Speaking of rotation
In this post on my diversified carry options, a few people commented and emailed me that I should carry one gun. Notably, this post that I’ve linked to before because it has some great advice. The trouble with that is that not all of us are pistol instructors. I don’t get up every day, throw on my tactical pants and shoot me first vest and head out to earn a living. I work in, mostly, professional environments that actually have some semblance of dress requirements that preclude me from going heeled in some cases or limit my options in others.
I’d love to get up every day, toss on my over-sized belt and load it up with a full-sized M&P, two extra magazines, a knife, flashlight, a multi-tool, last ditch knife, some Fox OC, climb on board my pet rhino, and go about my day knowing I had all my bases covered when it came to self defense. But it doesn’t work that way.
A button down shirt and khakis or a polo shirt and pants aren’t very tactical. And aren’t conducive to the use one gun plan. Don’t get me wrong, using one gun is a great plan and, if you can, do it. But for some of us, it doesn’t work. Pocket carry sucks but a gun is better than none, so I go with what fits depending on circumstances.
YMMV.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:57 am
The only reason you don’t carry the same gun in the same spot no matter your style of dress is a lack of commitment on your part.
I’ve carried a Glock 30 for 10 years IWB at 3:30 no matter what I’m wearing.
A suit and tie, business casual (shirt tucked in), pants and an untucked shirt, shorts and an athletic shirt while biking or what not, pretty much everywhere I go regardless of what I choose or have to wear.
Belly bands, shirt tucker IWB, regular IWB, once in a blue moon OWB. But always in the same place, and always the same gun (or at least a Glock, once in a while a 19 or 21).
The mind is a terrible thing to let get in the way.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
It’s those buttons that get you shot. Try a spread collar in your rotation. Tactical plackets rock, too. That “fruit loop” on the back pleat? Death sentence.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Thankfully my work lets me dress in jeans and a Chamois shirt over a T-shirt. Essentially the same stuff I was wearing every day in Pittsburgh…or any other day blog people will see me.
I generally just carry one gun, but I have been known to carrying My 1911Sc Commander and my Kahr PM45 with reloads for each.
Not a ninja thing, just practical. Also I don’t wear a belt, so I have no idea how those things work.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Amen, Brother Uncle!
The purpose of concealed carry is to Carry A Gun so it’s there when you need it…not Make A Statement about your tactcoolness.
The more we understand how we funky primates learn, the more we see that some of the more rigid mechanistic training “styles” don’t really work as well as advertised.
Train the basics; shoot the guns you carry; wear what you want.
Michael B
December 19th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Unc, FWIW I’m with you. I’ll get a picture of *my* diversity tomorrow – mine even includes wheelguns!
I’ve got a G30, Colt Officer’s 1911, or the 242 when I can wear a good cover garment (vest, sweatshirt, etc.). The S&W J-frames and Bodyguard 380 are for pocket carry, and the P3AT is when I really can’t carry a gun…
December 19th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I break gunnies into five levels:
0. They aren’t
1. They have a gun or two
2. They have a permit but don’t carry
3. They carry regularly
4. Guns are a primary focus of their life
The jump from 3 to 4 sometimes seems to trigger a certain rigidity in how other gunnies are perceived (e.g. TomcatTHC above). I’m comfortable in my #3 bucket. Sounds like you are too.
December 19th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
If people are griping about you not carrying the same gun, I can’t imagine what people would say about a guy like me who can’t carry to work every day. Stupid as the law/policy is, they will throw you in jail for a long time for bringing an unauthorized weapon onto a military base, so I just don’t do it for fear of federal pound me in the %&^ prison…
December 19th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
count me as standing behind unc on this one too. i OC a full size hk45 when not at work and conceal a karm pm9 when i am. i do like to make sure that i carry them in the same place though. the important part is to practice with both.
December 19th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
After you referred to carrying one gun, I thought that you were going to talk about carrying more than one gun “at a time”, just in case.
Do most concealed carry permits only allow you to carry one gun at a time or can you be a walking arsenal? See one of the Police Academy movies where they disarm each other as a prelude to getting the movie an R rating.
December 19th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
I’m not going overboard criticizing here, this isn’t the most important decision ever, but it seems to me that a man who has 3-7 carry guns is primarily looking for a reason to buy more guns. It’s like my girlfriend buying a new coat. Now she needs a new bag to go with it, and a new pair of shoes, and maybe some darling earrings. First you carry a gun that can only be concealed in one sort of outfit, then you get a new shirt, so you need a new gun, and perhaps a couple different holsters, but what if you want to ankle carry? And now your new weap is too heavy, so you need a new gun and so on.
Or, you could pick a gun that you can carry in every suit of clothes you own, and get the two or three holsters you need to do that, and call it a day. Does it make you better tactically? A tiny bit, I think, but that’s not the real reason. I’m a minimalist, I have a purpose for every gun. I don’t collect, I don’t hoard, I buy what I need, and I use it.
December 19th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
over-sized belt and load it up with a full-sized M&P, two extra magazines, a knife, flashlight, a multi-tool, last ditch knife, some Fox OC…
Whoa, that’s too damn much stuff, even with an oversized belt! I have one of those belts, I wanted to see what it was like – it weighs more than my pants and if I drop it the buckle could break my toe. Anyhow I live in a no-carry state so it doesn’t matter.
