Background: So, I received a carry license about 7 years ago, but have been consistently carrying for 5 months. I like to think I’ve learned a good bit through both research and trial & error. This is not to say that I know it all, or even that I know a lot about carrying. I thought it might be worthwhile to share a few of those lessons learned thus far, though I’m sure most people on here have either had similar experiences, or are about to. Additionally, as pretty much everything I’m about to write is subjective, your mileage may vary, but these are the ground truth in my experiences.First off, a little about me. I’m a military member with over a dozen years in the service. I like to think that I’m fairly competent with firearms, but am no means an expert. I’ve been able to carry off-and-on since I’ve had my license, depending on my duty station. Some areas were less permissive than others. I’m not a string bean and have broad shoulders, but honestly, I could probably afford to lose about 5-15 lbs before I started noticing it on my major lifts (weightlifting). I currently live in what is considered a very liberal town and is not the friendliest to CCWers, so proper concealment is important. Additionally, because of the nature of my job, there are a lot of times & areas where I’m prohibited to carry by some law or another. My CCW is a Springfield XDm .45 3.8” compact.Holsters:IWB:Galco Kingtuk: When I first started carrying, I bought a Galco KingTuk from the same store I got my pistol. I thought I knew quite a bit of pistols because of my job, but after a while I realized that my KingTuk exposed about a third of my trigger well and actually realized how dangerous that was. Also, the KingTuk had metal clips. While durable and they worked well, I noticed that the metal clips and their sharp edges were harsher on my belt, clothing and even my leather car seats. That said, I’ve heard great things about Galco, but I was surprised they let a holster leave the factory with such a glaring fault. My bad for not catching it before really reading up on Reddit and then noticing it.AlienGear: I decided to try another hybrid holster and went for the AG Cloaktuck 3.0 because I liked their pricepoint and there was plenty of positive reviews. Of course I saw the negative ones as well, but thought I’d roll the dice because I’d heard such good things about their customer service. You can check my post history for the specific details about the experience, but it wasn’t good. My first holster had a cracked shell. After several tries, I got a customer service representative to ship me a new one. That one completely exposed the trigger. Sent it all back, but still had to eat the shipping money back and forth.Stealthgear USA: I finally bit the bullet and went to the other end of the spectrum. I got a SGUSA Onyx and absolutely love it. I typically wear it at about 3:00-3:30. I’ve tried wearing it closer to 4:00 or 5:00, but find that it keeps pulling the back of my pants down, even with a good gun belt. This may be partially due to the nearly 2lbs of weapon & ammo. The holster though is top-notch and I can’t recommend it enough. General IWB Thoughts: Obviously a good belt is key. This type of carry seems to be about the fastest (tied with AIWB). Sitting isn’t as uncomfortable as I’d thought, even at 4:00 or 5:00. Bending over, even with a compact gun though, will definitely print if you don’t have some drapey overgarments.AIWB:Clinger Atom: First off, I would tell anybody not to pay much for an all-kydex holser. The material doesn’t cost too much and it’s not hard for the manufacturer to make them once they get the blue gun. When I see holsters retailing for $65-100 for a piece of folded plastic and a clip, I can’t help but roll my eyes. That said, when I saw Clinger was selling the Atom holster for $20 plus shipping with a lifetime warranty, I jumped at the opportunity. After like 6 weeks, I got the holster and tried it out. I found that the grip kind of stuck-out and it was pretty uncomfortable to sit with. I ordered a G-Code angled clip and installed it and it made a world of difference. Not only did it make it ride higher (WAY more comfortable), it kept the grip closer to the body. I highly recommend this combination for anybody considering AIWB.Belly Band: I got the AlphaHolster Bellyband for like $17 so I could carry in track pants and gym shorts. After waring it for a bit, I gotta say that I love it. It’s cheap and effective. I tried pulling the trigger through the fabric (with the mag removed and chamber cleared of course) and no dice, especially with the XDm’s trigger and grip safety. I have no safety concerns about the fabric bellyband holster. I can wear it in the appendix position, but I find that it really shines when worn higher with the gun under the arm. That said, this is going to be a lot harder to draw from, so it won’t be my EDC, go-to setup. It is great though for sportswear or deep concealment. It’s probably the most comfortable and discrete way to carry.OWB:Springfield Paddle Holster: Admittedly, I’ve only used this a couple times because of it’s likelihood to be seen and it’s lack of retention. This is also extremely comfortable, since you don’t have to adjust your pants and don’t have metal against your skin. But… as with paddle holsters, you run the issue of drawing the holster out as well, and have the other concerns I mentioned.2. BeltThe belt is extremely important, as mentioned on here. Thoughts are below.Rigger’s Belt: I’ve tried carrying with our standard-issue nylon web belt. These belts are great because they are easy to adjust, easy-on, easy-off, and hold equipment relatively well. That said, they aren’t design to support the weight of a firearm alone, but I find it is manageable with the right clip in the right location.Walmart Special: This thing straight up sucks for carrying. Get a real belt.Hank’s: I got a Hank’s Amish belt as well. It’s great for carrying…but I’m realizing that I don’t like forcing myself to the specific holes. I find that most times, carrying or not, where I need the belt is somewhere between the holes punched out. When I wear it, I’m forced to carry it to tight, which hurts…or carry it too loose, which is annoying (and maybe dangerous). What I’d really like is a completely adjustable leather belt. I’m not a big fan of concealed carrying while wearing a tactical g-hook or nylon belt or something. I wear enough military gear and want to look like a civilian when I’m wearing civilian clothes.Training: - CPL Course: The CPL course I took, ran by two Michigan State Police officers was top-notch. I learned