Winter Carry: Your Thoughts

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kind of Blued

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
3,676
Location
Rocky Mountains
It's cooling off outside and I've been able to carry the full-size 1911 with ease. I think many of you can probably relate to this benefit.

A correlative problem with this is that extra cover garments means more "stuff" between your hand and your gun if you were to need it.

I usually (90% of the time) carry a BUG on my ankle, but I've been thinking about moving it around. When walking around in the cold, it's nice to have your hands in those warm coat pockets, but that's yet another step between your hand and your gun. Unless...

I'm curious if anybody carries a small gun in their jacket pocket, if so, how?

I was considering carrying my J-frame there, possibly by sewing a cheap Uncle Mike's pocket holster in there to keep it upright. I've also been walking around the house with a PM9 crossdraw IWB, but it's hard to argue the benefit of pocket carry. The quickest draw is certainly the type in which you don't even have to "draw" and can already have your hand on your gun without being obvious. Hell, with a revolver, you could just shoot through your coat if you had to. ;)

Anything else pertaining to carrying in the winter would be of interest.
 
I've been pleasantly surprised with how well my big Ruger P-95 carries under a loose button-up dress shirt, especially with a light jacket. Was looking forward to trying that out this winter. Definitely wouldn't be viable with just a t-shirt.
 
You're on to one of pocket carry's best advantages. Most of the time in cold climates I dress in layers and leave the jacket open, meaning I can still get into my trouser pockets. If you want to go for carry in a jacket though, the sewing idea sounds like it could work nicely.

Anything else pertaining to carrying in the winter would be of interest.
Click to expand...

Gloves. Unless I'm in North Dakota during a really nasty cold snap (-40 Temp, -80 wind chill), I'll generally go with Nomex flight gloves. The black ones look good with most overcoats, and they preserve dexterity/feeling in the fingers for drawing and manipulating a weapon.
 
Mika's Pocket Hoster

Mika's Pocket Holsters will make a holster from any design and shape, dimensions, etc. that you submit to him via fax.
His holsters are inexpensive, so you could basically have one for each type of pocket.
They stick to the inside of the pocket while the inside is a slippery material that protects the gun and allows for easy and quick draw.

MVC-911F%20gun%20outside%20of%20holster%20resized.jpg
Web site:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~akim/
 
Realize this is a bit off topic, but I wear a (fake) fleece lined Levi waist coat that has snaps for closure. I can carry my full sized Colt 1911, but the muzzle sticks out the bottom of the coat. But my newly aquired Kimber UCC II doesn't. Getting to it is almost as fast as my summer wear. Left hand to rip the coat open and right hand to retrieve the weapon. Carrying a bug has never been an option for me. I'd rather carry more .45 ACP ammunition instead.
 
I wear a Sig concealable jacket during the Fall and in Winter I carry a Glock 27 in my jacket pocket. Hope it helps? It really depends on style of jacket(deep pockets) and carry piece?
Dave
 
Yeah, we get to buy 1,200 gallons of heating oil to heat our homes, and get to shovel and snowblow snow from November through April, sometimes May.:eek:

Summer is a short 2 months, then back to the cold again!:what:

If not anything else, it sure is DEPRESSING!:cuss:

You are right though, it does make for easy concealment!:)
 
Don't know where you're at Inspector, but I like four seasons...Spent a few years in southern USSR of C and got very tired of one season...Well maybe two seasons...Summer and fire season.
 
Well, I must need a CCW permit, so I can wear my coat down over my 329PD. It's not easy to keep the coat pulled up so the .44's not hidden. It's OK to wear open up here, but I suppose a nice little model 60 could be carried inside one of those coat pockets, since I tend to have full pockets anyway. It wouldn't be obvious for that reason. Oh, yeah, I'm out in the country and make a few trips to town every couple of days. Today's high temp was about 35 degrees with a 15 MPH wind.
 
For winter, I prefer coat pocket carry. The rationale is that one could have his hand on the stocks and be ready to fire through the clothing if he feels that a situation is developing. I wouldn't want to mickey-mouse around with having to excavate through clothing to get a handle on the situation.

J frame with Mika pocket holster.
 
A lot of others have mentioned coat pocket carry, which is a good solution for most guns. I used to carry my G19 the same way, I used a generic cheapie nylon holster and some duct tape in a large coat pocket and could draw pretty quickly. The only drawback was that with rapid movement the pistol would move around slam into me, which wasn't uncomfortable, just awkward feeling.

