7 ms·

I met an older Australian woman that sailed around the world solo, and swore by the fake dog for scaring off opportunistic pirates. She didn’t carry a gun or ot

I met an older Australian woman that sailed around the world solo, and swore by the fake dog for scaring off opportunistic pirates. She didn’t carry a gun or other weapon. Just a cassette tape on repeat when anchored.

the_only_law 4y ago
Why would pirates be scared of a dog though? They could just shoot it.
- CoffeeOnWrite 4y ago
  For sure. I’d bring a gun, personally.
  - Xylakant 4y ago
    A dog is an audible warning before the fact and may scare off thieves/robbers before an attempt. A gun is in the best of all cases helpful once the thief or robber has already decided to act.
    - dymk 4y ago
      That's why I have a solenoid triggered rifle in my backyard that shoots off a round every two minutes. It used to be full auto 24/7, but ammo got expensive :(
  - throw__away7391 4y ago
    All other issues aside, even assuming you can get the proper permissions, bringing guns into foreign ports is a major hassle and involves significant legal paperwork. Companies that provide armed security for cargo ships for example will keep the weapons on a boat at sea in international waters, transfer them to the cargo ship at the beginning of their security detail, then take them off with another boat before the cargo ship proceeds.
    - closewith 4y ago
      During the height of the piracy in East Africa, seaborne armouries were used to distribute weapons which were thrown overboard before entering territorial waters, as it was cheaper than collecting them. I also think some (almost certainly American) people underestimate how big an issue importing a firearm or possession of an unlicensed firearm can be in most of the world. It’s either many months of paperwork and almost guaranteed refusal, or risking many years in prison for an unlicensed firearm.
      - mellavora 4y ago
        Also, the difficulty of bringing a gun back into the US if you take it out of the US.
- DonHopkins 4y ago
  To scare off pirates at sea, I'd play Jaws Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8t3Lt8iJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8t3Lt8iJw
- madaxe_again 4y ago
  They could, or it could chew up a hand pretty well, or turn a robbery into a multiple murder, or any number of things. A dog doesn’t respond predictably or rationally. Criminal doesn’t mean stupid - and you’re not going to bother with a risky target when there are other, less risky targets nearby.
  - mywittyname 4y ago
    Angry guard dogs are fast and being low to the ground makes them difficult targets. One could easily cause serious injuries before being neutralized. If one knocks you down (which is very likely happen), then you also risk shooting yourself instead of the dog.
- olalonde 4y ago
  I read "opportunistic pirate" as a regular unarmed person who might just be tempted to steal stuff from a seemingly unguarded ship.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    That might be it. Tbf I don't know much about modern piracy. I just imagine guys with AKs and RPGs coming up and boarding you, but that could easily be a media depiction only.
    - lupire 4y ago
      I don't think those guys are taking single people in small boats. They want $5M insurance payouts from corporations, not killing random people for their clothes.
- registeredcorn 4y ago
  I would imagine a burglar would see two issues: 1) If there is a dog on the boat, maybe there's people too. 2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise?
  - Cthulhu_ 4y ago
    Yeah that's exactly it; it only takes a little uncertainty for burglars to be like "yeah nah".
