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I really need to take the cert class. I wonder if they would accept my experience in the Marine Corps Martial Arts program which teaches baton? If I was gonna carry one, I'd find a good quality flat sap. They can be very useful, turn it sideways and it can be used to "knife" into muscle to find pressure points and loosen up joints, while a good resounding smack can disable an arm or knock someone out. Before cell phones became as popular and laundry mats died out, I've seen and have carried a homemade sap. It's a large leather bag with a tail on it. The leather is super thick and sized to hold about 6 dollars in quarters. The tail would be 6-8" of thick flat leather and you tucked it behind your belt to keep it secure. I carried one for awhile and explained it as emergency phone money, or on a trip it was laundry money. Looks like Fred Perrin is selling them now. It's pretty much a more public friendly version of the lock in a sock. http://szaboinc.com/freed_perrin/perrin-self-defense-wallet/ Sent from behind the anvil

Self defense training is one of those things that takes time and dedication beyond what most people will afford it. My dad has been in Judo, Hapkido and Taekwondo since the very early 1980's. He has taught for several years now. I grew up in the school, earning my black belts and eventually teaching along side him. Most people will not go more than 6 months. We had many who couldn't mantain even a 2 day a week commitment for 6 months. Some will stay long enough to get their first black belt, which is about 4 years. But I can count on both hands the number who have stayed long enough and tried hard enough and trained with the intensity to actually learn it, mold it and be able to use it with the same insintict as breathing. For most modern Americans they are already running on overload as far as events classes and hobbies, so no matter how useful they can't make time for another one. It takes dedication. I've been working 7 -12's for weeks, and been extremely busy for a long time, but twice a week or more I find time to practice. You just need to find those who are as dedicated as you are. Sent from behind the anvil

Sent from behind the anvil

My family was never a big gun family, but I got a few that mean the world to me. I've got my maternal Grandfather's Remington .22 bolt action that I inherited as a kid, and I've got my paternal Grandfather's Winchester .22 bolt action. Both of those are from the 30's and have killed unknown thousands of squirrels, coons, possums and hogs. My most prized is the Winchester Model 12 12 gauge pump that was my paternal Grandfathers. It was bought new in the 1920's by him, stolen by his brother, he recovered it and pressed charges so the man spent a year in jail, then passed to my dad and finally to me. Heirloom guns will always be treasured by family. Sent from behind the anvil

Thanks man that means a lot. I try my best to make stuff meant to be used and abused and come back for more. You might work with GT or Sybo. I do all my own forging and I'm not comfortable working with some else's damascus because it can be hard to heat treat due to the variables in each bar, and I don't have the skill yet to make damascus I'm comfortable selling with my name on it. And I don't really do pretty display type either. Most of my blades are big, forge finish, rustic stuff made for camping, hunting, and general heavy use. And it's gotten to the point that I work my regular job 80 hours a week (7 - 12's) so I rarely have time to get in the forge. I take special orders but they are one a case by case basis. I'd love to have the funds to go full time but it's gonna be awhile yet Sent from behind the anvil

It being an open top is one of the draws. That way I can cruise in the summer with the wife and the top off. She refuses to ride a motorcycle with me, and I don't blame her one bit. From what I can find, the D44 was an option if the 30" tire package was. Of course at this point your talking vehicles with huge aftermarket support that tend to be bought by people who love to tinker with stuff, so it's not a suprise at all to find D44 in Jeeps that came factory with D35's. Sent from behind the anvil

Must be the city dwelling. I've seen several foxes and coyotes live around my house, but none dead. I ride a motorcycle everywhere and tend to notice road kill. Hitting a swollen 20 lb coon in a car is bad. It exploding all over your motorcycle is so much worse....... I do see tons of coons, possum and skunk though. I do think a lot of foxes moved into the city life for easier food sources. Sent from behind the anvil

Off road in will be limited to very light trail riding as long as it's a daily driver. If I want to beat on it to bad I've got a high Pinon Dana 44 and a Ford 9" in the garage with 5:13 gears and spools in them I could probably stuff under one lol. I'll make sure to check the top. Mall crawler is define try the one I want, I don't need some bodies beat to death headache. I feel pretty confident checking one over, I'm ASE certified, just wanted to make sure there wasn't Jeep only stuff to watch for. Thanks for all the replies everyone, I'll update this thread when I finally do make the purchase, even if it is down the road some. Sent from behind the anvil