December 19th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
i used to have a whole safe full of pistols that i would stand in front of in the morning, agonizing over what to wear. IWB or pocket? belt holster? revolver or semi? it was aweful. in recent years i’ve come to the conclusion that i need just two pistols for concealed carry: a Glock 23 for IWB and a S&W stainless snubby for pocket carry. i can carry at work all day so i don’t have to figure out how to disarm suddenly and it really just becomes a matter of making one’s pistol part of one’s accouterments, much like a wallet or belt. i also vastly prefer to carry concealed. i don’t want the bad guys to know about my pistol until it is too late for them to do anything about it, which has happened a couple of times. the whole “open carry” business strikes me as particularly silly, but if one wants to be a target, go for it.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Sometimes I carry my Glock 19. Sometimes I carry my H&K Compact .45 USP. The H&K is almost identical in size to the Glock, so not much difference in bulk. What I carry depends on my mood. Also carry one magazine for whichever pistol I have and a Gerber folding pocket knife.
Carry what’s comfortable for you and ignore everyone else.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Ok I did not read the other comments, this time. So, I will just step off the plank, as it were. Look, Unc., if you want to move to a 9mm, I have been carrying a vz82 CZ for a couple of years. I will not recomend it to you, because you need a pocket carry option. I will, however, suggest a gun I wish I still had. A 3913 Ladysmythe. DAO. It would ride ISWB, like it wasn’t even there. Sort of a grown up version of a KAHR. I like Kahrs, too,BTW. Despite the ‘some young moonie’ connection.
December 19th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Also, don’t ignore a gun because of the ‘Ladysmythe’ on the frame. It is still a 9mm, and not a .380.
December 19th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Don’t discount carrying more than one “mouse gun”. I wear a tucked-in dress shirt w/ tie at work, but my pleated and cuffed trousers hide a keltec in a pocket holster and a j-frame Smith on my ankle. Ideal? No, but I’m ready to shoot whether standing (keltec) or seated (Smith).
December 20th, 2011 at 12:58 am
Man, some of y’all are unbelievable. It’s pretty obnoxious to suggest that just because I have a selection of carry guns, I’m not serious or well educated when it comes to self defense. It’s also, I should mention, a complete failure to understand the principle of a carry “rotation”.
I’m an extreme example but I have seven guns that fill different roles. Glock 17 (primary carry, weaponlight), Glock 19 (concealment when printing matters, weaponlight), BHP (summer open or concealed carry), Kahr P9 (motorcycle jacket carry, deep concealment, console gun, hiking backpack gun), Ruger LCP (pocket gun, general BUG), S&W 657 (hiking gun when bears are up and about), Springfield XD45 45 Super (winter hiking gun). The potential threats I face can vary wildly within 30 miles of my home, and I live in an area with temperature and daylight extremes. And yes, guns are a primary focus of my life.
But I guess I’m just not committed to serious self defense. I mean, I can totally take down a charging grizzly with a well placed 124gr XTP, since shot placement is all that matters, right? Or maybe I should just carry my 41 Magnum loaded with 265gr hard cast everywhere I go, because if I have to shoot a mugger in downtown Fairbanks and the bullet goes through him and two more bystanders before burying itself in a wall, well shit, they were probably his backup anyway, right?
Firearms are tools. You match the tool to the job. I own, let’s see… at least twelve different types of hammer. They all are designed to do the same thing (hammer stuff) in different, specialized ways. I choose the tool suited to the job at hand. I wouldn’t pick up a tack hammer to drive a wedge, and I wouldn’t use a dead blow to drive a nail. My choice of carry guns follows the exact same principle. I wouldn’t carry a 380 pocket gun in bear country any more than I would carry a 454 Casull in a densely populated area.
Yes, I would like a little more standardization. I’d really like to replace my XD45 with my Glock 20. To do so I’d need new dies, more 10mm brass, an aftermarket barrel, new sights, weaponlight holster, mag carrier, and other shit. Pros: good trigger, grip angle and controls the same as my primary carry pistols. Cons: not as easy to use with heavy gloves, and it will cost me a shitload of money that I just don’t have. Cons win, the XD stays for the foreseeable future.
As Uncle says, not all of us have a uniform lifestyle. My carry needs when I’m riding around on a motorcycle in summer are WILDLY different than when I’m hiking in the bush, or when I need to conceal a firearm on my person to eat at a restaurant that serves alcohol. The fact is, because I can tailor my equipment to the task, I’m better armed than someone who just carries the same gun everywhere no matter what.
December 20th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
“A button down shirt and khakis or a polo shirt and pants aren’t very tactical. And aren’t conducive to the use one gun plan.”
Not true. As I write this I’m at my job in a law office dressed in khakis, a button down, and a sweater. I also happen to have a P30 carried AIWB, a spare mag in a horizontal mag carrier, a Ka-Bar TDI carried IWB behind my belt buckle, and a S&W 649 on my ankle.
I carry this same setup every day, everywhere.
December 20th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
and a sweater
Ding ding 🙂
December 20th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I’m with Unc on this one. I am a retail manager. I have to bend, twist, stretch, kneel, crouch, walk, climb ladders, crawl under counters and sit on the floor. All with customers, employees, and other managers in close proximity.
Under those circumstances anything but a mouse gun in your pocket will print, and print very obviously. Since the corp. has a “no guns for employees, ever!” rule, even the slightest hint that I am carrying will get me fired. Our required dress code is a tucked in polo shirt and dress pants.
Rather than be unarmed, I carry a .32NAA in a pocket holster at work, and switch to my fullsize .40 PX4 in a shoulder holster in the lot before driving the 45 minutes to my home. When I am not working or planning on driving a lot I carry a compact .40 PX4 IWB.
December 20th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
A tuckable holster works when it’s too warm for a sweater
December 21st, 2011 at 9:30 am
weambulance,
Have you thought about the Rowland conversion for the XD, instead of going to 10 mm?