If you are serious about protecting yourself and your family, it’s time we got down to the nitty gritty of the hardware involved and the serious considerations that go into deciding what makes for practical personal defense kits
by Paul G Markel
I’m torn between being envious of the new gun owner today and feeling pity for them at the same time.
Allow me to elaborate.
When our dear editor asked me to take on the topic of building a practical or no-nonsense kit for home and/or personal defense, I began to consider what is available today versus what was available when I was a young man with a wife and a new baby.
It has been better than three decades since I fit the description of “newlywed.” When I started the journey to being a member of the gun culture, there was no internet, thank the Lord, and the go-to “auto pistol” was the M1911A1. If you really wanted to be unique, a P35 Browning Hi-Power of some sort was a solid choice. Yes, Smith & Wesson had just released their 3-digit autos. If you had a lot of money, and some luck finding one, you could get yourself an HK P7 “squeeze-cocker.” At that time, as many police departments still issued 6-shot DA revolvers as did not, so “wheel guns” were plentiful and common.
Today, the amount of guns and accessories available to the American gun buyer is nearly mind boggling. Social media is a constant bombardment of the “newest” and the “coolest” gun, gadget, gear, et cetera. How is a person supposed to sort hype from reality or fact from fiction regarding what is genuinely needed for personal and home defense?
A Sensible Family Sedan
When you are young, single, and generally broke, you want a cool car. (Well, we used to want that…maybe young people today just want a PS5 and a beanbag in their mom’s basement.) My point is, when I was young and shopping for a car, practicality and sensibility were the furthest things from my mind. I wanted something cool — a car that someone else might envy.
As we grow up and mature, though, we realize the things that are “slick” or “cool” are more often than not costly toys. I went through a short motorcycle phase before I got married. Nonetheless, for a young man with a limited income, a wife, and small child, a motorcycle was an impractical form of transportation and little more than an expensive toy.
Once you mature, before you buy a new vehicle, you learn to first consider just what it is that you expect to do with that vehicle. It makes no sense to buy a two-seater sports car when you are starting a family. This is how I want you to approach your personal and home defense kit.
Before you spend a dollar on guns and gear, you need to have that honest conversation with yourself and consider, “For what reason am I buying this?” That moment of mature introspection will save you considerable money and frustration. Should you spend $1,999 on the newest Gucci blaster that all the Instagram models are fawning over, or should you spend $500 on a solid, though not sexy, gun and spend the rest of the money on sensible and practical accessories?
Begin with the Fundamentals
Many years ago, likely at least ten by now, we at Student of the Gun received regular inquiries centered around, “What should I be carrying for self-defense?” or, “What gear is realistic for home protection?” That is when I came up with the idea of the Fundamental Four and wrote the first article explaining why I chose Lethal, Sharp, Bright, and Medical.
I believe that our time will be best spent here examining each of these categories and asking the previously posed question regarding, “What do I plan to do?” That will help us sort out the realistic and practical from the Instagram hype.
Lethal
By lethal, we are talking about a lethal force instrument such as a firearm. The size and configuration of that firearm will depend upon the honest answer to the “what” question. For instance, if the answer to the “what” question is “home defense only” then you do not need to worry about concealment. That means a handgun does not need to be lightweight and compact. A firearm kept in the home need not be “subcompact” or “easy to conceal” as the marketing for so many modern pistols promote; however, if your answer to the question is “at home and away” then you have other things to consider.
One of the errors that new gun buyers make when purchasing a home defense handgun is that they apply the concealed carry criteria to it. Full-sized handguns have less felt recoil and are far easier to hold and shoot than the compact and subcompact varieties. It would be silly to choose a Canik METE MC9 subcompact for home defense when the METE SFT 9mm is much easier to shoot/control and holds more ammunition.
Additionally, there is a subcategory to the “what” question, and that would be “who?” If you are answering the “what” question for yourself only, the choice will be a bit simpler. If the answer to the “who” question is my spouse, my older children, or other responsible adults in the household, now you have more factors to consider.
You might be an 8th Level Grand Wizard with a 2011 Open-Class race gun, but what about the other people in your household who may be called upon to defend it? I had a friend who loved to hunt deer with his six-inch barreled S&W Model 29. The man had killed many whitetail deer in the field with the big .44 Magnum handgun and had supreme confidence with it. And so, for his home defense gun, he kept that same revolver staged in a brown leather holster rig… “just in case.”
While I have no doubt that any home invader would depart in a body bag were he to encounter my friend so armed with the Model 29 S&W, that same man’s wife was all of 5′ 3″ and tipped the scales at about 110. She was also not a “gun person” and only fired guns when her sportsman husband dragged her to the range. Were my friend at work or away and his wife was required to grab the “home defense gun,” how much confidence and capability might she have with that? During one conversation, my pal admitted that he got her to shoot the Model 29 one time. She fired a single shot, handed it back to him and said she did not enjoy the experience.
Men, you cannot be home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If your wife or older children (my kids had all attended Fighting Pistol when they were 16 years old) have to defend the castle, they need a gun in which they have confidence and can use with proficiency.
