All posts tagged Concealed Carry

Desantis Pistol Belts when image and durability matter

Desantis Pistol BeltsWe offer a very large selection of belts because there are so many different objectives people are looking for.   We often see military personnel and First Responders coming in needing different belts when events are coming up or they are being deployed.   The standards are high and we sell alot of Blackhawk Rescue belts, and Elite Survival Systems Assault Rescue belts and often the Elite Survival Cobra Belt.  Some of those are pretty heavy but if you’ve had experience repelling or trying to pull yourself or someone else out of a dangerous situation, the last thing you want to have happen is a belt failure and it does happen.   Recently I’ve heard of 2 situations where belts and gear have broken off during foot pursuits, belts can fail and shoe laces come untied and such simple things can affect your ability to defend yourself.  We get asked to carry cheap stuff from time to time but we are often referencing equipment failures when people see price differences and explain to them why they are so.

All gear and accessories have failure points, all leather holsters will eventually soften but there are ways to prolong their life.   We have our list of highly suggested gun belts and the #1 pistol belt we suggest you consider are the Desantis pistol belts, we’ve moved a ton of the Blackhawk Pistol Belts in the past but they do not last as long as the Desantis.   Not everyone who is CCWing is going to need a 1.5 inch belt, pocket carry is very common these days and should not be ruled out considering there are so many high quality .380 and even 9mm compact autos.  The high capacity full size firearms are extra security but over time many people move towards comfort and give up capacity.   If you wear leather a lot there are things you can do to prolong the life of your pistol belt with both image.   Expect us to carry more of the Desantis leather belt line in the future.

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Rotating gun magazines and paying attention to useage

This year we are again attending the Contagion 2012 in Pennsylvania.  This is a yearly event and one of the best things about it is getting first hand experience at and a look at various guns and gear.  One of the things we can tell you that we see every year, is a lack of proper firearm training.  We haven’t seen any major safety issues, but we see guys walking up the range and firing guns at stages that go “Click” because they never properly loaded their firearm.   The Contagion event has been going on for about 4yrs now.   You get a good look at the footwear, eyewear, firearms, rifle scopes and some very high end looking AR15 rifles.  Even the guys that show up with the good stuff have problems.  Just because you spent $4000 on an AR15 and gear doesn’t mean you are going to survive the zombie attack.

This year we are a vendor and we are bringing lots of gun accessories and maintenance tools.   This is one of those events were having extra handguns magazines like Kahr magazines will be at hand.   Kahr pistols are very popular in the concealed carry community and they have a very good reputation of holding up.   We stock the Kahr factory magazines and highly suggest that if you are using them for a competition event that you bring atlease 6  magazines with you.  Avoiding excessive wear and tear on magazines that you may also be using for CCW is a good idea.

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Philadelphia Mob’s it’s only a matter of time

Today I was listening to a local talk radio host who had a local reporter on and they were talking about the Flash Mob stuff that was going on there.   In some people’s minds these incidences are not racial, but that is absolutely absurd.   We’ve had at least 3 mob incidences against young white males or old white men and it’s always black on white.   In some camps of our society, racism only applies to things that a white man can do and not the other way around.  Racism exists in all societies and cultures but only those living in the world that Political correctness has created think it only exists when a victim is black.

One of the callers challenged the local news writer about what the news article would be if a gun owner shot one or more of these individuals when they were committing the crime.   The news reporter basically said it at this point it would say something about a “gun owner defends against a mob” I’m paraphrasing, but I thing it was bullshit.  We know that if a gun owner shot one of these individuals and reloaded with using spare gun magazines that it would be excessive or bull  shit that someone that trained to shoot shot 5 or 6 of the criminals and it was unfair that someone would do that against un armed youth.   Considering the ages groups of some of these Flash mobs it would probable not sound justified if a 65yr old man shot 11yr-19yr olders, but the reality is it may well be if things keep up like this.

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Beretta 92FS open carry and non-CCW environments

I do a lot of security evaluations on commercial and private properties.   Much of what I find is obvious to those with street smarts, but not every has those.  Unfortunately some of the best prepared gun owners I know are the ones that had crimes committed against them and they had to learn the hard way.   I’m  not any different in those regards, but there are plenty of crimes I have studied just by watching the news and reading the local newspapers.  I actually  highly recommend that anyone that is considering take the big leap and taking defensive firearms courses to spend one month of reading weekly newspapers about the crimes that are committed in their home towns.