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise? Exactly. A lot of people seem to forget that a gun discharging is even louder than a dog, so a would-be amateur pirate would be solving a small problem by creating a much bigger one.
- teknopaul 4y ago
  Outside the US most people don't carry guns, even pirates.
  - andai 4y ago
    When I Google "somali pirates", almost every photo has automatic weapons in it. What do pirates typically use?
    - nradov 4y ago
      In that region, mostly AK-47s and RPG-7s, plus whatever other random weapons they managed to scrounge. Same as every irregular paramilitary force throughout the Middle East and Africa.
  - fooker 4y ago
    In large-ish cities, sure. People have guns in rural areas everywhere. There are some exceptions like China where guns are very uncommon but if you are traveling through Eastern Europe, or Africa, or rural parts of south Asia you are going to encounter a lot of people who have guns. There isn’t a gun culture like in the US in these places though, so you’ll have to know what to look for.
    - reillyse 4y ago
      People have some guns in rural places worldwide but you almost never encounter them. Gun ownership rates drop off fast after the US (I think the 10th highest country is 1/4 of the US rate) and the rates keep dropping from there. Also while rural farmers may own a shotgun or a rifle they mostly leave that locked up at home, the chances of you meeting someone with a gun is pretty tiny. Only exceptions I can think of are perhaps some Central American countries.
      - teknopaul 4y ago
        Agreed. Just got back from Marrakech there is very little crime there and certainly no baddies who would consider shooting your dog to rob you. "gun culture" and people waving hand guns around for crime or "self defence" is, thankfully, limited to a small number of failed states, and the United States.
mellavora 4y ago
Generally speaking weapons are a problem on boats. Many countries will require you to have a permit for it, which can be problematic to obtain. At the very least you have to declare it, which probably also means handing it over to the harbor authorities. Which means you don't have it when you would be most at risk and most need it. Second, say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. You don't have a lot of time, and you don't know if the approaching boat is a pirate or a local fisherman who wants to sell you a fish. Make the wrong call, and bad things happen. Say you solved the permit/registration issue by hiding the gun and then you deploy the gun. Bad things happen. Ok, it might have been justified and might have saved your life, but you are still probably going to jail for not declaring the weapon.
- willcipriano 4y ago
  > say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. We're talking about a handgun not a artillery peice, "deployment" is taking it out of a biometric gun safe, 5 seconds max. Also you wouldn't open fire on someone just beacuse they are near your boat.
  - mellavora 4y ago
    ok. So you are on your boat. Small craft with three people is rapidly approaching on a direct course. You are nervous so you grab the gun (probably more than 5 seconds because you are out on deck and the biometric safe is fixed in the cabin, but I'll give you a pass on that). Where do you aim the gun? At them? At the deck? They see you are holding a gun, get a different look on their face, and one starts to reach under the seat. What do you do? Remember you are in a foreign country and don't speak the language, don't know the customs, cannot read the body language, ...
    - anonred 4y ago
      I would shoot a warning shot into the air. But maybe at that distance it wouldn’t be clear enough and that’d just escalate the situation..

