ETA:  This is relative to going out of town or out of state, not jut going out around town.  If you are where you live, if you elect to have a rifle in the car it  won't be that hard to get it home probably.  I am talking about like if you are out of town, out of state and you have to get home by hook or by crook.

I travel away from home from work. Sometimes I take a rifle with me even when I fly. An AR 15 and a bunch of magazines. The idea is  that it will help me get home like if the s*** hits the fan..  

but the more I think about it the less likely it seems to be a possible benefit.  Of course, no one ever got into a gunfight and wished they had less gun, I get that.  but the shit hitting the fan is not the world as we know it coming to an end.  If it is TSHTF and you are not able to just drive back home, it seems that the rifle would have to be broken down and packed up so that it isn't accessible otherwise it will garner you lots of unwanted attention, particularly from LEOs, who would be out and about looking suspicious characters.

keeping a low profile is going to be worth the heck of a lot more than having a multi cam tactical vest and a rifle slung in most circumstances. I'm thinking I'm either going to be in a car where I'm going to need a very compact weapon or I'm going to be on foot/hitch hiking/bus where I need an extremely compact weapon that can be easily concealed and  kept in some state of readyness w/ a suppressor attached.  If I have to actually dischage a weapon, I sure dont' want everyone knowing about it.  I'm probably gonna want to scoot out of there on the DL if I am really pressed ot get back home.  So, I'm thinking more  of a PDW type weapon, not necessarily a armor piercing PDW, but probably a pistol caliber.

some pics of the pack that can carry a full size auto in teh fron tand a SMG in the back:


You can keep a full size handgun in the little pouch on the chest strap, or you can flip the sling pack around and  quickly grab a SMG or  whatever out of the back compartment, up to 23" long actually.  Also, you can put an armor plate in there.

here is a tactical tailor bag:


Though, that is not a fast access weapon w/ a suppressor mounted.

I'm thinking that having a Glock 17 with lots of magazines even some of those 33 round magazines and maybe one of those shoulder stacks or clam shell units that attaches to it will be a better alternative to an actual rifle or carbine..  or maybe like that Kel Tec unit that takes the block magazines or a carbine conversion unit or whatever.  this would give you a high volume of Fire for suppressive fire to get out of tight spot the same as an ar-15 would even though it would not be as powerful and have the kind of range and so forth.  you do not really need to be able to kill someone at hundreds and hundreds of yards or whatever you basically just need to get yourself some things so that people decide it is better to let you go on your way and they move on to a softer target.  

Plus keeping the weight down and keeping more discreet in your gear and the parents cannot be under understated in its value. I am NOT in some sort of shape like a commando who can walk across the country with kit and a rifle..  yes I should get in better shape and I could to a point but I also have a neck injury and whatnot.

ETA: I really thought about it and researched into what is available to me in a PDW type weapon...
I decided on this, but probably w/o the stock on a non SBR'd gun:

This would be about 18" OAL, w/o the stoc or its hinge mechanism on the back on a Glock 21 w/ 8" suppressor mounted.  Would be good w/ a 22lr conversion, especially if you also had a rimfire can.
Here is a pic of a new arm stabalizer unit they are coming out w/ for it:


this one unit could either host a G21 or a G17 (w/ different "backplates" inside).  That stupid looking VFG folds to cover the trigger guard area.  I have both17 & 21, the 21 is already SBR'd.  If i'm in state, or I have a 53.20 form, I could travel w/ the SBR.  If not, I could go w/o the butt stock w/ a 17 or 23.  Overall operable length w/ a suppressor mounted is still short enough to put in a back pack or to use while seated in a car.   Functional magazines are availible to let you lay down lots of volume if you are really in a tight spot and need to lay down suppressive fire.   Yes, it doesn't have the terminal performance or range of a proper  rifle, but even in real bad SHTF scenarios, I just dont' see you actually being able to bring a rifle to bear unless you are assaulted while you have a car and are standing outside of it near the trunk or wherever the rifle is kept.

If I'm not flying, It doens't really hurt to bring along an AR or whatever, but I'm not gonna act like that is gonna carry me home if I can't just drive home normally.

ETA: the alternateve for an internstate get home gun would be a AR pistol w/ a folding mechanism, or maybe that SIG 5.56 pistol w/ a folding mechanism and the arm brace.  
This would be a pistol and would, in most states, allow you to conceal it loaded on or about your person.  OAL of a 9" barreled AR w/ the stock folded and including a suppressor QD mount muzzle device would be ca 19.5", w/ a 6" OAL short can, probably 25" OAL.  This w/ a 22lr conversion and lots of 6o grain subsonic ammo would be pretty handy.

