Interesting but scary situation: Texas Hill Country River Carry

[Camjr]

I will typically carry everywhere I can, but Thursday was the first time in Texas where I wasn't carrying and regretted it (I travel a lot for my job, and when flying, etc., I just get over it).

I took the family (wife and two kids) down to New Braunfels, TX for a quick two-day trip. For those of you not familiar with the area, there are two absolutely beautiful rivers in the area to spend time on. The Comal River is a slow moving, cool, relaxing trip done in tubes. The Guadalupe River is quicker moving, contains some light rapids, and is crystal clear. I didn't really think through "tubing on Comal River carry" options, so just left it locked in a lock box mounted in the trunk of the car. I've made the same trip many times before, but while I was younger and not keeping up with my kids. When my kids have joined, it's been in the morning and the following has never been an issue.

While on our second trip down the Comal River on Thursday, the obnoxious drunk factor began rising exponentially as the afternoon progressed, and I began to try to keep us in areas to minimize my kids exposure to the river drunks (my daughter is 12 and my sone 14). I remained in Condition Yellow the entire trip, but things happened in a hurry. Very quickly and despite my best intentions, my family found itself stuck on a very slow moving river between two previously quiet and docile groups that ended up being aggressive drunks that began arguing, threatening each other, screaming obscenities at each other, etc. We tried to arm-paddle out of it, but the groups were pretty large. I grabbed my daughter's tube with my foot and paddled as hard as I could to get out of the situation, and was very proud to see my son (not a large kid, but very strong and athletic club soccer player) do the same to his mother's tube. We eventually got out of the way and my kids were witness to a full out drunken fight on one of the decks of the beautiful homes that line the river. The bottom line is I felt very exposed, unable to move, and without cover of any sort. I found myself thinking about how to carry the rest of the float down the river.

We rafted the Guadalupe on Friday, and didn't have to deal with the same type issues since we started relatively early in the morning. However, the 642 was in a Nemesis holster in the cargo pocket of my swim trunks inside a ziplock storage bag. While access would certainly be slower in the waterproof bag, it was certainly comforting.

I guess the bottom line is I've learned a valuable lesson.

Cheers!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dukalmighty]

Ever since that movie"DELIVERANCE"I will not float down a river without a weapon,this is where you can either put your weapon in a ziplock baggie,or have a firearm that doesn't mind getting wet for a few hours,and when done field strip it and spray it down with WD40,I've hunted in nasty wet weather where my shotgun wouldn't get any wetter if I held it underwater,after getting home field stripped and WD40 and good as new

[Guardian]

Even a fun trip can be dangerous when you mix alcohol and people, they turn stupid 90% of the time in some fashion or form.

[retsupt99]

Guns are always a part of kayaking, and should so be with tubing. A Glock in a plastic bag, or a pouch made for water carry can give a great peace of mind.
But you know that, now! Glad it was uneventful...sort of..
That liquid superman sure causes problems, doesn't it?

[chiefjason]

Ever since that movie"DELIVERANCE"I will not float down a river without a weapon,

Paddle faster, I hear banjo music!!!!!

[teccles]

Props to your son for helping out his mother......it looks like you have raised him right.....you should be proud......the other day my 5 year old son told me that he had to stay home while I was at work because while I was gone it was his job to take care of the "womens"....meaning his mom and his three sisters......I know how you feel......keep up the good work...

[OldVet]

Paddle faster, I hear banjo music!!!!!

Don't you be talking about my in-laws like that. That's my job!

[EPIC SCUMBAG]

I used to go to Gruene River and do tubing. Lots of fun but in your case it was a buzz kill sorta. Sorry your kids had to hear all the crap and nonsense. The river is meant to be relaxing and an awesome experience with the family and hopefully it outweighed the the few minutes of retardation you guys witnessed. A fun place to go too is Schlitterbahn, best water park in the world. That was a total blast!!!

[Camjr]

I used to go to Gruene River and do tubing. Lots of fun but in your case it was a buzz kill sorta. Sorry your kids had to hear all the crap and nonsense. The river is meant to be relaxing and an awesome experience with the family and hopefully it outweighed the the few minutes of retardation you guys witnessed. A fun place to go too is Schlitterbahn, best water park in the world. That was a total blast!!!

Schlitterbahn has turned into a beating these days with how many people they crowd into it. So much more so than it used to be--my kids actually prefer the rivers these days, despite the "distractions" of this trip.

[ExSoldier]

I don't do stuff like that anymore but if I did go on a Deliverance type trip, I'd be carrying an AR in the canoe and an XD45 on my hip. With lots of loaded mags. I've spent time in the New Braunfels area and in fact the wife and I were thinking of retiring in the area until we experienced JULY. Stuff like that can go from merely obnoxious to deadly in less than a heartbeat. I'm curious though. IF you'd been armed is there any action you could see yourself taking other than what you and your son actually DID? Because I think that armed or not, you reacted in perfect fashion. Kudos too, to your son for keeping mom's safety firmly in mind. You obviously raised him well. You might consider doing some scenario brainstorming with him to face potential future situations. Better to work as a team or at least to have some back up.

[alexcantslee]

Ive wondered about the issue of carrying a gun in a large ziploc bag. I wear mine under my clothes so it hasnt been an issue in the past but Ive wondered if I was going to be to be wet would this be a safe way for carrying in all day or something similar?

I suppose if the need arose you could also operate the gun with it still in the bag if it was needed.

Alex!

[dukalmighty]

Ive wondered about the issue of carrying a gun in a large ziploc bag. I wear mine under my clothes so it hasnt been an issue in the past but Ive wondered if I was going to be to be wet would this be a safe way for carrying in all day or something similar?

I suppose if the need arose you could also operate the gun with it still in the bag if it was needed.

Alex!

To tell you the truth,I have gone all day with wet guns'as long as you clean them good and wd40 gets water out of places you can't see, your firearm should be good to go
I think Larry the cable guy summed up river tubing,a buncha people drinking beer and floating down the river and nobody got out to go pee all day long

[BikerRN]

I think Larry the cable guy summed up river tubing,a buncha people drinking beer and floating down the river and nobody got out to go pee all day long

As for the movie Deliverance, I'll never think of Ned Beatty the same way again.

Biker

[chivvalry]

What would you have done different had you been armed?

[ExSoldier]

Watch this and tell me if you think you should cover a gun with plastic to protect it from getting wet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvJX1vfQUkc&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectL2...eature=related