Safety Question

[straps]

Great.  I was NOT going to visit Bud (my new-to-me Class C) today.   It's in storage and I go almost every other day to check it out - slowly putting stuff in it for when I move in -- - - etc.

BUT now I feel compelled to go and see for myself.    I have an Emergency Exit?     :huh:     I did not know that.

 

[Stuck]

I just checked the folding handle on my RV. It could be forced, but not without some damage to the door and possibly the side of the trailer.

Both escape windows are on the driver side. one five feet above the ground and the other seven feet. The window frame and safety latches are guaranteed to rip flesh as you exit.

We camped in BLM and NF land for several months in 1974/75. Unless I had large and potentially aggressive dogs I would never park out of sight and sound of another camper again. One person's prank is another person's nightmare. At one place we were ten miles from nowhere. Some locals thought it would be funny to pull the door handle of our camper at 2AM. I turned their prank into their nightmare when I opened the door and emptied a clip of ammo into the woods and shouted that I was coming after them. After that we never camped alone.

 

[lenny flank]

 I opened the door and emptied a clip of ammo into the woods 

Okaaaayyyyyyyyyyy..................................................................................

 

[Stuck]

They don't know you are aiming high.

 

[lenny flank]

Some people should not have firearms.

 

[Stuck]

Most people should not have firearms.

 

[rm.w/aview]

I wonder if aiming very low would be better than aiming high, those rounds wound up somewhere.

 

[lenny flank]

I wonder if aiming very low would be better than aiming high, those rounds wound up somewhere.

I do believe that firing randomly and blindly to try to 'scare' someone, is illegal in every US jurisdiction.

I will leave it to others to explain to this dude why what he did was spectacularly and jaw-droppingly stupid, since others will likely be more polite about it than I would be.

 

[rm.w/aview]

Yeah, I was being polite as well. Stray rounds in the city cause people to sleep in the tub, but in open country? And since he was missing while announcing his location, that resembles a target to some folk.

 

[highdesertranger]

shooting blindly is NEVER a good idea. always know where your bullet is going. never pull the trigger unless you know your bullet is going to land in a safe location. even a .22 travels 1.5 miles. highdesertranger

edit, Lenny is right unless your life is in immediate danger firing or even brandishing a weapon is against the law in most locations.

 

[Stuck]

I probably could have explained the situation with a little more clarity.

First, we did not know at the time that it was a prank. My wife and two year old boy spent the rest of the night in crouched in terror on the floor of the camper. I spent the night in some bushes with the rifle in case they came back. As soon as it was light enough to see I hooked up the trailer and we left. When I got to town someone at the filling station said he heard we had been visited. I told him it wasn't funny. He said it was just a prank. Again, would any of you think it funny?

Second, when I said ten miles from nowhere it wasn't hyperbole. Aiming high posed no threat to anyone or anything. Aiming low was more likely to harm the visitors from ricochet as the ground was quite rocky.

Third, and I cannot stress this enough, people who live on BLM/FS lands are frequent targets of harassment and abuse from locals. I saw it working as a police officer. I saw it working on FS land. I saw it hunting on FS land. "Messing with Gypsies" is not a thing of the past.

Sorry for the depressing rant. I'm not new to rubber tramping, nor to the violence directed at innocent people such as yourselves. Please be careful.

 

[lenny flank]

Whooooosh.

Am I to understand that you used to be a POLICE OFFICER...... and you were firing blindly into the woods.......?

Alright, I am going to leave my computer and go take a walk and count to a hundred ............

 

[Stuck]

I can see that I opened up a can of worms. Lenny, you seem to be very good at presumption. I will leave it to you to pronounce judgement.

EDIT: It appears I have made myself unwelcome here. I will not bother you again.

 

[bob91yj]

Yikes, I can't imagine any scenario when capping off a few rounds, high or low is the proper response. As others have said, the bullet lands somewhere.

I generally look at the lay out of the area I'm camping in, but never with an eye to which direction is safe to shoot in.

When camping, the first two rounds of our .38/.357 are snake shot, if the noise and getting peppered with snake shot don't solve the problem, the next four rounds will.

 

[lenny flank]

> snake shot

Hold on now... as a longtime snakekeeper who used to make his living doing live reptile shows, I gotta object on behalf of my beloved snakies. Could you at least call it "rat shot".... since NOBODY likes rats......

 

[vantexan]

I've never understood why some feel they must have quick access to the driver's seat to get away. If a psycho with a weapon is outside he's not going to stand around while you make your way to the front. It's an illusion of safety but in reality if someone wants to do you harm you're in a vulnerable position sleeping in any small rig. Best thing is to park in such a place that would make anyone breaking in very conspicuous. Or if you're in a really remote area it's highly unlikely you'll ever encounter another human roaming around after dark. More likely will attract animals attracted to the scent of food. If I were going to get a weapon it would be a shock device of some sort like a taser. Stay quiet, wait until they break in, zap them, then drive off. Chances are you'll never have to use it, but if you do you at least won't be killing someone.

 

[B and C]

If they are invading my home with me and/or others inside, they will be dead.
Darwin award winner if they want to break in while a vehicle is occupied.

 

[lenny flank]

I still prefer a W-88 warhead with a 200kt yield. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[rm.w/aview]

^ Absolutely, prolly nothin' like pissin' off a grizzly with a .32 six shooter

 

[A Savage Adventure]

I can see that I opened up a can of worms.  Lenny, you seem to be very good at presumption.  I will leave it to you to pronounce judgement.
EDIT:  It appears I have made myself unwelcome here.  I will not bother you again.

I am very dismayed at the direction this thread went. Even when I first mentioned the potential issue with the handrail it was taken lightly. Having been a security guard as well as having run a security business and installed security and surveillance systems, I have seen people do some really bad things. My concern was genuine and I'm sure that to Stuck, his was as well.

You can't know how you would react in a situation until you've been in it. I may have done the same thing if someone started trying to yank my RV door open in the middle of the night. Being startled like that puts you into fight or flight mode. Your adrenaline spikes and you react sometimes more than you think. But the desire to protect yourself and your family is usually there.

You may disagree with how he reacted. But you weren't there. You didn't experience what he did. It's easy to judge him now after he realized what happened and that it wasn't a big deal. But at the time it was very real to him and his family and he could have just as easily shot them. 

I remember there used to be a show on TV called, "Scare Tactics" where friends would have the show prank their friends. I remember one episode where a guy in a mask wielding an axe busted into the room and went after the "target". I remember thinking about how many "prankster" friends I have and how badly that would have ended with me. Because in that episode, if I were the target, the "actor" with the mask and axe would have been dead. I would have shot him before he got halfway across the room. And it was just a prank.

Perception is reality, people. You can't judge someone for fearing for their life and taking action that you may have taken yourself in the same situation. I'm not going to say any more on this subject. But we've made a veteran, former police officer, former college instructor, and retired mechanical engineer feel unwelcome and that is disheartening. I myself will be more careful about what I say in light of this.