ETA another user's pic wl the law folder:

Dude, you keep misspelling "shit".



I agree. I think a well supplied pistol will be your main defense.

I would definitely carry a BUG also.

I think there might be some options worth exploring such as a car killing revolver(.44mag or heavy .357mag)

Another option would be a RDS pistol. Maybe something like a Glock 20, to combine reach and cover denial

I do.  SU-16C and before that it was a Draco (pistol but still an AK).  But my bag is a dual purposed one GHB AND BOB.  

For the VAST majority of bags I'd say no...not really needed.  The purpose is to have something to protect youself with as you swiftly make your way home.

-Emt1581

Have a way to carry it discreetly.

Otherwise you will attract a lot of attention.

Underfolder AK w/3 mags in a very un tactical looking tennis racket case resides in my truck

Because of the way we have to transport rifles in MN (even with a PTC), I only keep pistols that I can carry any way that I want.

Rifles that fold for 100 Alex.

Why a rifle? Because nothing says stop following me like instant death. Pistols are too easy to hide from, and long range is a guessing game.

I live in Texas. If the power goes out my threats will be  Food- dogs- people- I don't want to argue or have to shoot twice.

7.62x39 is a killer.

the other thing I forgot to mention is suppressors. Having a suppressor on a firearm in my opinion is extremely important because again you want to attract a minimum of attention.

luckily suppressors are also very easy to transport across state lines usually. I mean its not like a short barrel rifle or a short barrel shotgun were you have to fill out the form 5324 interstate transport..  now you can suppress rifles too of course but a rifle is already longer than any pistol can be because it's magazine goes in front of the grip and when you add a suppressor on to it it becomes even longer. Plus rifle suppressors are not as quiet and they tend to be heavier etc.  

are those Keltec sub 16 units reliable? I've heard that they were originally but then later generations were not so reliable.  one of those with a permattached suppressorand a complimentary Glock pistol in either 9 millimeter or 40 cal would probably be about the best thing you could get.  you could have a few magazines off plus p Full Metal Jacket if you needed more penetration in some scenarios.  

probably better would be a lock with a threaded barrel and a suppressor and one of those clamshell units as long as you have all your forms 5320s between where you are and where you need to go

Holy hell dude...are you serious or was that said in sarcasm?!?

I'd hope you wouldn't kill people because they wanted to argue with you or follow you!  Plus water should probably come before even food in that list of "threats".  

But again, sometimes I can't tell when someones being humorous online.  

-Emt1581

My SU-16c is SUPER reliable...hasn't jammed on me yet.  Now I have less than 1000rds through it but again, good to go.  It's a great gun!  

-Emt1581

Rifle over pistol. Reason why I say this is it is very easy for a threat (if they sneak around a corner or come to close) can be disarmed. Very easily no mater if its 1 hand or two hands.

An under folder/ side folder AK with a sling on you is probably the best.

The other thing you have to think about is how real is your threat. Meaning in your AOs how much mugging have happened. If not many why carry the extra weight. If they have happened more than 50% of the time once again Id carry a rifle. Were I live muggings are very rare (although happen). Im more likely to engage a stray dog that wants to attack me than a 2 legged threat. For my odds I do carry a pistol over rifle.

I do have a sbr'd glock 21 w an endo tac stock and a osprey and loght laser unit. A great home defense gun.  Only ptoblem is that its 45, and 45 ammo is too effin heavy for what you get, I mean tis same weight as 30-06 ammo.  A giu can pack a shit load more 9mm ammo, or can check alot more 9mm ammo.  Now im kinka wishin I had sbr'd a 9mm.  

That way I could carry two 9s, a sbr'd Suppressed one and a regular pistol with a shit load of ammo and mags, and maybe a 22 lr conversion unit...

maybe I get a non sbr'd keltec 9mm, have the barrel cut and get a really lonh 9mm can permattached to it, then I carry it in one of those discrete 5.11 sling packs with a glock 17 in the front pouch if I cant carry on the waste.  Throw a armor plate in there too.

