Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns What handgun for a white-water rafting trip?

---Disclosure: This is for a work of fiction so I am not limited to what is in my gun-safe---

Background: A normal kid goes on a white-water rafting trip with a bunch of yuppies.
Firearms are not allowed.
He brings one anyway and carries it in a fanny-pack (swung around so it is in front of him).
The river is in West Virginia.
The only restrictions is that the weapon must be commonly available and must be small and light enough to carry in a fanny pack with enough room left over for a water-bottle, paracord and all of the other stuff a normal person would carry with them. Keep in mind that this weapon might go swimming.

Make, chambered-in, barrel length, how many reloads?

My inclination is a stainless steel Ruger SP101 with a 2" or 3" barrel chambered in .357 Mag. with three reloads in speed-strips.

Can you help me out with some other alternatives?

Never been white water rafting but I’ve spend a lot of time in kayaks and canoes with life jackets and sitting for hours.

A Glock on my hip works for me.

Sounds like the beginning of a Christmas song:

Three mags a-waiting,
Two targets to service
and a Glock on my hip works for me....

Maybe Die-Hard 9

Thanks for commenting.

I do whitewater but not in a raft. Some problems are common though. One of those is that of ending up outside the boat and in the water. Swimming and getting back in the boat is more dangerously difficult with extra gear, such as a fanny pack, attached to your body. You won't see any experienced whitewater river runners sporting a fanny pack,, or responsible whitewater guides allowing the same. Any gun or other personal gear that needs to be carried should always be within the PFD. And adding non-buoyant weight also adds risk. So it's unlikely that anything larger than a PF9 or P365 would be a good choice, and reloads should be kept at a minimum or left entirely.

Now, if your story is based on bad decisions adding to troubles......flail away.

G43...or some version of it. Mag in gun, empty chamber while on the water, 2 reloads. Dale Frickie Zac triggerguard tied to something in the fanny pack. Fanny pack under the life jacket but where the pack clip could be unclipped if needed.

Where was Deliverance filmed?

If you want to die.

Never white watered, but have canoed some in fast rivers everything gets wet and might get lost. Wouldn't take anything steel like the SP101, any of the small compact 9mm's would be better. Put it in a Hill People Gear kit bag on his chest, if the guide hassles him about it, say it is for his insulin (even if not diabetic).

Smith and Wesson 642 5 shot 38 or a Glock 43 , 43x or 48 maybe even a 26 or 27. All of which are 9mm except the 27. At least one spare mag for the Glocks and a couple of speedloaders for the Smith.

I have one of the smaller HPG Kit Bags. I wouldn't wear it on my chest over or under the PFD, even for medical supplies. That's an invitation to either snag or cause improper PFD fit and defeat a rescue. There are plenty of PFD's with low profile pockets large enough for that.....or a small pistol. A decent guide would know this.

I carry my glock 19 and 1 extra mag when I'm otherwise unarmed in my kayak. No round chambered.

Thank you. Always best for clarification from someone who has actually done something.

All y'all know that Deliverance is fiction - not even good fiction - right?

I carry a small pistol in a pfd pocket. It's not there for while on the river so much as for the often sketchy takeout locations. I have the option of transferring the pistol to a pants pocket or other gear when hiking at intermediate points. The rivers are never salt water, so rust isn't an issue in any of the stainless pistols. Keep it lubed and out of the mud, and you're GTG.

Fwiw, Kevin Bacon used what looks to be a 3" Model 66 RB.








It should be noted that Meryl Streep eventually shot him with it, proving that it did work when wet...

My white water and canoe weapon is a Ruger LCR 357 mag and kydex holster. Only modification I made to the pistol was to install an XS big dot sight.

I'm going to assume your tongue is firmly planted in cheek.

I think a modicum of plausibility will be all you need unless it becomes an essential part of the story.

Yes, that would definitely be a valid assumption.

Sig Sauer P226 MK25.

Made for wet.

I’ve done the waist pack thing for years. Unless said waistpack is big enough to be clumsy and also scream GUN to anyone familiar a Ruger 101, S&W j-frame AND a water bottle ain’t gonna all fit in, let alone three reloads. Weight is critically important too and any stainless revolver is going to be on the porky side.

Same thing is true of the higher capacity compact nines (P365, Taurus G2 etc). Single stack magazine 9mm like the Ruger EC9 or Glock 43 come closer to what you want. As do Airweight jframe revolvers.

For the deep concealment your scenario presents tho you’re gonna have to move down to at most a .380. Smallest and lightest would be a Ruger LCP (7+1 rounds). Marginally bigger with better sights and easier to shoot would be the LCPII (10+1 rounds). Next up in size would be the Glock 42 (6+1 rounds).

I’d give your character an LCP II and one extra magazine. Both would disappear into a dry pocket, wet clothes would be more problematic unless the LCP were concealed in a pocket holster resembling a wallet in outline. Failing that a pocket in his or her life jacket might work.

He must be afraid of banjos. 😳