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I know how people here love to think about the ideal way to defend yourself in strange situations so here’s one that came up at church today.
My friend is an “outdoor youth recreation specialist.” That’s a nice way of saying he takes juvenile delinquents camping out in the desert and tries to teach them to play nice.
Anyway… I told him about the time I ran into a group of those kids in the middle of nowhere in S. Utah and their guide asked me to camp about 5 miles away so they couldn’t come over to my camp and steal my stuff.
Apparently it is a real worry… He said one group had a kid slip out of camp, sneak several miles away to a group of campers they had passed earlier, and beat the hell out of some campers before he stole their car.
So…. What do you do if you’re fast asleep in your mummy bag when some runaway kid slips in to your tent and starts beating on you?
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
Hmmm, good one! We do work on defending while lying down sometimes, but we don’t usually use covers or even a sleeping back. I suppose if you happen to be camping a lot, you’d want to practice getting out of that thing fast, while covering your head.
You could also keep a gun or knife underneath the covers, so you can pull it out with one hand if a baddie should approach. Pepperspray could buy you some time to get out and up, but the spray may trickle back down if you spray it upwards at the attacker and could land on your face as well. You could also comply with an attacker’s demands until you can get out of the bag, then strike.
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GiantkillerRe: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
If a juvenile delinquent started beating me while I was in a sleeping bag, I think I could get out of the bag fast enough to return the favor.
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
quote Giant Killer:You could also keep a gun or knife underneath the covers, so you can pull it out with one hand if a baddie should approach.Funny thing… After a string of attacks in National Parks I started sleeping with a pocket knife “just in case.” Getting out of the sleeping bag would be almost impossible if somebody was beating on you but I think I could stab thru it.
quote CLFMak:If a juvenile delinquent started beating me while I was in a sleeping bag, I think I could get out of the bag fast enough to return the favor.You obviously haven’t spent a lot of time in a mummy bag.
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
I acquired a mummy bag a few years ago and have been using it on campouts and vacations and it is pretty warm, however I found that zipped up it was way to confining, especially across the shoulders (thanks to boxing type exercises in KM fitness).
I’ve taken to sleeping on a mat with the bag just half zipped up and it pulled around my upper body like a quilt/blanket. That would allow some defense with your arms.
Hopefully you would be waking up in time because of the noise of an attacker coming into the tent (through the door or cutting it open).
Any sort of dog in the campsite would probably help. A little one might work well as an alarm and be easier to manage and feed.
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
quote KMCat:I acquired a mummy bag a few years ago and have been using it on campouts and vacations and it is pretty warm, however I found that zipped up it was way to confining, especially across the shoulders (thanks to boxing type exercises in KM fitness).I have the same problem. This advice might be too late but you can find bags with good chest room if you know where to look. Western Mountaineering makes a good one and Big Agnes makes a few that are comfortable for guys with a coat size over 48.
quote Jeremy Stafford:I bought an RV……..Just lock the door!thumbsupI’d love one of those but most of the places I go are road-less or high clearance/high articulation 4×4 only.
On the other hand… I’ve seen the way my buddy packs for long backpacking trips and an RV shouldn’t be that much heavier than all the unnecessary crap he packs.
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
mmmm I’m assuming the way people are going to beat you is by trapping your body inside the sleeping bag in a full mount….
I would buck my hips up and push the guy up, at the same time hopefully that would create enough space to pull my hands out and start raining elbows to the crotch, quads, and rake thier face with my fingers. If I didn’t get my hands out I would continue to buck, shrimp and wiggle to create some space and probably give them my back so I could push up and over with my hands.
Dunno how that would all work out in reality but then again.. who does know eh?
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
quote Nixxon:I would buck my hips up and push the guy up, at the same time hopefully that would create enough space to pull my hands out…Therein lies the problem. A mummy bag zips closed to the point where only your face pokes out through a hole in the hood. If you’re in the middle of the desert at night and it’s colder than a well digger’s arse, you may even have the bag cinched up to the point where only your nose is poking out.
My Vote:
1- Buck
2- Put hands together (like you’re gonna dive in a pool or pray or something) and thrust up/out of the mummy bag.
3- Sweep
4- Stack
5- Escape guard
6- Hop backwards out of tent
7- Get out of sleeping bag
8- Run over attacker (still trapped in tent) with Jeremy’s RV.Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
If you carry a gun, you could shoot right through that thing without even sitting up, then go back to sleep and worry about the corpse in the morning…
But here’s a more pressing question: What if you are in a really remote area and are suddenly attacked by bigfoot? What if he carries you off to feed you to his tribe?
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GiantkillerRe: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
quote Giant Killer:If you carry a gun, you could shoot right through that thing without even sitting up, then go back to sleep and worry about the corpse in the morning…No good… I tend to wander in and out of National Park boundaries and those commie bastards don’t allow guns.
quote Giant Killer:But here’s a more pressing question: What if you are in a really remote area and are suddenly attacked by bigfoot? What if he carries you off to feed you to his tribe?Well… Then I’d have to blow my magic whistle and summon my unicorn so I could ride away.
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
quote DirtyHippieUte:No good… I tend to wander in and out of National Park boundaries and those commie bastards don’t allow guns. …Do they actually search your pack?
Re: Here’s one for you… Defense in a sleeping bag!
Obviously, there’s a demand for a mummy bag with built in footies so one could run away. I like the dog idea, but not everyone has one. Hmmm. I’m guessing most people don’t camp alone, is there a chance that if two people both had access to something like a bat that they could at least take care of one attacker? Unless it’s cold of course… I know what it’s like having to get out of one of those mummy bags in really cold weather and it would be a tough decision to go help or stay warm.
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