Headed out for an overnight camping trip with the wife tomorrow and don't want to deal with carrying a big gun. I'm trying to decide between these two...save a few ounces and take the 360J in .38+p, or opt for the 640 in .357 mag which has better sights and a tad more barrel length, but adds about half a pound when my goal is to keep it trim. On the static range in ideal conditions at least, my performance with both is about the same. What say the forum?

One for her, one for you is what I do.

quote:

Originally posted by stiab:
One for her, one for you is what I do.

If only I could convince her to carry. She has zero problem with me doing it, but also has zero interest in partaking herself.

The lighter one.
-Assuming your skills are similar they are both going to be about equally effective.
-While the sights on the 640 are a boon at any likely SD ranges with a snubby I don’t think they are a game changer.
-Since you are camping and probably hiking, ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain is a very true.
-If I was going add the weight of the 640 I think I’d rather just bring a larger more capable piece of tactical Tupperware all things considered. That’s not to say I don’t think a J frame isn’t a perfectly viable self defense option I just think once you start getting into the all steel weight guns something like a Glock 26’ish or small single stack option starts looking better.

And that is my completely unprofessional, low speed, high drag, idjit on the internet opinion and we all know what opinions are like.

Safe fun trip to you and yours.

Airweight

I will swim upstream and go with .357 for more power. May come in handy. Shave weight with some of your other gear.

360J.

I'd definately want .357 in the woods over .38 special.

I have both of the j frames you show. The 640 is pretty much my daily carry but I bought a titanium cylinder from Brownells for my 360j and that has become my “ I’m too lazy to put a holster on” gun. I have shot exactly 5 .357s thru it just to make sure I could hit something with it, but normally shoot .38s if I’m target shooting. Camping or hiking I’d probably pick the 640 pro because I’d have a holster on. The 360js never got the love they deserve in J frame world for some reason.

I ended up bringing the 640. We're at Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern lower-peninsula Michigan, and I remembered before we left that they have bears here, so the extra punch of the .357 is nice.

We spent most of the afternoon tubing the Platte river, which was beautiful but crowded. We didn't see any bears...just some drunks and a bunch of people smoking dope, but apart from one guy who was kinda being an ass, everybody was pretty chill and having a pretty good time.

It's a good thing the 640 is stainless. A huge storm just rolled in and we discovered that the rain fly on our 17 year-old tent is pretty much worthless. Water was coming right through the seams and pouring into the tent. I had a construction tarp in the car, so I ran out in the rain and slid it up under the rain fly. So the tent is holding up the tarp, the tarp is keeping the rain out, and the "rain fly" is holding the tarp on. I got soaked, but at least we managed to keep most of the stuff in the tent dry. Hopefully this hodge-podge hillbilly contraption holds for the rest of the night.

This was supposed to be just a quick one-night getaway for me and the wife, and we decided to cheap out and just drive the car instead of using the gas to bring the truck and trailer all the way up here. Kinda regretting that decision at the moment .

The 640 is a great choice for defense from the 2 and 4 legged kinds of animals.

'Everything's better when wet" --- Stevie Guitar Miller

I'am looking out over the corn and bean fields of north western Illinois.
Contemplating a worst case scenario.
Either choice will be fine just fine, I am sure.

Are you not experiencing the Canada smoke there?

Beautiful 640. 640 all the way with appropriate wilderness ammo (JSP, maybe 140 XPB, extreme penetrator).

Glad you figured it out and I would have opted for the 640 too.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I'am looking out over the corn and bean fields of north western Illinois.
Contemplating a worst case scenario.
Either choice will be fine just fine, I am sure.

Are you not experiencing the Canada smoke there?

Here in south central PA. we have had numerous Code Orange and Code Red air quality alerts the past 4 weeks due to the Canadian wild fires.
It's all over the place!

No noticeable smoke at Sleeping Bear, but we had a pretty steady southwest wind most of the time, so it was probably pushing it away. We haven't had any at home for a few weeks, but back in June it was really bad.

We survived the night. Tarp kept us dry, even if it did make our campsite look a bit like a homeless encampment. We tubed the Crystal River this morning. It was a nicer environment than the Platte....less people and more of a wilderness feel. There were a lot more trees and other obstructions to navigate around, but it was still really nice and relaxing. We'll probably take the kids back and do it again sometime.

The 640 lived in my HPG kit bag most of the trip, and I didn't really notice the weight at all. I had no regrets about not opting for the airweight. Thankfully I didn't have any need to use it, either.

Our homeless camp:




Didn't really get any pics of the tubing because of left my phone in the car, but this is the Crystal river. Absolutely gorgeous, clear water:



Lake Michigan from Sleeping Bear Point:

Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing them.

Did you kick a brown bear in the nuts and take his salmon?

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
Did you kick a brown bear in the nuts and take his salmon?

I was hoping for the opportunity, but it never presented itself. Maybe next month in Alaska...I'll be sure to have Noah take video .

That commercial is so old, and yet still so awesome. I think the first time I saw it I was in high school!