Sharp
When I was a boy, I learned, through the examples of the men in my life that, as a man, you carry a pocketknife. I can recall seeing my father’s pocketknife on his dresser next to his wallet and wristwatch. My maternal grandfather loved camping and boating. I would venture to say that every time we were out on an adventure, I’d see him reach into his pocket for the folding knife he habitually carried.
It saddens me to encounter adult humans with XY chromosomes walking around without a knife on their person. Where did we, as a society, fail these people? A sharp knife is an absolute imperative for mature humans to possess. For thousands of years, humans understood that fact and then we all started carrying mobile phones and lost that understanding.
Going back to the “Sensible Family Sedan” model, when it comes to the sharp category, we are generally discussing the use of a knife as a utility or emergency/rescue type of tool. If the answer to the “what” question is utility and emergency/rescue, then a Fairbarn/Sykes Commando dagger is not going to be sensible or practical. Neither would be the USMC Ka-Bar fighting knife that I toted when I was a Marine.
For decades, I have fluctuated between carrying a Spyderco folding knife or a Cold Steel folding knife any time I am fully clothed. Both are extremely reliable, high-quality brands with razor sharp blades and handles of polymer, aluminum, or some type of lightweight carbon. In case you don’t have proper training, keep in mind that a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife. You use less force to cut with a sharp knife and you will treat a sharp knife with respect.
Bright
As humans, we spend approximately half of our lives in the dark. Yes, we sleep through a good portion of that, but we go outside in the dark and spend much time in places where the sun doesn’t shine through. If you are in a building and the power goes out, it gets dark fast, doesn’t it?
At least two decades ago, I recall my friend Massad Ayoob relating in a magazine article how airport security questioned him regarding the Surefire flashlight he was carrying. “Why do you have that?” the security person asked accusingly. “So when that plane crashes on the runway I can light my way to the exit and get out.” Mr. Ayoob replied. According to Mas, the man did not wish to have a further conversation regarding airline safety and passed him through.
Surefire and Streamlight have been in competition for the #1 maker of tactical/practical flashlights since the 1990s. When it comes to EDC, a light that is eight inches long and weighs a pound is not one that you will ever carry on your person. There are numerous models and styles that are very bright, 200 plus lumen, but only weigh a few ounces and will clip into your pocket for instant access. If the flashlight is just for home use, it doesn’t need to be compact.
There are other brands than the ones mentioned; however, beware the temptation to buy a cheap, Chinese-made $20 light. Keep in mind that the light you carry is not just for finding things under your car seats — it could be a tool that helps you escape a darkened building that is on fire.
Medical
Once more, I am saddened at the level of apathy that supposed mature adults have regarding the medical category. Thanks to Corporate America’s desire to have reduced insurance rates, most adults with full time jobs have gone through the Red Cross CPR/Heimlich course…many multiple times. While valid training, the CPR program also serves to deceive people into believing that they are now prepared to deal with traumatic medical emergencies.
I was an American Red Cross Family First Aid and CPR instructor before I became a Tactical Combat Casualty Care instructor. One of the biggest takeaways that we learned during GWoT was that the medical training we were giving troops in the early years of the war was inadequate — so much so that good men died who could have lived if their buddies had better training.
During my initial TCCC Instructor Course, our trainer stated emphatically, “We don’t do CPR on the battlefield.” Further explaining, he went on to help us understand that performing CPR on a “leaking patient” only makes them die faster.
The big injuries that will kill a patient before the professionals have time to arrive are massive hemorrhage (bleeding) and loss of airway. Last year, my son and I witnessed a multi-vehicle crash on an interstate highway. We responded to the scene and began assessing and treating the injured people. A state trooper arrived a few minutes later, but the first ambulance did not arrive until about 15 minutes after the crash. A person with a compromised artery in the arm or leg will bleed to irreversible shock in 3-5 minutes, depending on the severity of the injury. A completely severed femoral artery will kill you faster than that.
As a former police officer, I can testify from experience that high speed collisions often result in partial or complete amputation of limbs. If you don’t stop the bleeding NOW, there is nothing the paramedics will be able to do when they arrive in ten to fifteen minutes.
Returning once more to the “what” or the “where” questions, if you are considering an at-home kit, it can be as big as you want it to be. A large bag or backpack-sized kit is fine. If you are talking about EDC and having medical gear on your person all the time, no one is going to tote a big orange or red backpack into the grocery store, the shopping mall, or a restaurant. You need something more compact that still allows you to address traumatic medical emergencies.
Step one, you need to get into a traumatic first aid class to understand what you truly need and what is merely nice to have. Regardless of what you carry, the absolute minimum needs to be a tourniquet. The Rapid TQ is the most effective and easy to carry version out there.
The “Pocket Life Saver” kit was built to be compact enough to carry in a pocket, purse, et cetera every day, but it has enough gear to address the major injuries that can kill you or someone else before an ambulance shows up. Remember, the medical kit you carry might be used on YOU. How much is your life worth? How much are the lives of your spouse and children worth?
Wrap Up
That should give you plenty to consider for now. Yes, we are planning Part 2 for this discussion, where we will cover other areas such as long guns and kits that you might stage in vehicles. We’ll also cover what you might need if you are forced by circumstances to evacuate from your home and go to an unfamiliar area.