As far as I know, there has never been an ND of a carry weapon. It is always something a vendor has lying on a table, zip tied up and "cleared". Failure one is the firearm wasn't cleared when it was put on the table, either due to carelessness or laziness. Then Joe Smith ask to remove zip tie to check trigger action, vendor cuts it off and hands weapon. Failure two is the vendor fails to clear firearm before handing to customer. Customer grabs firearm. Failure 3 is customer assumes it is cleared and doesn't verify. He then points weapon, and squeezes off a shot. So far every ND I have seen there, the firearm was at least pointed in a safe direction and a small caliber. I quit going before it was a .357 mag or 5.56 and was pointed into the crowd. I have no sympathy for unsafe gun handling. There is no excuse for it. The vendor needs to be booted, and always has been to my knowledge, and the one who shoots it off does as well. And I agree, if you aren't responsible enough to handle a firearm safely, then you don't need to carry one. Though I disagree strongly with the entire permit system and believe it's a constitutional right to carry anything I please any way I want to carry it. But a policy banning CCW isn't gonna stop that type of ND, especially not when vendors are just given a stack of zip ties and told to clear and secure their own weapons. Sent from behind the anvil

I will say I haven't seen a coyote, bobcat or fox dead on the road ever that I can remeber, nor do I know anyone who has hit one, but I see both coyotes and red foxes with regularity and bobcats 2 to 3 times a month. I know they exist, I have trapped, hunted or treed all 3 of them at one time or another. I'm not saying there's a large population of mountain lines or pantsrs here, but I do believe people see them with some regularity and there will always be some liqured up redneck who wants to kill a predator or any animal that is trying to be left alone, and will use any excuse to do so. Sent from behind the anvil

Rereading my reply, I realize I made it sound like that is a good reason for the policy to apply. I actually was just commenting on the fact that it is probably a knee jerk policy to try and stop ND's. I think the policy probably actually increases them because people begin to assume every firearm is unloaded and will squeeze a trigger without checking to see if a round is chambered. They think the vendor has cleared every firearm, and while they should, the ultimate responsibility lies with the person holding the firearm to clear it again and ensure its safe before handling. And no firearms unloaded policy will ever take the place of personal responsibility and safe handling practices. Sent from behind the anvil

Drag a junk car out there and use it to simulate firing from inside a vehicle. Warning, wear double hearing protection and good glasses. Firing a firearm inside a vehicle, even with the above mentioned equipment, is one of the most violent thing I have ever done to my senses. The pressure is insane. But it'll give you an idea of firing from a seated postion, possibly through barriers like a windshield. Then get a couple piece of plywood and cut holes at different heights and angles. Practice shooting urban prone, kneeling, standing and around both sides and all the variants you can think of for all postions. Sent from behind the anvil

Came home, made on adjustment to let the chest strap out and it fit like a glove. I love that it's adjustable enough for me to wear comfortably at 6'1" and 250 lbs with a 52" chest, and my Dad can wear it at 5'10" and 165 lbs, and it doesn't look odd It's for that reason and the superior quality and craftsmanship of GjohnsonIV that I went custom. It's almost impossible to get exactly what I want from a production rig, and to get it with this level of detail for the money is unheard of. Sent from behind the anvil

As stupid as it is not to be able to carry there, they have had, and continue to have, negligent discharges at every show. I no longer attend them, partly due to that reason. I went pretty steady as a vendor a couple years ago and it seemed someone was always letting a round loose from an "unloaded gun". People consistently ignore basic firearms safety rules, especially about treat every gun as if it were loaded, and keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you intend to fire. Between the ND'S and the fact that it is far more wool socks, trashy flea market knives, and seasoning packets than actual guns, I wouldn't set foot in a gun show unless I needed reloading supply from David (aka dlm). Sent from behind the anvil

I stop at the gas station about 1/4 mile away and stow it in my vest pocket. When I get there I lock my colors in my locker and keep my mouth shut. If I had lockable hard bags I would lock it in them but for now I'm willing to risk it staying unseen. I really hate disarming for work, and this is the only job I ever have disarmed for, but since a lot of my work is around die casting furnaces with 1600 degree molten aluminum, and accidents do happen I can see why they would prefer a loaded firearm not be anywhere near the equipment. We also aren't allowed to carry any kind of BIC style light, and drink cans and bottles are specifically forbidden since a water bottle going in the furnace could level the building. No, just a body strap. It was part of the reason I liked te M7 design, it was a streamlined as possible. Yeah my wife is a UT fan...... but we all have our flaws so I still love her. Sent from behind the anvil

They coming right for us!!!: https://youtu.be/Nt6kKhlX8vU Sent from behind the anvil