If some of you remember from a previous thread of mine, I like to carry a Ruger New Vaquero, which won't fit in most jacket pockets. I carry OWB at 3:30- ish. With a heavy coat, I'll do one of two things. With a more formal coat, I'll secure only the top button of my coat which keeps it closed well enough, and then I can easily brush it back when I make a motion to draw, and it's the same draw as any other day. With a less formal coat, I look for one that can be closed with velcro, which can be removed very easily. I realize that for your J frame or Kahr you have more options, but it's hard to beat the comfort of OWB carry in my opinion.
 
A correlative problem with this is that extra cover garments means more "stuff" between your hand and your gun if you were to need it.
Click to expand...

I don't know if all the stuff slows us down as much as it gives the pistol a place to snag more easily. Last winter, I was wearing my pistol IWB under a t-shirt, a sweater and a Carhartt jacket (it was in the teens) while hiking. When a coyote appeared, I was able to get to the pistol pretty fast. Alas, not fast enough to nab Wily, but what can you do?

Gloves are the other big thing. I have a Kel-Tec PF-9, which is a nice little CCW, but forget it in glove season. Too small, not enough room in the trigger guard. Glocks and other full-sized pistols alleviate the problem, mostly.

Of course, we haven't reached full-time overcoat weather yet. Today was 60-ish and wet, and looks like same for the next couple of days.
 
Tonight is 35-ish and windy and I heard about several muggings RIGHT before leaving the house to come downtown... Great.

Thermal shirt tucked in, 1911 IWB over that, Windbreaker zipped up but loose at the bottom, and a hevy peacoat with a J-frame in the right pocket in a pocket holster, Surfire in the left coat pocket. My hands on both of them.

Pretty good setup except for the fact that, once inside, you want to take the coat off and have to keep an eye on it constantly.

There's also the slight chance of the gun falling out of the coat pocket when you take the coat on/off.

Nothing's perfect.
 
^ Exactly. Every system has flaws, it's just a matter of minimizing them on a case by case basis.
 
It gets cold enough here for me to wear a zippered hoodie over my bulky down jacket. I'll have a verticle shoulder rig with my Stoeger Cougar 9mm under the hoodie and my 642 j-frame in a mika pocket holster in the jacket pocket. The jacket has a nice snap closure on the pockets so when I am inside, I can remove the jacket without fear of the snubbie falling out. The hoodie stays on and the zipper just attached at the bottom. Of course, the jacket doesn't leave my sight.
 
In the winter I switch to a shoulder holster for my Glock 30 with the coat opened for an easy draw. In addition I carry a S&W 642 in my right coat pocket. That way I can have my hand on a gun at all times. I guess in this case my main gun is the 642 and the Glock is my back up. May not work for all, but it's what works for me.
 
Winter? What's that?

If it got that cold, I'd think about switching over from my 9 to a 357 if for no other reason then to penetrate a BG's cold weather wear.
 
If it got that cold, I'd think about switching over from my 9 to a 357 if for no other reason then to penetrate a BG's cold weather wear.
Click to expand...
That raises a good question. Does anyone change the type of ammo they carry during the winter to FMJ so it will penetrate better?
 
Quote:
If it got that cold, I'd think about switching over from my 9 to a 357 if for no other reason then to penetrate a BG's cold weather wear.

That raises a good question. Does anyone change the type of ammo they carry during the winter to FMJ so it will penetrate better?
Click to expand...

No I hadn't, but will seriously consider it.
 
I'll occasionally carry a NAA minirevolver in .22MAG in my left coat pocket. Gives me something to do with my weak hand while my stong hand is reaching for more firepower.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
What are your winter carry practices?
2 3
Replies
55
Views
2K
The_Quartermaster
The_Quartermaster
T
  • Locked
time of draw/hit, fastened winter coat?
Replies
0
Views
206
torqem
T
Skribs
  • Locked
Ankle Carry
2
Replies
43
Views
2K
basicblur
B
D
  • Locked
Long winter coat and wallet CCW issue/problem encountered
Replies
15
Views
851
atomd
A
A
  • Locked
Ankle carry questions
2
Replies
32
Views
868
Erik
E
Back
Top