Having regularly carried a concealed handgun for almost 30 years, I have to agree with Funk's assessment.
There are those that maintain that you should carry the same gun in the same manner all the time. This makes sense on a theoretical level because all your training and practice are aimed at that same setup; and so you will exhibit a greater proficiency and won't suffer any momentary confusion about where is your gun or differences in operation should you have to use it. But this often breaks down in a real world because different seasons, different clothes, different environments, different threats, etc., change what, where and how you can carry a gun upon your person. The most basic is seasonal changes between cold weather (which makes it easier to carry larger handguns) and warmer weather with more abbreviated clothing. It can also change between work and more casual settings (e.g., business attire or a uniform at work versus casual clothes in the evening or weekend) or activities (e.g., gym or exercise, regular everyday activities, the late night run to the convenience store, hiking or hunting in bear country, etc.). And I'll admit that there are times when civil unrest was widespread when I opted for something more powerful or with greater magazine capacity.
The closest I came to having the same gun and same carry method all the time was for the years that I carried a 5-shot snub nose revolver almost all the time, whether under a suit coat or sports jacket during the work week or a loose button up shirt at other times. This set up also worked well for several years when carrying my Beretta 84 in a shoulder holster. I would sometimes carry different weapons, but I probably carried the J-frame or, later, the Beretta, about 90% of the time. Now I tend to have one handgun that I typically carry at work and another handgun that I use when dressed casually. Again, however, these two handguns and the methods I use to carry them suffice for 90% or more of the time.
Funks assessment, and I've this echoed by other gun writers and trainers, is that a carry rotation dictated by circumstances such as I've outlined above are acceptable, but it is unwise and counterproductive to change up guns based simply on mood or for the sake of carrying different weapons.
VIDEO: "Should You Have a Carry Rotation?"
hrfunk (8 min.)
I used to do the seasonal rotation thing...grudgingly carrying a Ruger SP101 in hot weather for the reasons of concealment under skimpy Summer clothing. Back then I saw it as a compromise. Funny thing is that I eventually found it hard to put the snub nose back in the drawer when the warm weather returned. I ditched my full size Winter carry pistol and started carrying the SP101 year around. For me, comfort and conceal-ability ended up overriding capacity.
ReplyDeleteEDIT: I meant to say "when the COLD weather returned"
DeleteThat was me as well. I started out thinking I needed something larger and more powerful for winter but realized that what I really needed was something I could still easily access.
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