Just tonight I saw a story about a completely innocent guy who walked out of a Target shopping store and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a drug addict in a bad move just started stabbing him.   What would you have done?   I have been carrying a Beretta 92FS in a Fobus holster for several years now, which is one of my primary CCW in the winter, and the reason I am carrying this holster is that it paddle holsters are easy to take off and put on and getting into and out of a bank with high security like metal detectors, means the guns have to come off.

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NAA Guardian, pocket gun options

Many of my shooting buddies have been CCW for 1-2 decades longer than I have.    I have watched the evolution of weapons they have carried over the years and they have all ended up carrying guns and calibers that I would never have wanted to carry before.   In my opinion it was always about how much damage the bullet could do, followed by reliability, and finally durability.   I was always turned off by some of the pocket semi-autos that I cam across because the recoil tended to be pretty nasty.   I am not afraid of shooting 50 BMG rifles, but I don’t like shooting too much recoil in a handgun.   I know an individual that actually has developed nerve damage from shooting too many heavy handguns and if it hurts after I shoot it, I don’t want to carry it as a CCW gun.

My first adventure into CCW was with a friend that had 20yrs more experience than I did.   He showed me he had evolved to the NAA guardian .380 pistol and that in his opinion, it was the only gun he could carry at work with any level of comfort.  My only issue with some pocket guns is that they are so small that I can’t feel them, and I like to know I can feel the gun on me at all times.   The real issue I have noticed with NAA Guardians is that you have to really pay attention to the round counts you have put through your gun and how many you put through your NAA Guardian gun magazines and rotate out the springs before you have any issues.   The NAA Guardian is strictly a CCW gun and will handle some of the hotter loads for the .380 compared to some of the Kel-Tec counterparts.   I was fortunate enough to test out some of the Rohrbaugh R9 pistols next to the NAA Guardian and the only thing the R9 had over the NAA Guardian was the trigger pull.

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The FN 5.7 as a defensive weapon

I first saw the 5.7  in all it’s glory with what I would consider to be AP ammo.   I heard a few people mention that they thought that this gun should be illegal, but ballistically it couldn’t do anything that the much more common M855 or SS109 could do.   Yeah I know that a criminal might prefer a handgun to defeat a police officers armor, but the last Police Officer killed here in Pennsylvania was killed with an SKS with standard ammo and a 30rd magazine that actually jammed.   The SKS can take detachable magazines, but I have never seen them hold up as well as the AK family of guns with these mags.   The 5.7 has the ballistics of something close to the 22 magnum, and even though that is not a very powerful stopping round it is as effective as the person carrying it.

I don’t know of any reliable 22 magnum semi auto guns, I know a few pocket revolvers that were fun to shoot, but if you want a small and light semi auto with similar 22 magnum ballistics and has a much  higher capacity, there’s nothing wrong with packing the 5.7 FN.  I think there are better calibers for duty officers, but there are a number of gun holsters like the Blackhawk Serpa that can be had for this gun.  Unfortunately the piece of crap that killed our soldiers at Fort Hood used this firearm arm very effectively, but hopefully anyone reading this will know that every firearm used in the hands of a good and law abiding citizen is an asset to society.

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Putting a price on gun safes

When I think back to the first Gunvault gun safe was that I picked up and how much I liked being able to store loaded firearms in easy to open storage, I can’t believe the technological improvements there have been to an already original idea.     I work in and out of various locations where sometimes I have to actually take my firearm off and on 3 or 4 times a day.    Various security and Government buildings that I’m in don’t allow this so I have to think about the type of gun holsters I am wearing and how easy it will be to get things off and on.   I still mostly use paddle  holsters or clip on IWB holsters because they are so easy to get off and on.

One issue that has been been happening to several of my computer friends is they can’t leave things in their car at all anymore.   I know of 2 smash and grab incidences in recent weeks where lap tops were stolen, but even though I know better than leaving my stuff in sight, you never know when it could happen.  I have been looking more and more and getting a Gunvault gun safe bolted to my car floor or in the trunk just so that anyone that gets into the car would have a heck of a time trying to pry the safe out.   Getting my lap top is one thing, but a criminal getting my firearm is something I want to avoid at all costs.   The difference between the biometric gun safes and the regular ones is about a 100 bucks, but I’m not really looking to pay that price for quick access when the gun is really only being stored there for anti-theft reasons.