Nobody has said the arfcom famous "get both"? When I'm traveling, I carry an AR with collapsible stock, and my EDC G30. This should be enough "don't mess with me" to allow me to get home safely. Most scenarios I anticipate will allow me to drive home, although maybe by secondary or tertiary roads. If I'm on foot, travel under the cover of darkness and away from any cities (which would be easy for me to do) would be the solution.

99 times out of 100, there is no need for any weapon in a get home bag.  But I guess the real question is.....do you feel lucky?

I feel no need.  But times can change....

Doc

At least when I am not flying, I may as well throw a ar in the trunk since I already have em.  Worse case scenario I have to leace it behind and hoof it home with only pistol.  I got more at home afterall lol.  Still, a collapsible stock ar is not concealable whatsoever w/o dissassembly.

I keep a concealed handgun on me generally when not working.

In the car: On my passenger seat a "day planner" holster with a  9mm and extra mag. In the rear cargo holder rides a cheap mossy 12 gauge pump in a bore store out of sight...and a bandolier with 00 and a few slugs.

Really depends on what you have to go through to get home.

Right now its about four miles from work to home. Few years back it was twenty plus. Several really bad neighborhoods I would not care to walk through with a pistol regardless of ammo supply. Two of them would literally be like walking through Astan.
Either way mostly urban terrain with no real cover apart from parked vehicles. Three to four story buildings back lots fenced.

If there were a dice throw's chance of having to deal with rifles, I want a rifle.

If its really bad enough for me to carry a weapon just to go home, a rifle is already justified. That's why.

Academy had a nice AR guitar case.

but i thought in shtf you want to have the big guns and multicam pacs, am I wrong?



What are we talking about here



 

sarcasm?

if SHTF, you will still have to deal w/ police etc.  Even if not, you don't want to give some jumpy scared guy reason to shoot you b/c you walk down the road outside his house.

I keep a Century CETME in my car with two or three loaded 20rd mags.  It's a good feeling.  Turning cover into concealment and all that jazz.

I don't see a downside to it but then I don't live someplace it would be a problem to carry one RIGHT NOW.......

I think there'd be a much much higher chance of it getting stolen then me ever needing it.  A pistol is way easier to keep on my person and with me at all times.

When work takes me out of the metro area I'll toss one of the ARs in the truck. The GHB has several 20 rounds mags along with extra ammo/mags for my 1911.
If I'm going to be "close" to home, then it's just the 1911, sometimes the MP5K clone with several mags in a messenger bag might take a trip if I know I have to spend time in the more shady parts of town

Kel-tec Sub 2000 folded in a small bag of some kind in same caliber as your Glock with stick mags.

Or something like a Kel-tec Su-16 or PLR-16

I always carry a pistol and I always have a rifle in the truck and with me at work. If I had to walk home, I have a GHB to take with me and I could go cross country or take back roads.

I try to live by the motto, "The only purpose for a handgun is to fight your way back to the rifle you should have already had".

That is why about a year ago I set out to acquire the ultimate truck/car/bag RIFLE. I eventually settled on a Sig 556 SBR. With the barrel cut down to the minimum the folded length is about 19 inches. That is VERY easily conceable in a number of bags, briefcases, and other hiding places. With a 20 rd. Pmag already loaded the magazine doesn't stick out any further than the "toe" of the folded stock sticking down.

Unfortunately I cannot take firearms to work with me, but any time I travel I take my side-arm and my stowed 556.

One downfall is that with a registered SBR you do have to fill out paperwork ahead of time to take it across state lines. But that isn't really a problem because you can fill that form out for up to an entire year. So as long as you know roughly where you're going to be going frequently, you can fill out those forms for the entire calendar year (I.E. 1/1/14-12/31/14). And those forms don't take nearly as long to process. You can fax them and typically have them back in a few weeks. Lately it's been running a bit longer but still not too bad as long as you plan ahead a bit...

I thought you no longer needed to let them know when crossing state lines....no??

-Emt1581

Your a bit of a drama queen.

I'm indicating that you do not understand the lessons of hurricane Katrina.

You are indicating?  What does that mean?

As for Katrina, who was making their way home that day?  That was much more of a SHTF and/or bug OUT than a get home situation.  Most homes of people affected no longer existed.

BTW, did you really call me dramatic after talking about killing people over disagreements and walking behind you?

-Emt1581

How many people have you seen in the last 20 years walking down the street with a tennis racket bag?  How many without matching athletic type clothing?  How many will go out of their way to carry a tennis racket in the event of an emergency?

Go with a concealable handgun.

