TexasCHLforum.com

So I got my CHL yesterday.

Seems like many of you who, like me, waited 100+ days, were really eager to get the plastic in the pocket and the gun on the hip and go out to Wal Mart.

I got home from work (on my bike), took a shower and then put on jeans and a loose-ish t-shirt, figuring, hey maybe we go somewhere and I can carry!

But no. We did run a couple of errands, but there was no point in trying to carry. With just a T-shirt and my old Crossbreed, the grip of my SW9VE was going to stick out like mad and I'd have to be constantly bird-dogging the back of my shirt to make sure it didn't hang up on the grip of the gun. As we were about to leave the house, I kind of halfway thought about dumping the belt and putting on the Smartcarry but it would be just another concealment problem only on the opposite side of my body than the problem brought about with the Crossbreed.

So, my wife and I went to Blockbuster and HEB unarmed, like we have been doing for the past 16 years.

Again this morning I get up and since it's Tuesday, I am driving to work. I consider, maybe I can pick totally different clothes and get it to work. Cargo pants instead of jeans. A big loose t-shirt instead of one of the "normal" fitting ones I usually wear. You know one of those T-shirts I never want to wear because it feels like I have put on a tent. But then, reality strikes. No guns at work.

Tomorrow, I leave the house on my bicycle. We've beat that problem to death.

As I surveyed my closet last night in effort to see if anything would work for concealment, it became painfully clear that all but maybe one of my T-shirts won't work, most of my button-down shirts won't work (they are just too snug or the tail is too short). Once 95-degree highs are over with this year then I might be able to get appendix carry with the Smartcarry to work with some of these clothes if I am really picky, but since my weekend job involves a guitar right on top of the appendix carry position and my day job precludes carrying, it seems highly unlikely. Kind of like cell phone plans of the 90s, looks like I may be on the "nights and weekends plan".

So when am I going to carry?

Maybe when I get a pocket gun? Maybe only with off-body carry? I got a new messenger bag the other day. I guess I need to get a holster in it pronto.

I am planning to buy a Kahr CW9 as soon as I have the funds on hand (should be any day now!), which would certainly make this concealing job easier but maybe still highly difficult. The grip length is the problem with concealing in my case, at least for strong-side carry, and the Kahr is a little shorter in grip than my Smith. For appendix carry, it's the thickness of the SW9VE that is the problem so a CW9 would work great for that.

At least with a CW9 there's always the option of a grip chop to knock it down to PM9 height. Heck, a grip-chopped CW9 will fit in an angle rig!

I'm sure you've all gone through the same frustrations. I am just sharing :)

mr.72 wrote:I'm sure you've all gone through the same frustrations. I am just sharing :)

Not me. IMO, it's not a wardrobe problem. Your closet of clothes is similar to mine, and I have no problem finding outfits for carrying concealed. It sounds like you are having some other anxiety about carrying.

I think too many folks worry about a small bulge or corner of a handle printing and being 'made'. Remember, printing is NOT illegal and unless you can almost see the insignia on the grip printing through the material of your cover garment, 99.9% of the population will not even notice.

My suggestion is to take small baby steps and just observe the others around you. You will soon see they are oblivious to the fact you are carrying. Believe me, it gets much more comfortable and the anxiety level goes way down after the first time or two carrying.

Among all the 30.06 signs, employers who prohibit firearms or other weapons from the workplace and adjacent parking lots, and cultural pressures to conform to modern sartorial norms and reject private individual armament, it is a real challenge to carrying concealed in the 21st century real world, away from IDPA matches and gun ranges.

+1 on what Keith wrote. Just do the best you can with what you have and what you can afford. Keep at it, and the printaphobia will fade into the background. Remember that good awareness, avoidance, tact and tactics can be used with or without a gun on your belt or hidden in your pants. And congratulations on finally getting your plastic.

WildBill wrote:

mr.72 wrote:I'm sure you've all gone through the same frustrations. I am just sharing :)

Not me. IMO, it's not a wardrobe problem. Your closet of clothes is similar to mine, and I have no problem finding outfits for carrying concealed. It sounds like you are having some other anxiety about carrying.

Really?

It's an anxiety problem when the ENTIRE GRIP of the gun is exposed because the shirt tail hangs up over it?

You guys never cease to amaze me.

mr.72 wrote:I'm sure you've all gone through the same frustrations. I am just sharing :)You guys never cease to amaze me.

I am just sharing that I haven't had the same frustrations and find it hard to believe that you don't have just one shirt that you can wear. As you said you have had 100+ days to figure some of this stuff out.

If you had not thought about it or tried cc'ing in your home in the 100 plus days before the plastic arrived, then, you have to continue to be patient with yourself. I too wonder if it is more the fact you know you are carrying and feel others may be more perceptive than credit is due. The right belt, holster, carry position, cant, and activity can all impact both your physical and mental comforts.

