CCW clothing 'tells'

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No one has ever told me that they "made" my piece visually, but a woman did bump into me from behind (and my IWB Glock at 4 o'clock) while we were waiting to be seated in a restaurant. I know she felt the gun, but I didn't react and she didn't look surprised. Maybe the thought of my steel-hard love handles had her curious, but, I doubt that the question stayed on her mind for even three seconds.

Life went on. The food was good. Everybody went home at the end of the night. A perfect scenario.
 
No one around my area pays any attention whatsoever to clothing, as far as conceal wear goes. Not even LEOs pay any attention, of if they do, they sure don't show it.
 
The things I look for.

I've got to be honest, I don't care about the guy in 5.11 clothing, carrying a 75 dollar knife and toting a 100 dollar holster. Hate to bust your ego, but I'll look at you for two seconds and move on. If you can afford it and care enough to spend the money, 99.9% of the time you're the good guy.

The guys I really get concerned with are the tennis shoe wearing, T-shirt hanging to their knees, baggy coat, constantly fidgeting with their pants types. Add on behavior that telegraphs 1) looking for trouble or 2) looking for an easy mark, and you've got the recipe for someone with a gun that may or may not be packing at the moment.

Exhibit A would be the three "youths" in Wendy's last night. They were dressed as described, constantly eyeballed everyone, it took them ten minutes to order ONE sandwich, two kept leaving the third at the register and seemed to get very annoyed when I wouldn't let one behind me. For all I know, they could have been out for a snack, just like me, after a day of honest work. That's not what the dress and behavior said, though.
 
Been reading y'alls list of tells and I think you are all paranoid.

Had no idea what 5.11 pants were until just now after Googling them. Doubt I will ever have any. But I do have a preference for cargo pocketed shorts.

Camo around here is a common as people wearing shoes. And way too many are wearing boots for them all to be concealed.

About all the males I know carry some sort of knife be it pocket style or one with a clip.

I have been wearing two t-shirts for longer than I can remember regardless of the temperature. I picked up that habit from all the college kids I have worked with over the years, and they weren't packing.

I love slightly oversize button down denim or flannel shirts, see lots of people wearing them as well.

Can't say I remember seeing anyone wearing a photog vest

Now the odds that all these people I notice dressed like me are carrying are pretty slim.

Next time I am about and about I will be looking for people carrying, maybe I will notice it now.

Great food for thought thread, interesting reading for sure.
 
I pretty much have all of the tells:
5.11 pants-check.
Sigtac vest-check
knife with pocket clip-2 checks
my favorite hat (with big XD on it)-check

However, I am not worried because I live in a place where there is no concealed carry (Illinois) and the most popular stores in the town are Wally World and the local gun/surplus store. Just about everyone wears camo or cargo pants, so I don't get a second look. When people are not looking for a concealed pistol, they most likely will not see one.
 
There's more to concealing a weapon that just keeping it from view.

The way you carry yourself says a lot more than anything else.

Meet my friend, Jack. He's in shape, stands up straight, and has a smile on his face. He looks like your average guy. But, on his way into his local supermarket, the wind presses his shirt up against his gun, which is holstered on his hip. Nobody will care.

Now meet my other friend, Tom. He's slightly overweight, is pissed off after finding out his cat urinated on his bed, and so he has a bit of a grimace on his face at the moment. As he walks into the same supermarket, the wind grabs his weak side jacket, which he didn't bother to zip up, and it exposes the butt of his pistol, which is secured with a shoulder holster.

Part of concealing a weapon successfully is not making it known, and the other part is giving off the impression it's not a problem if it is made to be known.
 
I carry in Cargo Pocket pants or Cargo Pocket shorts which practically everyone wears and even though it looks like I have something in my pocket, it does not look like a handgun, and I have not been made yet. http://www.handgunholsters.net
 
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Over the years, I've only "made" two people.
One was wearing the same Galco fannypack I have, right down to the fast-open dongle hanging out.
The other was the CEO of Kodak ... the printing thru the suit jacket, plus the right arm blocking at 4:00, made it pretty plain.
 
There was another Dad that always came to my son's soccer games wearing a black fanny pack at 12 o'clock that he was constantly adjusting but never opening and seemed almost embarassed to be wearing. He had that classic cop look (mustache, 70's haircut, etc.) so I assumed he was an off duty LEO. This was before MI was a shall-issue state. I learned late in the season he was a local cop.
 
I wear a vest but, as an electrician, the pockets are usually so full of screws, wire nuts and other assorted parts; you probably couldn't tell there is a gun under there. I also figure that due to all of the assorted metal parts, I have a de facto Level III ballistic vest (just kidding). I have dumped the vest on some occasions and carried in a pocket or on an ankle (or both) and had friends who know I carry say "I don't believe it! I have never seen you unarmed before." Relaxed fit Wrangler jeans go well with a model 60 S&W in an ankle rig.
 
For me, the double-layer stitched CCW-style gun belt is a dead giveaway. When a customer comes into my place of business wearing such a nice belt, I usually see the OR CCW card in their wallet when they take it out to pay.
 
If I may make an analogy, boy george once said "It's not like I walk into a sandwich shop and say oh hello, I'd like a turkey sub- and by the way, I'm gay." so be quiet about outing your fellow packers, wouldja?
Click to expand...

If I'm ever as obviously packing as he is obviously gay, it will have to involve the tactical wheelbarrow...and something along the lines of a Ma Deuce.
 
What makes this all so funny to me is photographers vests were around before CCW vests, in fact most of the time they are a cross between a fly fishing vest and a safari jacket/vest. Fanny packs were developed for runners and/or hikers who had to have an easy way to carry money and car keys. They are also popular with travelers because they allow a person to carry valuables in a way that makes them somewhat harder to be stolen than a backpack.

The one thing that does make CCW fanny/waist packs rather obvious is the black nylon. Most people who use fanny/waist packs for what they were designed for don't have a black one unless it is leather, the nylon ones come in various colors.
 
I'm pretty hard to spot. I almost always wear jean s and a tee-shirt or polo. I mostly carry in my back pocket. No 5-11 gear, fanny packs, or photog jackets. I do carry a pocket clip knife, but so does every other male over age 10 around here.
 
Geronimo loses the "pepsi all over the keyboard" award. Now goes to pax
the guy in a T-shirt and jeans (like myself) might be packing a small nine, but the guy in the denim vest is gonna pull out an iron that'll make a baddy himself at the sight of..
Click to expand...

Also Shooter McGavin I really like getting a cheap Uncle Mike's for new guns. That way if after a bit I decide I really didn't want to carry that one, I haven't bought a rather expensive holster. One trick I learned, try putting the holster between the belt and the pants. The belt will hold the holster in place without making a OWB holster uncomfortable as an IWB. Try it, I like it!
 
In no particular order:

Most don't notice what is obvious to some.

Don't make it easier for the "some."

Habits and manerisms (already outlined) are the biggest tells. They'll gice you away to people who know them.

Clothing isn't a tell per se when you think about it, but it sure narrows the field on who to pay attention to looking for tells.

"Tactical clothing" might be the exception to the above. Wearing 5.11 pants, a safari vest, and a raven ball cap? Carrier.

So what to do about it? Try to blend in, comfortable enough carrying that you don't gun-check or readjust constantly through out the day, displaying normal body language, while wearing clothing adapted to carrying without screaming "look at me." Simple, right? Riiiight, ;-)
 
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