the_only_law 4y ago

Why would pirates be scared of a dog though? They could just shoot it.

CoffeeOnWrite 4y ago
For sure. I’d bring a gun, personally.
- Xylakant 4y ago
  A dog is an audible warning before the fact and may scare off thieves/robbers before an attempt. A gun is in the best of all cases helpful once the thief or robber has already decided to act.
  - dymk 4y ago
    That's why I have a solenoid triggered rifle in my backyard that shoots off a round every two minutes. It used to be full auto 24/7, but ammo got expensive :(
- throw__away7391 4y ago
  All other issues aside, even assuming you can get the proper permissions, bringing guns into foreign ports is a major hassle and involves significant legal paperwork. Companies that provide armed security for cargo ships for example will keep the weapons on a boat at sea in international waters, transfer them to the cargo ship at the beginning of their security detail, then take them off with another boat before the cargo ship proceeds.
  - closewith 4y ago
    During the height of the piracy in East Africa, seaborne armouries were used to distribute weapons which were thrown overboard before entering territorial waters, as it was cheaper than collecting them. I also think some (almost certainly American) people underestimate how big an issue importing a firearm or possession of an unlicensed firearm can be in most of the world. It’s either many months of paperwork and almost guaranteed refusal, or risking many years in prison for an unlicensed firearm.
    - mellavora 4y ago
      Also, the difficulty of bringing a gun back into the US if you take it out of the US.
DonHopkins 4y ago
To scare off pirates at sea, I'd play Jaws Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8t3Lt8iJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8t3Lt8iJw
madaxe_again 4y ago
They could, or it could chew up a hand pretty well, or turn a robbery into a multiple murder, or any number of things. A dog doesn’t respond predictably or rationally. Criminal doesn’t mean stupid - and you’re not going to bother with a risky target when there are other, less risky targets nearby.
- mywittyname 4y ago
  Angry guard dogs are fast and being low to the ground makes them difficult targets. One could easily cause serious injuries before being neutralized. If one knocks you down (which is very likely happen), then you also risk shooting yourself instead of the dog.
olalonde 4y ago
I read "opportunistic pirate" as a regular unarmed person who might just be tempted to steal stuff from a seemingly unguarded ship.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  That might be it. Tbf I don't know much about modern piracy. I just imagine guys with AKs and RPGs coming up and boarding you, but that could easily be a media depiction only.
  - lupire 4y ago
    I don't think those guys are taking single people in small boats. They want $5M insurance payouts from corporations, not killing random people for their clothes.
registeredcorn 4y ago
I would imagine a burglar would see two issues: 1) If there is a dog on the boat, maybe there's people too. 2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise?
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  Yeah that's exactly it; it only takes a little uncertainty for burglars to be like "yeah nah".
- reaperducer 4y ago
  2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise? Exactly. A lot of people seem to forget that a gun discharging is even louder than a dog, so a would-be amateur pirate would be solving a small problem by creating a much bigger one.
teknopaul 4y ago
Outside the US most people don't carry guns, even pirates.
- andai 4y ago
  When I Google "somali pirates", almost every photo has automatic weapons in it. What do pirates typically use?
  - nradov 4y ago
    In that region, mostly AK-47s and RPG-7s, plus whatever other random weapons they managed to scrounge. Same as every irregular paramilitary force throughout the Middle East and Africa.
- fooker 4y ago
  In large-ish cities, sure. People have guns in rural areas everywhere. There are some exceptions like China where guns are very uncommon but if you are traveling through Eastern Europe, or Africa, or rural parts of south Asia you are going to encounter a lot of people who have guns. There isn’t a gun culture like in the US in these places though, so you’ll have to know what to look for.
  - reillyse 4y ago
    People have some guns in rural places worldwide but you almost never encounter them. Gun ownership rates drop off fast after the US (I think the 10th highest country is 1/4 of the US rate) and the rates keep dropping from there. Also while rural farmers may own a shotgun or a rifle they mostly leave that locked up at home, the chances of you meeting someone with a gun is pretty tiny. Only exceptions I can think of are perhaps some Central American countries.
    - teknopaul 4y ago
      Agreed. Just got back from Marrakech there is very little crime there and certainly no baddies who would consider shooting your dog to rob you. "gun culture" and people waving hand guns around for crime or "self defence" is, thankfully, limited to a small number of failed states, and the United States.

mellavora 4y ago

Generally speaking weapons are a problem on boats. Many countries will require you to have a permit for it, which can be problematic to obtain. At the very least you have to declare it, which probably also means handing it over to the harbor authorities. Which means you don't have it when you would be most at risk and most need it. Second, say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. You don't have a lot of time, and you don't know if the approaching boat is a pirate or a local fisherman who wants to sell you a fish. Make the wrong call, and bad things happen. Say you solved the permit/registration issue by hiding the gun and then you deploy the gun. Bad things happen. Ok, it might have been justified and might have saved your life, but you are still probably going to jail for not declaring the weapon.

willcipriano 4y ago
> say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. We're talking about a handgun not a artillery peice, "deployment" is taking it out of a biometric gun safe, 5 seconds max. Also you wouldn't open fire on someone just beacuse they are near your boat.
- mellavora 4y ago
  ok. So you are on your boat. Small craft with three people is rapidly approaching on a direct course. You are nervous so you grab the gun (probably more than 5 seconds because you are out on deck and the biometric safe is fixed in the cabin, but I'll give you a pass on that). Where do you aim the gun? At them? At the deck? They see you are holding a gun, get a different look on their face, and one starts to reach under the seat. What do you do? Remember you are in a foreign country and don't speak the language, don't know the customs, cannot read the body language, ...
  - anonred 4y ago
    I would shoot a warning shot into the air. But maybe at that distance it wouldn’t be clear enough and that’d just escalate the situation..