Well yes if you want to get your face punched in by a criminal. They are not sensitive, don't care and if you try to be a smart arse, you will get maimed. Up to you, of course, but worth remembering some people don't think like normal people.
Dare you.I would hardy say that popping an air rifle pellet into a rib float counts as Rambo action.
The skipper in the video was apparently fending the rib off the stern with a boat hook. If one had an air rifle on board, why would "popping a cap" into the rib need any more ruthlessness than poking it with the boat hook?
Richard
Is an air rifle legal on a boat all through europe and the UK? Good idea if it is.
" dare you " ? ,, dare you nothing , dare you not in that particular situation ( as described ) obv accepting that the either air gun or spear gun was capable of holing / demobilising the rib and not just bouncing off which could exasperate the situation
Double dare you.
So what's the recommended course of action then?
a measured response to the individual threat . obviously no one should confront a heavily armed crew with a pea shooter , but also nor should anyone be encouraged to roll over when you have the ability to repel any threat .
Stay away from known dodgy areas. Bay of Cadiz isn't one, the Spanish/Portuguese PM will hammer these guys when they get them, almost certainly there won't be any repeat business. Other cruisers pinching stuff is higher up the risk assessment.
A friend of ours was head of a security for large oil company operating in and around Mozambique. We talked about this, and as far as he was concerned, the pirates have little concern for life, not theirs and certainly not yours, so hands up and let them get on with it. He also advised keeping a bottle of spirits onboard in plain sight, something that no one onboard likes, as it's the first thing they will go for. Dissolve as many strong sleeping pills in it as you can, but if it never gets used, do get rid when you sell the boat.
There is no 'measured response'. Stay away from dodgy places, give up your stuff to save your crews lives if you get unlucky. You will not repel determined criminals. Especially drugged ones. There is massive evidence to support this. Argue all you like, but it's the way of the world, sadly.
There is a sort of decalogue written by Brazilian police -hardly anyone in the world with the experience they have with armed assault by common people, violent robbery, hostage situations in buses bars etc-; they are often in very dangerous situations and use their guns with a looooot more speed than in most other places of the world (maybe US excepted), yet they say never ever have guns. I have these "rules" somewhere: summing up, you are being attacked by highly stressed people, possibly on drugs, try to make it the quickest possible assault for them, the sooner they get what they want the sooner they go away. Among other advices, should they find a gun hidden somewhere, say the chart table, you are basically dead in a split second.
A new angle on "Spanish Fly"