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Yes, I am aware that many folks lack the same strong exit option as I have, due to their infirmities. I hope to retain the Nike defense as long as I can by not smoking and otherwise taking care of my heart, lungs and limbs.

All you old-timers with bad knees or lungs, or otherwise lacking good exit options, I support your decision to stand your ground and blast your adversaries to oblivion. (Or at least until they are "stopped.") I sincerely hope you experience your adversaries' slugs as wild or near misses, rather than graze wounds or direct hits. (Or better yet, you surprise them with the business end of your weapon of choice, they wet their pants and do their own escape, followed by your 911 call and brief visit by Baytown or a like-minded peace officer, and all ends well.)

one eyed fatman wrote:

My everyday choice in pants & footwear let me run, jump, climb chain-link fence, drive, etc,

You can do all this after eating BBQ? I'd rather sleep.

I have to admit I can get pretty filled up and tactically compromised at certain BBQ places that I refuse to name on a public forum. (Go ahead and call me paranoid if you like. )

In truth, I went home hungry after the HLSR BBQ contest. When I went there, every pavilion was invite-only. I had no such invitation, and the "free" BBQ they were serving up about 100 yds from the entrance did not look appetizing at all.

I checked out the BBQ contest a few days before the official start of HLSR. IIRC, I left my handgun in my locked vehicle, but boarded the bus in the satellite parking lot with a folding knife & pepper spray. While walking past security, I made sure they never saw anything that interested them, and I never had any type of incident.

As or more importantly, I was dressed in such a way, via my choice of pants and footwear, where my mobility was not compromised in any way. My everyday choice in pants & footwear let me run, jump, climb chain-link fence, drive, etc, without any problem whatsoever. My "Nike defense" (a rapid exit, which is what many of you would call retreat) is always my first option anyway, at least when I am out and about in public.

While I was at the BBQ and being herded around with everyone else, I remember thinking about the concept of exit/retreat and how it is so much more valuable and important when it is made more difficult in channelized space (think security gates, stop-and-go traffic, hallways and corridors, etc). It is especially important when you are disarmed, whether partially or completely, because at that point it is pretty much your only viable option if you are threatened.

In fact, taking things further, one could argue that you retreat/exit as you (hopefully) move around and/or seek ballistic cover during a gunfight to lessen the odds of your assailant's slugs/bullets from striking you. The way I see it, "retreat" is anything you do to distance yourself from any altercation or threat, and should ideally be a part of any response to a threat, perceived or real. "Retreat" is not only legally required in many situations, but frequently makes good tactical sense.

I guess I should let someone else steer this thread back to its original topic.