Carrying a long gun will make it very easy to identify you as armed.
This could have limited benefits, but the detractors make it too risky.

Barring TEOTWAWKI, Law Enforcement will be there.  Remember what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina?
Many LEO's don't know the laws like they should.

If a LEO wants to stop you to disarm you, it's going to happen, even if it's not lawful.  The sad truth is there are too many of them out there that don't know the limits, or extent of their lawful authority.

You can "take it to the bank" that you'll be subject to a thorough search for other weapons if you're stopped carrying a rifle.

I think (hope) its sarcasm.

If the whole world goes nuts and I see some guy walking down the street with a rifle and decked out in multicam, you had better believe he'd be getting a lot of attention from me.

For real world reference, think about the New England blackout of 2003.  You had tens of thousands of people walking from their workplace to their homes with first responders just about everywhere.  

If you were the one person walking down main street with an EBR, do you think that you would garner more, or less attention from twitchy cops, possibly NG guys called up, and other armed citizens?

Or conversely, if you look just like everyone else walking home, except you're carrying a tennis racket bag/man purse/whatever, do you think that you would garner more, or less attention from twitchy cops, possibly NG guys called up, and other armed citizens?

Just guessing here, a take down .22 would create some accurate aimed fire at 100 yards. Not a powerhouse, but who here wants to volunteer to take a 22 slug?

Can you tell me more about your SBR?  A folder obviously.  A folding AR or somethign else?

Yes, about 20" is the max that you can discretely coneal a weapon in a bag.

A mech tech upper w/ collapsed stock is ca 24" w/ a 16" barrel, so you pretty much have to go SBR or pistol config.  You could loose the stock and about  11" of barrel and come to a 12" operable length as a pistol or a 13" w/ stock folded/collapsed.  That is enough room for a suppressor too, installed, which is important if you MO is to possibly maintain some discretion if you have to discharge...

There is no way to get a rifle based gun in at less than 20" in an operable condition w/ a suppressor attached, whether it is a 5.56 or a pistol cal gun w the magwell ahead of the grip.

Texas  and  Pa .  are  almost  two  planets  away  from  each  other  should  the  SHTF . The  shithole  that  is  Mexico  is  just  miles  away  down  there .Should  anyone  follow me  for  more  than  half  a block  during  such  times , the  response  would  be  appropriate .

I use a folding chair bag all the time to put AKs in.  Never a second look from others.

This is my thought on it as well.  If the situation deteriorated to the point where I thought my probability was high for having to use a weapon, my rifle would be close by. In an instant emergency situation, I feel that most others would still be less prepared to defend themselves than I am.  

Basically:  Low threat or concealment required= Handgun.  Anything higher= Rifle if I can get away with it.

I only have a handgun for it's ability to be easily concealed.  I am exponentially more proficient with my rifle.  I'm sure most are.

I hadn't heard that but I haven't been following NFA law updates as closely as I used to. AFAIK it is still in place. Suppressor are, and have-been exempt for a long time, maybe that is what you are thinking about? AFAIK you still have to do a 5320.20 for SBRs.


Oops, left make out of my post... Sig 556

gotta balance the good times with the bad. Your carbine might help in the bad times but a car wreck in the good times with an SBR AR15  and kit full of mags suddenly makes you a suspect.

Find the balance.

pistol should do just fine.

This...



And this...

No one is going to think much of a little folding 22lr in the back of a vehicle for most AO's...

Area of operation can cause what we carry or what we might use greatly...  What applies at the southern boarder might not apply at the northern boarder and so forth.

In my AO I have a greater chance of an ice storm occurring and having to hoof it home because the roads have 3" of ice on them vs a hurricane that causes mass chaos and looting...  In the case of an ice storm having a rifle slung would look out of place.  An axe would be more appropriate.

Discreet is the answer.

My discrete answer will be a 11.5" .556
or a 7" 9mm AR, along with my standard
CCW handgun of the day. Both of those AR's
are compact enough to easily conceal in a camp
chair bag, and no one will even notice it.

John

Camp chair bag.  clever

Like your avatar DM .I was with the 2/502 . STRIKE FORCE !

My daily driver is a station wagon & I always have
at least a couple of camp chairs in the back. I had
to transport a 20 AR for the day & put it in a chair
bag and laid it on top of the others and never gave
it another thought all day.

So if we were on foot for a GH event, i would probably
carry a small chair with me anyway, so I believe it's
a great way to discretely carry a long gun, even now.