From the sound of your wardrobe, it does not sound too different from mine either.
I hope your guitar job isn't in a bar where you likely cannot carry in the first place.

Take time to acclimate yourself. The WallyWalk as hokey as it sounds allows you a peak into the average humdrum of life. Most people just do not take the time to scan you over. Don't talk yourself into not carrying. Keep riding the horse...er cowhide.


Rok

mr.72 wrote:
You guys never cease to amaze me.

Thanks, we try.

personal attacks, aside, I went through similar stuff when I first started carrying, a few years ago. I've seen your wardrobe, you can do it, even with that monster S&W (I carry one, occasionally, too). you just have to make sure the shirt tails come down over your jean line. carry around the house every second you can, and get used to fixing your shirt as you stand up.
unless you're wearing those emo pants that dudes borrow from their sister, you should be alright. you don't have to pull'em up to your belly button, neither. Once you get your Kahr, this is all going to get a lot easier.

mr.72 wrote:

WildBill wrote:

mr.72 wrote:I'm sure you've all gone through the same frustrations. I am just sharing :)

Not me. IMO, it's not a wardrobe problem. Your closet of clothes is similar to mine, and I have no problem finding outfits for carrying concealed. It sounds like you are having some other anxiety about carrying.

Really?

It's an anxiety problem when the ENTIRE GRIP of the gun is exposed because the shirt tail hangs up over it?

You guys never cease to amaze me.

Well I can tell this is going to be another constructive post. Anyway here is my thoughts.

Trust me there is not going to be a big neon sign above your head that says look at me I have a gun. The first day I carried out of the house I thought I looked like a dear in the head lights. My Beretta felt about as big as a civil war cannon. The lady behind the counter at a gas station probably thought I was high or something. Here is a little something that might help. I have a saying that I tell girls that I have let ride with me on my Motorcycle in the past. It goes like this.

Get on,
Sit down,
Shut up,
Hang on.

Change it up a little bit and it can be applied to Conceal Carry.

Put it on,
Cover it up,
Leave it alone,
Walk on.

If someone ask you about the bulge in on you hip just tell them it’s your PDA(Personal Defense Accessory). Technically you would not be lying and they will take it as that.

As for the issue of the grip sticking out try moving it forward on the waist a bit more and give it a little bit more forward cant. That might help.

Thanks Wildscar, I think more forward cant would help, and shirts with a longer tail will help. Shirts with more rigid fabric compared to these thin Old Navy T-shirts will also help.

Unfortunately my holster is not adjustable for cant. I am not a huge fan of the clips anyway, so I might order some clips from Comp-Tac with multiple holes, drill out the rivets holding this holster's clips on and then use Chicago screws to affix the clips so that I can adjust the ride height and cant. About an inch more ride height and a few degrees more cant would probably go very far towards fixing the grip sticking out issue, but I am not sure how the change to the angle of the muzzle will be affected. Just have to try it and see.

And FWIW I did carry around the house for a long time. I just got this new (used) holster last Friday, but I carried with my other two holsters around the house and determined that one holster was never going to work right and the other (Smartcarry) will work only part of the time. The Crossbreed is in the chain of trying to find one that will work.

BTW DoubleJ that vid you saw of me is with one of the loosest shirts I own. :) No prob concealing under THAT one. It's the other two dozen in my closet that are going to be the problem areas.

mr.72 wrote:About an inch more ride height and a few degrees more cant would probably go very far towards fixing the grip sticking out issue, but I am not sure how the change to the angle of the muzzle will be affected. Just have to try it and see.

The Muzzle is not the part you have to worry about it will be in you pants. the grip is the tricky part. As soon as you find that pocket that is normally right above the love handles so to speak youll be golden. If you want to test it before you go to a store just take a walk around the block. If you make it then you know your good to go for the wally walk. Good luck man.

I think if I dressed and adjusted my posture like this guy it would work much better

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 5224237454" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mr.72 wrote: BTW DoubleJ that vid you saw of me is with one of the loosest shirts I own. :) No prob concealing under THAT one. It's the other two dozen in my closet that are going to be the problem areas.

Well, I figured, and considered that. I think most t-shirts or polo shirts will be sufficient. just gotta get yer holster to ride right. you might try right behind your right hip, canted forward, and I think that'd be pretty square. it's all a game till you get it sorted!
you can do the purse carry, just make sure your manbag is either on you, or still "under your control," which to me, would be arm's reach. if I was at a coffee house, riling up liberals, you wouldn't wanna leave it so as someone could grab it and dash off. know whadda mean?

DoubleJ wrote:know whadda mean?

Yep :)