Defense Weapons Against Piracy

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

There is no true safety in this world. The most we can have is a temporary illusion of safety. The reality is that none of us gets out alive!

In cruising, as in the land life, while guns may make SOME people "feel" safer, they seldom actually "make" one safer. (Statistically, the opposite is usually the case). Going into an area known to have pirates, heavily armed, with the idea that if you get approached, you'll just blast the bastards out of the water, is a fools game.

All we can do is stack the odds in our favor. The way to do this cruising, is use a LOT of common sense. Most places with REGULAR acts of piracy are well publicized. DON'T GO THERE!!! There are other places with infrequent, but occasional, acts of piracy. DON'T GO THERE EITHER... unless your desire to pass through is so high, that it's worth the risk, it is of short duration, and then go with a flotilla, preferably in daylight.

There are so many places to cruise to that are MUCH safer than living in what ever country that we came from, WHY go to the others?

In most cases... ONLY by shooting first, BEFORE you truly access a situation, can a gun help in your defense. To do so is utterly immoral!

That "suspicious looking guy" that approaches your boat at great speed around dawn, only wanting to sell you a nice fish or ask: "fumar"??? Doesn't deserve to be shot, out of a gun wielding cruisers fear of what he MIGHT do.

Go to safer places, be considerate, be smart, prepare your boat, keep a good watch, stay lit, be careful where you anchor, and for ALL our sakes... PLEASE leave your arsenals at home!

True "pirates". (as opposed to petty thieves), travel in groups armed with machine guns, and have NO problem shooting first! unless you adopt the same mentality, and up your armament to Stinger Missiles, then avoiding the situation is the only rational thing to do.

Peace, & be safe... M.

Hell Yeah....
It could just be me doing the "St Martin Surfride" back to my boat in the early hours...

[kolya]

I have a Leapers green laser system mounted to the side of an ar-15 of mine and from my experience I would never consider it a deterrent, maybe mounted on the end of a rifle, but alone it seems a minor nuisance that would only provide a good laugh to pirates. Granted it was a hundred dollars, so maybe a 1,000 dollar unit might be more effective, but if I were counting on it I would want something that would burn skin quickly from hundreds of yards.

[hellosailor]

It is an open secret that here in the US, you can easily buy a green laser that far exceeds the legal limits, and it can easily create eye damage. I think it was 3-4 months ago that I was reading a newspaper article discussing this.

Because the human eye is most sensitive to green-yellow light, it is also especially susceptible to damage from it.

Now, when the Navy talks about laser weapons they're talking about something entirely beyond what you can buy on the civilian market. They "paint" with a large expensive brush, while civilian pointers still require the co-ordination to aim a small beam at a moving target while you are on a moving platform. Try to point a conventional laser pointer at a nickel from 100 yards away. Watch the beam dance around. Not likely to succeed, even on solid land.

File under "Dreams of Flash Gordon Ray Guns".