So since I ride a motorcycle year round unless there is snow on the road, and I ride with a club so I'm alays wearing a vest, I decided a shoulder holster may be the best method of carry. I knew I wanted leather, so that ruled out the cheap nylon rigs. I liked the look of the M7 style, but to get what I needed I had to go custom. GjohnsonIV here on TGO knocked it out of the park. He is a good friend and I have had several different leather items of his, and he is only getting better. He made a great looking rig, that fits perfect with lots of adjustment. Let me tell you, there is almost no shoulder rigs out there for a 52" chest but this one fits like a glove. I love this rig and it's going to see plenty of use. It's built for a Glock 17, though I'll have to wait until my wife brings it back from Atlanta, since she took it as her carry gun this weekend, to carry it in this rig. Sent from behind the anvil

I'm gonna sit back and wait. My credit is rebuilding, I finally have a good job with good income, and am up to date on everything so now it's just a waiting game. Which let's me build a bigger down payment while I wait. Sent from behind the anvil

I work in a factory making machine cast Toyota parts. We use a ton of automation, and even with the multimillion dollar budget we have, those autonomous machines require constant supervision and overwatch. We have robots that move parts around and out the 8 robots in my area I have to reset, home out or reboot one or more every night. Automation has a long way to go before I trust it enough to be able to drive in a mixed group of autonomous and human driven cars in an open and changing environment safely. Sent from behind the anvil

Ended up not getting either of them. The black one had a Dana 44, full bolt in cage, skids, rock sliders, etc. I couldn't get the finacing together one either one, so I guess it's back to square one Sent from behind the anvil

This is where I'm at. I don't think the resturant should ask them to leave, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Plenty of beat cops only do the bare minimum to qualify with a handgun, and I'm guessing for Parole and corrections officers it's not stressed anywhere near as much. So why does a person carrying a badge have a right to carry a firearm there, but I can't. I've done my time on the two way range and have plenty of time and training behind both a pistol and a long gun. I guess it's a pointless argument anyways, I'm not spending money anywhere that refuses my right to carry a firearm. Sent from behind the anvil

This is one of the big reasons I look more at a home steadiness view than a bug out view. Learning and living a life style where these conditions can be dealt with a is a life.long experince. That's why I farm with horses, blacksmith with limited power tools, and listen when my old man teaches me how to build a log cabin, plant by the signs, read the weather, can vegetables, kill and cure meat and all the other skills lost over time. It can be done, but most people will be lost without their smartphone and a flushing toliet. Sent from behind the anvil

I'll check the rear ends. Metal plug is D44 if I remeber right. I'll go over the cooling system closely I try to do that any time I look at a 4x4. Detailer usually miss the stuff caked under it unless they are extremely detailed in their work. I used to see a 4x4 as a toy when I was in high school, but since I've gotten older a 4x4 has become a necessity for work in bad weather. Yeah jeeps seem to have a lot in common with motorcycles in that regard. They all have quirks. Traveling isn't really feasible due to my job schedule (6 12's, and Sunday more often than not) and I need to go through a dealer so I can trade my truck in for a down payment. I know some here won't buy a vehicle without paying cash, but my current situation doesn't allow me to get a vehicle without financing, and I would be better off trading the Dodge for what I can get and using it as a down payment rather than dealing with the hassle of selling it pvt party and using a cash down payment. We had a rough streak the last few years and I lost my good credit due to some mistakes on my part, so we are now in the rebuilding stage. Sent from behind the anvil

So I'm going to look at a couple of jeeps tomorrow. I've owned one jeep, a 76 Cherokee on 35's when I was in high school but that's the limit of my Jeep knowledge and they have changed a lot since the days of 401 AMC motors and quadratrac transfer cases. I'm fairly mechanical and have worked on lots of cars, I just need to know if there are specific things to look for. The two I am going to look at are a 2000 Sahara, 5 speed, 4.0 liter, small lift, bigger tires, 132k miles. The other is a 2003 X wrangler,,5 speed, 4.0 liter, small lift, 33" tires, 122k miles. Anything specific to Jeeps I need to be on the lookout for mechanically? I'm looking to replace my completely worn out 2000 Dodge Dakota 4x4 so they will be used as daily drivers anytime I'm not on the motorcycle, and due to the nature of my job and the attendance policy, being able to travel to work in bad weather is a must. We were required to come in even in the worst of the ice storms in February, the plant never closed. So something capable and dependable are at the top of the list. Sent from behind the anvil

Wells full of water. Renewable food in the form of a garden, game, hogs, chickens, goats and cattle. Draft animals to farm and for transport. Blacksmith shop for repair work and barter material. Heavily built log cabins miles away from population centers that would take one hell of a pounding. Resourceful family full of survivors at my back. I'll take my chances at the fort. I was born and raised on that land, just like my daddy and his daddy, and back past the civil war. Seems like just as good a place to die as any if it comes to that. Sent from behind the anvil