl a Chik-Fil-A that took my order walked my order over to my table for me because she realized that it is hard to manage a try and a drink with one hand. The clerk at Kroger asked if he could take my groceries out to my car for me. It really made me feel good to live in rural East Tennessee, where courtesy is in fact not dead. Now Tennessee drivers on the other hand are a different story. It seems for most that once in the drivers seat Tennesseans care only about themselves.

I've been on NetFlix for a couple of years now. I live so far out that the only internet I can get is satellite and I have a 300mb per day limit. Therefore I'm keeping my fingers crossed that NetFlix keeps sending DVD's because there isn't much streaming going on here. I tried to put up an antenna but I can't even pick up air channels here. I don't have enough time to watch TV most of the year but I have a few slow months, I just can't justify satellite TV for those 2 months, so Netflix works great for me. I keep it at 2 discs at a time when I'm busy and when work slows down I splurge and do about 6 discs at a time.