We’re nestled up against the Appalachians. Bad weather, aging parents, extended family, our critters being attractive to predators, you name it, I’ve had to jump and run for it.
Basketball shorts can bugger off when you live where you might run into coyote, feral dogs, or whatever else might want to grab a bite of a leg. Plus, in winter that’s a different hell no lol.
Crocs are fine as far as that goes, and I keep a pair by the door. But you can’t trust them if you’re moving fast, or I can’t. They also aren’t great in winter, or rain.
If I knew ahead of time that all I’d need to do is something minor, I could just sleep in lounge pants or sweats. But if I’m having to drive a half hour at batshit speed because one of my cousin’s cows is in trouble, and nobody else is answering, I ain’t showing up in clothes that can’t handle the task without scraping up my knees. Which, you’d think someone other than the disabled fucker would answer the damn phone when we all benefit from the farm in one way or another, but nooooo, I’m the one that answers, and I can barely help with the real emergencies with the cows. That’s an aside though.
If I’m heading to somewhere that family needs support, I may not need jeans or whatever, but I’ll need my go bag since when something goes wrong, you can’t guarantee you’ll only be there a few hours. The actual bugout bag is stashed in the closet. We’ve never had to evacuate, but it’s there in case. My go bag is purely for the bare basics overnight, with the assumption I’ll be returning home in reasonable time to refill my medication supplies.
But, yeah, I sleep in jeans. I buy stuff that’s loose enough it doesn’t bother me at all. If anything, the extra warmth over lounge or pajama pants is nice. No boots, I keep a pair of those at my cousin’s, which is the only place I’d need them often enough to make them useful. Just a solid pair of trail shoes that I can wiggle into. Since I sleep in socks for comfort anyway, they work better than crocs even for running out the back door to shoot a predator after the birds. Socks n crocs with feet my size pinch and grab, or if I go a size bigger, will slide around too much.
Last time I had to go running, it was my cousin. Ended up having to help him with a calf that wasn’t coming out. Swapped out to boots when I got there, and it was an all night thing.
Time before that, it was just a coyote (or maybe feral dog, it’s hard to tell in the dark) stalking the rooster. By the time I was out the door, even being partly dressed, with shoes that slide on, grabbed the shotgun and got out there, he had lost some feathers and was beating the ever loving hell out of the thing. While I think he would have finished the job of running it off on his own, if he hadn’t, it only takes a few seconds for a predator to tear up even a big rooster like him. A few seconds can matter.
Shit, I think it was may or June last year my sister called me needing a bit of personal security due to a stupid ex. She’s only fifteen minutes away, but I don’t want to show up to maybe have to kill a motherfucker in shorts and crocs. It’s fine if I could shoot the idiot, but I’d probably have to get up close and personal, and I’m already disadvantaged with the disability shit, so I ain’t fucking around with inferior footwear lol. Crocs are comfy as hell, up to a point, but they’re not built for sparring, much less a full out fight.
Homie, shit gets crazy up here lol. The really crazy stuff might only be a few times a year, yeah. But when they happen every damn year for decades, you kinda start planning for them.
Where do you got to go so quick you can’t throw on some basketball shorts and crocs? Are you sleeping in a full uniform boots and a bug out bag?
We’re nestled up against the Appalachians. Bad weather, aging parents, extended family, our critters being attractive to predators, you name it, I’ve had to jump and run for it.
Basketball shorts can bugger off when you live where you might run into coyote, feral dogs, or whatever else might want to grab a bite of a leg. Plus, in winter that’s a different hell no lol.
Crocs are fine as far as that goes, and I keep a pair by the door. But you can’t trust them if you’re moving fast, or I can’t. They also aren’t great in winter, or rain.
If I knew ahead of time that all I’d need to do is something minor, I could just sleep in lounge pants or sweats. But if I’m having to drive a half hour at batshit speed because one of my cousin’s cows is in trouble, and nobody else is answering, I ain’t showing up in clothes that can’t handle the task without scraping up my knees. Which, you’d think someone other than the disabled fucker would answer the damn phone when we all benefit from the farm in one way or another, but nooooo, I’m the one that answers, and I can barely help with the real emergencies with the cows. That’s an aside though.
If I’m heading to somewhere that family needs support, I may not need jeans or whatever, but I’ll need my go bag since when something goes wrong, you can’t guarantee you’ll only be there a few hours. The actual bugout bag is stashed in the closet. We’ve never had to evacuate, but it’s there in case. My go bag is purely for the bare basics overnight, with the assumption I’ll be returning home in reasonable time to refill my medication supplies.
But, yeah, I sleep in jeans. I buy stuff that’s loose enough it doesn’t bother me at all. If anything, the extra warmth over lounge or pajama pants is nice. No boots, I keep a pair of those at my cousin’s, which is the only place I’d need them often enough to make them useful. Just a solid pair of trail shoes that I can wiggle into. Since I sleep in socks for comfort anyway, they work better than crocs even for running out the back door to shoot a predator after the birds. Socks n crocs with feet my size pinch and grab, or if I go a size bigger, will slide around too much.
Last time I had to go running, it was my cousin. Ended up having to help him with a calf that wasn’t coming out. Swapped out to boots when I got there, and it was an all night thing.
Time before that, it was just a coyote (or maybe feral dog, it’s hard to tell in the dark) stalking the rooster. By the time I was out the door, even being partly dressed, with shoes that slide on, grabbed the shotgun and got out there, he had lost some feathers and was beating the ever loving hell out of the thing. While I think he would have finished the job of running it off on his own, if he hadn’t, it only takes a few seconds for a predator to tear up even a big rooster like him. A few seconds can matter.
Shit, I think it was may or June last year my sister called me needing a bit of personal security due to a stupid ex. She’s only fifteen minutes away, but I don’t want to show up to maybe have to kill a motherfucker in shorts and crocs. It’s fine if I could shoot the idiot, but I’d probably have to get up close and personal, and I’m already disadvantaged with the disability shit, so I ain’t fucking around with inferior footwear lol. Crocs are comfy as hell, up to a point, but they’re not built for sparring, much less a full out fight.
Homie, shit gets crazy up here lol. The really crazy stuff might only be a few times a year, yeah. But when they happen every damn year for decades, you kinda start planning for them.