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Tactical clothing and gun holsters

I recently took a swing by several big gun shops and picked up a few products from tactical clothing companies that I was unfamiliar with.   I do think that many of the top tactical clothing companies are much better than the stuff that was being made years ago.   Clothing manufacturing has gotten better in many regards.   I have several BDU pants from Army Navy stores, but I just can’t stand wearing them anymore.   The hand pockets are too small and the BDU pockets are too flimsy.    If I want BDU pants,  The Eotac Style 201 Pants are the way to go.   If I want to wear denim jeans, I’m going to go with one of the tactical jeans from 5.11, Woolrich Elite or Eotac.

One thing I didn’t like about the 5.11 jeans was that the hand pockets were not any larger than my regular jeans which completely eliminates the possibility of pocket carry.   I had a j-frame 38 Special in the pocket and the handle was showing.   I find this to be a real short coming even though the internal pockets that can stow guns or magazines.   I find these pants to be concealed carry friendly to some degree, but they really were missing some features.   I don’t like the fact that there isn’t spot in the right side at about 3 o’clock that would be gun holsters for most right handed individuals.   Even though I think some of the 205 jeans are a little over designed with the rear pockets, I think pocket carry is really important for CCW wearers and the 5.11 jeans isn’t for that.  The 5.11 jeans can hold your wallet or money, but that’s about it.

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Lighweight vests for summer

Woolrich Elite VestsFor those of us living in the part of the Country where we get all 4 Seasons of weather, our concealment options usually will change atleast 2 times a year.    There are enormous numbers of ways you can conceal a weapon, but for those of us that carry full size weapons, the warmer the weather the fewer the options.   I carry a full size Beretta 92F while at work and one of my favorite ways of carrying this firearm is in a Fobus paddle holster.   For only about $20, I’ve gotten more than my moneys worth and have never broken the holster.   I’d have to say that if I was rolling around in the dirt I would defanitely prefer to have a Serpa holster.

The Woolrich Elite lightweight vest is made of a 100% cotton ripstop material that is identical the the Woorlich Elite lightweight pants and shorts.   These make carrying gear and concealment tolerable in hot weather.   These Woolrich Elite Vests are very popular with the IDPA crowd and being cut generously on the sides give great concealement, especially for those carrying full size autos.   We’ve had a few goofy complaints from customers that have stated that these vests are not good for concealing firearm if you put them in the pockets, and we would agree, these are basically made of the same type of material that your T-shirt is made out of and your gun will most likely print if you put it in the front pockets.   The concealed carry vest is meant to be a concealment garment and not a firearm retention device.   There are other concealment vests out t here that cost 3x’s as much money and can be used to hold firearms, but those are not lightweight.

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Kimber Guardian Angel sticker shock?

Kimber Guardian AngelIf you are looking to carry mace or pepper spray, I would absolutely have to urge you to do some research on the Kimber Guardian Angels also known as the Life Act.    At first you might get sticker shock, and I think you may want to consider buying 2 of them and test firing 1 of them before you really get comfortable carrying one.   I’ve earned my merit badges in seeing evil in the world I know walking around with the smallest pepper spray bottle to fend off a potential rapist, robber, or worse isn’t going to give you much of an edge.   There are many reasons to consider carrying a less lethal defensive measure.   You can blast someone with something like this without much of a worry about legal ramifications.   I’ve seen pepper spray used against 0bnoxious drunks which in my opinion were justified.

Why is the Kimber Guardian Angel a good choose over bottled pepper sprays?   I’m not sure if there is anything else as innovative as the Kimber Guardian, but if there is feel free to fill me in on it.   Bottled defensive measures have 2 flaws for the most part.   Number one is that you are going to have to figure out which end is the one to point it when in a hostile situation and the other is the shelf life of the product.   The Kimber is easy to point and you will know in micro seconds which end to point at  your attacker.   There is a safety mechanism that prevents accidental discharge which is something that does occur with the flip tabs that bottle sprays have.   The Kimber Guardian Angel will fit comfortable in most 5.11 Tactical, Woolrich Elite Series or Eotac front pockets.  The Kimber also has a shelf life of over 2yrs and if you are buying bottle mace every year, the Kimber costs you only $20 a year for 2yrs to help  you not get that $40 sticker shock.

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