[pct-l] Mountain Lions & Weapons

[Erik The Black]

Personally, I never leave the house without a good knife close at hand, much
less go into the wilderness. A knife is at the top of my list of essential
survival tools. 

You'll probably never use it for anything but cutting cheese. But sometimes
shit happens, and when it does a knife can save your butt. And there really
isn't any sacrifice in carrying one, if you choose the right kind of knife. 

It's not like a gun which is basically useless, too heavy to be practical,
sometimes illegal, and scares people who see it. A small knife is
lightweight, unobtrusive, and more socially accepted than guns, and far more
effective in close quarters.

The best kind of knife for hiking is a skeletonized fixed blade knife in a
kraton sheath. These are used by climbers and divers because they can be
strapped or hooked within arms reach and drawn in an emergency situation,
with one hand, very quickly... and they are very lightweight (I have one
made by Columbia that weighs only 3 ounces). 

If you think a man armed with a knife couldn't possibly stand a chance
against a mountain lion read these three articles. These people were
attacked by lions and thwarted the attack with just a knife. Two of them
actually killed the lion.

http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2002/cougar_attack_vancouver.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1161354/posts

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A07E7DB1531E233A25752C2A96E9
C946096D6CF


-Erik The Black
www.pctatlas.com