When it comes to carrying a tool for personal protection whether it be a gun, knife, or flashlight we like to sort things using these four considerations. –
Selection– based on your intended application and personal requirements what works best. In the case of a handgun considerations such a job, wardrobe, and daily activity /environment are factors. A fella who drives a truck all day vs a guy who works in a “no guns allowed” office setting are going to have different needs. You’ll notice we have not even mentioned make, model, and caliber yet. That would be putting the cart before the horse.
Carry– taking the above points into consideration, how are you going to carry the gun. In the case of the armed citizen, you have to view your live in percentages. You need a primary way to carry the gun, a secondary way to carry the gun, and the open option. For instance, my primary mode of carry is on my strong side hip, my secondary is in a shoulder rig, and open option is on my ankle. Carrying a snubbie on the hip usually only requires a t-shirt for concealed carry, but what if I have a tucked in shirt, then I go to a shoulder rig and vest/jacket. Since I wear pants all the time, if it is super-hot outside and I am in a tucked in shirt then it’s ankle carry. The goal is to have options that allow you to carry your gun of choice 100% of the time. Here at TT we are not proponents of carrying a different gun every day, or special occasion dinner pistols for showing off. Consistent carry and training with a primary and a backup gun can be lifesavers.
Deployment– this is the rub with the majority of people. Deployment has two components: when & how. This takes the biggest time investment and requires us to be humble about our capabilities. There is no such thing as rising to the occasion, you will absolutely default to the level of your training. There are only two ways I know of to gain this knowledge and ability and that is experience and realistic training. Today we are talking about carry options, and the first thing we need to understand that there are more carry options than deployment options. Time and opportunity are requirements to draw a firearm. The vast majority of traditional handgun training fails to comprehend this, and many long-time practices ignore it all together. Our goal is using our knowledge of what really happens during a self-defense shooting scenario and using everything we can to tip the scales in our favor before and after we have to pull the trigger.
Use– what you do with the gun after its from tactics to pulling the trigger. You can have a $2000 1911 or a Hi-Point, in a $200 custom sharkskin holster, or and Uncle Mikes #5 holster, if you can’t deploy it, it is worthless. Now onto carry vs deployment options.
The two concerns when it comes to choosing carry & deployment options are deployment from disadvantaged positions such as sitting, bent over, crouching, flat on your back on the ground or against a wall, or on your hands and knees. The other is in-fight access, this is being able to deploy your gun after being physically attacked.
Stong side hip carry– this is where even non gun folks would think to carry a gun. It is the most popular way to carry, but in actually it may be one of the worst taking into consideration disadvantaged positions and in-fight access. It can be enhanced by carrying the gun at the 3 0’clock over the pants seam (as uniformed police do). But the truth is that concealed carry in that position can be uncomfortable. This is the reason most move it to the 4’clock-430 position. If you’re like me and drive a lot, being right-handed (like 94% of the people in North America) this means that your seatbelt is buckled over the gun and concealment garment. Deploying the gun requires you to first pop your seatbelt and if possible, to get out of the vehicle. Standing still upright was the intended draw position. To deploy without exiting the vehicle will require the shooting to rotate sharply to the left on their hip to allow deployment. Practicing this with a Blue Gun is a humbling experience, much less doing it live, which few people have access to a place that allows such realistic things. Rule #1 of vehicle tactics is that if the vehicle cannot be moved you need to get out right away, a stationary vehicle is a bullet magnet.
If you end up with your back against the wall, or floor, whether the gun is at 3 ‘clock to 4;30 you will be unable to draw the gun because your elbow cannot travel to the rear. Again, you will have to pivot hard on your left hip to create the space needed to draw. Not only does this require forethought and practice it also requires open hand combative to give your attacker something to think about as you draw. As a rule, and tool intended to be used to solve people problems should be carried in the front between the leg seams and support gear is to be carried behind the leg seams to the back. Putting your arms behind your back is unnatural and always a gamble during a fight.
If as you are wrestling around with an attacker and you suddenly make a move to draw your handgun, they are likely to instinctively track that and grab your right hand with their left hand, with no skill needed arm is likely to shoot the gap between you and your body, separating your hand from the gun. Now it is a real fight. If they have any level of open hand training the odds only increase that this will occur.
So, fare we have not even discussed what is needed to deal with concealment garments when drawing from hip carry. After trying everything over the years I now believe that you absolutely have to do two things to make deployment from the hip position dependable even if nobody is on top of you. The first is that you have to move hard left as you use both hands to hook and pull your concealment garment all the way up. Even doing this with a just a t-shirt you will find that every once in a while, you get a hand full of t-shirt, and if it happens in training it is 100 more times more likely to happen in real life. Better have some open hand skills to give you time and space to grab the gun with your left hand and then grab the grip again with your right. Some people will say but I have shirt/jacket/vest to conceal with. It doesn’t matter, your hand will end up over, not under the garment and you will have the same issue.
Do I still carry behind the hip most of the time? Yep, but I take the above into consideration and train to overcome it.
Shoulder carry– Since I most often carry a snub nose, this is one of my favorite ways to carry. When I was cop, I carried a Glock 19 this way off duty, working plain clothes, and at court. From a sitting position it really has no rival. Depending on how it fits you and whether or not you use tie downs with your rig it might flop around a bit, say if you are on your back. Our body’s natural instinct that forces us to put our arms up to protect our heads puts them in a great position to deploy out of a shoulder rig. In holster retention in a shoulder rig is about as natural as you can get. If you are getting pummeled about the face and head, it goes against instinct to reach down to your side, especially with your strong hand since it takes it away from defense. Working out of a shoulder rig requires a concealment garment and lots of practice.
Ankle– when people talk about how hard it is to deploy a gun from an ankle rig, they are of course talking about doing so while standing. Many have probably not used an ankle rig either. With the right rig and practice this very efficient especially when sitting. If I am going to be sitting a vehicle for a while, I pull up my pant leg to expose the pistol. It is surprisingly easy to draw if you are on your back, and actually gives you a great shot against an attacker coming towards you.
Crossdraw– This position has a lot to do with the size of the gun. Again, with a snubnose, the gun disappears under a t-shirt. The only position that offers better or the same in-fight access and deployment from disadvantaged positions is appendix carry which we will cover next. As with a shoulder rig some make a mountain out of a molehill due to reaching cross body. These are the same people who think that violent altercations will be stactic. This is a non-issue for me.
Appendix carry– last but not least. Way back in the early 2000’s I worked with Raven Concealment on what came to be one of the first popular Appendix carry rigs called the Apex. In those days when I was still a cop, I wore the Apex on and off duty with a Glock 19 and 1911. I was a thinner lad then. Now at 50 my lats have dropped to my waist. I can still do it, it just not as comfortable, and the older I get the more I seek comfort.
Based on the need for in-fight access and deployment from disadvantage position, immediate default targeting, retention and speed this is hands down the best carry option available. If I was a thinner man and had to carry a semiauto this would be my go-to.
There are many carry options, if it is not listed here, it is because I don’t view them as a viable carry/deployment option for a primary firearm that you may need to deploy in a real-world scenario.
In an upcoming article I will review some of my favorite holsters.