a ton about the legal considerations, principals of self-defense and different types of handguns. Can’t recommend it highly enough. That said, it was only 8 (valuable) hours.Other training: The training I get in the military is somewhat relevant to concealed carrying, but it doesn’t directly transfer. The principals of self-defense while carrying are very different than those while carrying an M9 in a drop-leg SERPA as a BUG. Invest in some real training and go shooting. I try to shoot at least once a month. I found, disappointingly, that shooting my XDm was not the same as shooting my M9. I’ve got a lot of work to do to get the same level of proficiency.Firearms: Your selection of firearm has a lot to do with how you’re going to carry. You have to make decisions about concealability vs. comfort & capacity. I originally used an XDm 9mm full-size with 19 round magazines. I ended up trading for a .45 compact version, primarily because the full-size XDm printed way too much for during IWB carry. Having the bigger round is comforting, even at the lack of capacity though. I traded 39 rounds of 9mm (two mags) for 24 rounds of .45ACP (two mags). I lost almost half of the capacity, but I bought concealability and a little more firepower, a tradeoff that only pains me when I have to buy ammo.Concealing: - Factors: I’ve found that there are three huge factors when it comes to concealing the firearm. The grip length, the width, and the weight, in that order. When discussing comfort, the slide length becomes a factor, especially when talking AIWB. The grip length is what will likely give you away. It’s what is really going to be protruding from the firearm, especially when bending over. Standing up with AIWB, with a tighter fitting shirt, it’s what is going to appear to be sticking out. Your width is going to affect your pants bulge. My wife tells me that my hips look really wide when carrying at 3:00 or 3:30, especially on the side the gun is on. A thinner gun will help with this. With my Hank’s belt (it has an enormous buckle on the front), if I wear my thick XDm at 12:00, with the front buckle, I have about 5 inches of ‘stuff’ sticking out from the front of my body. I can rotate the buckle over the side, but than if my shirt rides up it all, it’s going to draw attention, since my shiny belt buckle isn’t where people would expect it to be. Lastly, weight is a factor because it’s going to cause your belt/pants to sag, no matter how good your belt. If you have a full-size 1911, gravity is going to do it’s thing and pull your garments down. This can catch the eye, especially with tighter clothing. This leads me into my next section:Clothing: When they say you have to dress around the gun, they mean it. Unless you already wear baggier pants, or are planning on carrying a derringer, prepare to change your style. I have typically worn tighter (not skinny jeans) fitted pants since my wife likes the thighs (weird, right?), and have typically worn fitted shirts, because hey, what good is this bench press if I can’t look all swoll? I have yet to find a technique, other than the belly band, that lets me carry in my favorite outfit of jeans and a fitted t-shirt. Maybe I need a Shield or even an LCP, but the XDm just won’t do, whether AIWB or IWB. There’s no getting around it. I either need to wear higher-rise jeans and a looser t-shirt, or wear a jacket or hoodie to properly feel like I’m concealing with either of those techniques. Now that summer is here, I’m looking to buy a little bit looser clothing, but am also thinking about finding a pocket pistol or a smaller single-stack to see if that will help.Restricted Areas Like I mentioned, there are a lot of places I can’t carry during my day-to-day life. Schools, bases, etc. I find, most of the time unfortunately, that I need to go unarmed with a firearm. I also EDC a knife, pepper spray and a flashlight. I attempt to make eye contact with everyone I pass on the street, and check their hands, face and shoes. When in a room, I make sure I find all the entry and exit points and sit somewhere that I can observe them and escape/attack easily if I need to. Unfortunately for me, getting caught breaking the law while carrying would probably be a career-ender, so it’s not an option. I also don’t like the idea, because as CCWers, we try to portray ourselves as law-abiding citizens, so getting busted not following the rules would only hurt the cause.When I can’t carry someplace, but I have the weapon with me, I’ll likely leave it in the car. When I do this, I typically secure it in the glovebox and lock it, than activate the locks on my car with the car alarm. Another potential problem is impromptu drinks with friends. If this ever happens (it’s rare), I keep the original gun case in the vehicle. I’ll unload the firearm, store the ammo in the glove compartment, put this pistol in the case, lock it with a padlock and secure it under the back seat. In MI, this is now ‘transporting’ instead of ‘carrying’. Otherwise, I have to have under a .02 BAC. That said, I don’t believe in mixing alcohol with firearms, anyways.Open Carry: I don’t do it. I understand the reasons for it, but it’s not my cup of tea. In MI, you can open carry without a license. The only caveat is that some of the restricted areas for concealed carry are only available for open carry if you have a CPL. So, if I’m walking with my son, and we have to cross a school playground (on the weekend or at night – not when school is in session), I’ll brush my shirt or jacket back to expose the gun so I’m on the right side of the law. I think this is ass-backwards, but it’s the way it is.Carrying spare magazines: I bought an IWB mag carrier from Foxx Holsters. The quality is great, but wearing the mag and the pistol IWB makes the jeans a little tight. I’ll run that setup if it’s not feasible to throw the mag in the pocket or carry it OWB, but it’s not comfortable, and I’m too cheap to keep two sets of pants for concealed carry and not-carrying. Also, if my hips looked wide with just the pistol, I look like I got them child-bearn’ hips with both. The alternative is carrying the mag in the pocket, though it’s kind of a pain with a double-stack .45, or I carry it in a cheap light holster I found at Lowe’s. This works well, but it IS big and can draw some attention.That’s everything I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to ask questions and I’m sure a lot of the more-experienced folks on here can weigh in as well.EDIT: Clarification & grammar. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/1W1eMoG
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