I personally think that you can't go wrong with any of the pistols that you mentioned, all of them are great. One thing that I would take into account that there are some significant differences in the pistols that you named. Do you prefer the heavy reliable feel of an all metal gun, or do you enjoy the light and sturdy feel of polymer frames. Do you prefer model 1911's, or some of the "less traditional" designs? If you are more interested in a range gun, or something like shoots that will require accuracy, I'd recommend something near a 5" barrel. Although this could be a bit bulky if you're carrying, for what your main purposes are, you'd probably find alot of use for the extra inch of barrel. In all metal guns, I think that Kimber makes some beautiful pistols that shoot quite accurate and reliably. As far as polymer frames go, I think that the XD is the best bang for your buck over a glock. I could be a bit biased because I do own an XD 45, but I did check out other pistols before I decided on an XD.
Something else to consider is that some pistols like the Kimber come with fully adjustable sights like Bo-mar or Dawson sights, which you might find quite useful for the purposes you stated. If you were going with a "cheaper" pistol like a Glock or XD, you could customize the trigger, and have whatever sites you wanted installed, and still be under your $1,000 price range. I'd just consider some of those things. Best of luck to you, and holler if there's any other recomendations I can offer.
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