Despite years of discussions and agreements about limiting weapons in space, Soviet cosmonauts always reserved the right to include a triple barrel pistol in their Soyuz survival kits. Originally intended as protection against wolves and bears after a hypothetical touchdown in the Siberian wilderness, the TP-82 pistol also featured a folding stock that could be used as a shovel, and a hidden machete inside.While waiting for recovery on land, the pistol could be used for hunting, for defense against predators, or for firing distress signals. There were a few dozen rounds of three types of ammunition in the kit – rifle bullets, shotgun shells, and flares, all usable in the unique gun.
Armed and ready, just in case:
Anecdotal information indicates that Russian cosmonauts no longer take the all-in-one firearm onboard their spacecraft.
Soyuz survival kits contain food rations, water bottles, warm clothing, rope, fish hooks, and other miscellaneous survival gear. American Gemini and Apollo spacecraft carried similar kits.
It is believed that guns were first taken onboard Soyuz spacecraft after an off-course landing in March 1965. Depending on the source of the story, a Soyuz crew encountered wolves (or in some versions, a hungry bear) before the rescue chopper arrived.