Here's my latest Michigan Firearms Examiner article about tips for concealed carry. This one talks about some solutions for hot weather carry.
Seven tips for summer concealed carry for CCW permit holders
If you missed them here are links to my earlier articles on concealed carry tips:
Advice to new concealed carry permit holders
Advice to new CCW holders: Part 2 - Carry like a pro
Five tips for CCW pocket carry
Rob Reed
NRA Certified Instructor (Pistol, PPITH)
SigArms Academy Certified Instructor (Pistol)
Graduate, LFI-1 & LFI-2
CCW classes and private instruction in the Metro Detroit and Lansing areas
Rob, I think your tips for new CPL holders/those new to the concealed carry world are right on target; I would only hope that at least some of these folks are actually part of the Gun Rights Examiner readership.
As far as summer carry tips, I'd perhaps take a bit of issue with numbers 3, 4 and 6, insofar as maybe there should be a recommendation to at least experiment at length with more effective modes of carry.
With the realization that the gun you have is better than no gun at all, I think your tips are in direct conflict with your previous "Carry like a pro" column. Few pros utilize minor caliber handguns as a primary handgun; pocket carry requires a small gun with an unwieldy, slow draw and as far as "going deep" ... again, you're advocating a very small handgun, presumably minor caliber, in a place where immediate access is virtually impossible.
Most experienced handgunners eventually happen upon a carry mode that facilitates carry of even a full-size (service size) handgun with good concealment, chambered in an adequate caliber, that's easily accessible.
As Clint Smith said, it's meant to be comforting, not comfortable. I don't know too many people who can't carry a decently-sized pistol or revolver either IWB or OWB while wearing shorts and a looser-fitting polo, tee or camp shirt during the hot summer months ...
(See this thread started by Armoredman -- he who lives in Arizona, where I used to live): http://www.gunrightsmedia.com/showth...ot-poorly-quot
Will
Everything I know about cops, their respect for the citizens of this country and its Constitution, as well as the state of policing in this country ... I learned from the Internet.
Hmmm... well, I'm a very inexperienced CCW'er, but in my limited experience, with the clothes I wear, pocket carry is at least as, if not more versatile than IWB, and no slower on the draw.As far as summer carry tips, I'd perhaps take a bit of issue with numbers 3, 4 and 6, insofar as maybe there should be a recommendation to at least experiment at length with more effective modes of carry.
With the realization that the gun you have is better than no gun at all, I think your tips are in direct conflict with your previous "Carry like a pro" column. Few pros utilize minor caliber handguns as a primary handgun; pocket carry requires a small gun with an unwieldy, slow draw and as far as "going deep" ... again, you're advocating a very small handgun, presumably minor caliber, in a place where immediate access is virtually impossible.
Of course, the qualifiers there may be all-important - "in my experience, with the clothes i wear". My job requires me to look "presentable", but not formal. I can sometimes wear jeans (but more normally wear khakis or cords), and can wear polo shirts rather than collared shirts, but do need to keep my shirts tucked in. So IWB has to be "tuckable", which makes access slower (and definitely more obvious) than putting my hand into my right pants pocket. I find I can "draw and point" pretty fast from nearly all the pants I wear regularly (and as I carry more I'm weeding out the ones that don't work). And the same for most of the shorts I might wear at the weekend.
I'm carrying a Smith and Wesson Model 38 (shrouded hammer) J-frame in a Blackhawk #5 pocket holster. $10 from WalMart and it works for me.
(Low capacity is the weakness, I know, but I'm just more confident and comfortable with a revolver. Carry load is Buffalo Bore standard pressure 158 gr LSWCHP, which is virtually identical to the classic "FBI load")
I'm a skinny, rather geeky, over-educated Englishman living in the small-town MidWest who believes in the 2nd Amendment and the RKBA... my existence messes with people's stereotypes :-)
A brit pocket carrying a J frame in corn country. You do like blowing up stereotypes don't you?
Paul
People have some respect for the complexity of technology. But almost every ignorant fool thinks he understands money and economics.
Well, I'm not a violent person, but i do enjoy stomping on stereotypes with the Cuban heels of my thrift-store Western boots while cursing them in my middle-class Southern English accent...Originally Posted by pmeisel
I'm a skinny, rather geeky, over-educated Englishman living in the small-town MidWest who believes in the 2nd Amendment and the RKBA... my existence messes with people's stereotypes :-)
Nice article! I've been carrying concealed in Alabama for over 20 years, but 'refresher reading' is always a good idea.
One more option: pouch carry. I work outdoors, and at one time I wore short-sleeved tuckable work khaki work shirts. In hot, humid, sweaty Alabama, anything in trouser pockets quickly get soaked in sweat, and can rub a rash on the legs. One solution was a belt pouch that I picked up at a surplus store. While compact, it was large enough for all my pocket stuff including a coin-holder, pocketknife and billfold, with room for a snub revolver (in a holster). I've also seen pouches with two compartments, so one could keep the gun away from the other 'stuff'. Though I was kidded about my 'colostomy bag', no one ever realized that there was a gun in there.
Nowadays, I wear light-colored BDU-cut coats, so everything goes into coat pockets w/o problem.
Powder smoke- The smell of FREEDOM!
I don't shoot to kill; I shoot to LIVE!
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