Don't overlook Air in your BOB

So for my first true article I am going to discuss one of the most controversial topics in preparing a BOB or protecting the homestead: Weapons. I am however going to avoid all controversial arguments about pistols, shotguns, rifles, or any other typical gun. I do think a pistol and shotgun are pretty much mandatory whether mobile or stationary, but which ones you have I don’t really feel like arguing. I have my personal preference as I’m sure you do as well, so let’s agree to use what’s comfortable for us and move on. The goal of this post is to hopefully inspire thought on something you may not have considered before: An air rifle. That’s right, I have recently added an air rifle to my collection after much research and I think it is pure brilliance.

First let’s talk about the benefits of an air rifle:

1.      It is light weight in comparison to pretty much any rifle, unless you have spent a lot of money on lightweight furniture.

2.      There is no need for any outside resources for propulsion.

3.      The pellets are very cheap, very light, and readily available.

4.      The Feet Per Second (FPS) rating is 1200 FPS so I can hunt small to medium game with it successfully.

5.      It is very quiet .

6.      It is cheap. I paid $134 for mine and it came with a scope (The scope sucked big time, but that’s a whole different issue).

Now for the down side of the air rifle:

A.     Single shot

B.     Not as powerful as a full size rifle

So, now that we have established 5 PRO’s and 2 CON’s, I will now go line by line and discuss why the PRO’s significantly outweigh the CON’s.

1. Lightweight is always good. Everything has to be moved at some point or another and lighter is always better.

2. I have added a break barrel model air rifle so all I do is cock the barrel and I am ready to shoot. There are models that operate on small CO2 cartridges, but then you need to maintain a supply of canisters, this results in more weight and eventually you are going to run out. Another option for air rifles are pump models. While this is passes the longevity and independence test, it fails to meet the FPS test. The highest FPS you can get out of a pump right now is around 600 FPS, half of what you get from a break barrel. The break barrel is sustainable as long as you have pellets and offers 1200 FPS of killing power.

3. Air pellets are cheap, target pellets run $3 for 250 or if you want to splurge hunting sabot pellets are $8 for 250. Now to put in perspective how lightweight pellets are to carry. The average weight of a .177 pellet is .0647 grams. Knowing numbers and stats is great, but how does this all apply to the real world? My BOB packing list calls for 10,000 pellets, so I am carrying 1.42 pounds of pellets that cost me $120 and takes up about the same space as a Nalgene bottle.

4. Now for hunting. The number one CON I receive as a rebuttal to my air rifle topic is that it won’t kill anything bigger than a fox or coyote. I agree with this statement, but I do not see this as a downside. In a mobile survival situation there is not going to be a way to store a big game kill, thus there is no need for killing big game. Once the metaphorical “shit has hit the fan” all this trophy hunting is going to go away and you are going to need to live on squirrels, rabbits, birds, and foxes. If that’s what I need to live on, why take something bigger than what I need?

5. The air rifle is very quiet. Not whisper quiet, but quiet. In a survival situation, whether it is the government or zombies looking for you, remaining hidden is the best line of defense. The ability to collect meat without letting the whole world know where you are is an invaluable resource.

I have already addressed the downside of not being able to hunt big game, so now I will talk about the single shot. Not shooting the rifle multiple times decreases wasted shots and as a forcing function you are going to have to become a much better shooter. The air rifle is solely for hunting purposes so a single shot should not present too much of an issue. If a shot is missed when hunting, the rifle is quiet enough that it will not scare away most game if you do miss. Rapid shots primarily are going to be needed during self defense situations and for those I would recommend utilizing the pistol or shotgun in your kit.

Here is mine with my homemade paint job

Hopefully this discussion gives a better understanding for the types of things we will be discussing and has provided an additional method or at least an idea for something that can help you in your survival journey.