I carry a G29 concealed. It's the fattest, thickest Glock that Gaston makes. I started carrying back in the fall... wearing fall clothes and heading in to winter. I figured that I wouldn't be really tested on my ability to carry and keep concealed and be confident about that concealment until the warmer weather arrived. My preferred method of carry is IWB on my right hip.
The closer we got to warmer weather, the more I wondered just how difficult it was going to get. I had really been keeping half an eye open for a single stack 9mm to give me a more easily concealed, smaller & thinner carry gun for the warmer months. Have long wanted a 2nd or 3rd Gen S&W single stack 9mm, but was considering settling for a Kel-Tec PF9 or even giving a longer look to a Bersa or even an LCP if I were forced in to pocket carry.
Well, that search is over! And the fact that I just bought a couple new guns a week ago has helped to end that search... I can't justify spending more money on more guns. What I did do was to pick up a couple of "wife beater" shirts.
Yep, it's a lousy name for these things, but it really kind of fits... anyone who has seen even half an episode of cops knows why they call them wife beater shirts. It's nothing more than a sleeveless undershirt, like a tank top, but it fits close to the body, not loose like some crusty beach wear tank top.
Worn under any of my many short sleeve button shirts (I like hawaiian shirts and have been wearing them for years, but any summer style of shirt works), these "wife beater" shirts make concealing a pistol being carried IWB just horribly easy.
I wasn't completely sure of the level of comfort I could expect from wearing two layers on a hot summer day... but I'm happy to say that I'm back from a 2,500 mile car trip that took the family from Ohio to Ft. Myers, then St. Pete Beach and in to temps of 101 degrees and sunny. I carried while walking a sandy beach... carried while attending a wedding and reception, and carried for each and every driven mile. Carried in every different hotel we stayed in (six different joints!) and at every crusty gas station we stopped at.
Is the cheap wife-beater undershirt the answer to everyone's every need in concealment? Obviously not. But it is one heckuva good answer for me for summer carry. I can wear a button down shirt open or partially buttoned. For the few family wedding pictures that I was in, I had it my shirt tcuked in even, and concealment was natural and very, very good.
Never, not once did I feel like I was printing or that I looked at all like a guy who was carrying. Was also very nice to be out of Ohio and able to sit in a restaurant that also happened to serve alcohol. And for the pro-gun and pro-carry among us, every state between Ohio and Florida is VERY pro-carry and gun friendly and it felt welcoming.
Georgia was the only state that didn't honor my Ohio CHL, but my non-resident Florida permit covered me there. And on the drive back, as the wife and I were kicking around other destinations for car trips (since our kids, two of them under 11 did so darn well on this one) I am left wanting for a destination and a direction from here where all the states are accepting of folks who prefer to go armed. And it's slimmer than I like, that's for sure. PA is a good one, but steer clear of NY. And avoid Maryland. Can go west in to IN, but IL is like a nasty black cloud, and a damn large one at that. MI wants our touring dollars, but WI wishes we'd rather go elsewhere. And we'd love to show Niagara Falls to the kids, but Canada doesn't think AT ALL the way that we do.
Now I'm rambling off my own subject. Just glad to be home, I guess. Anyhow, I highly recommend anyone try some wife beaters if they haven't. They are going to become a "go to" piece of my concealment for summer carry.
The closer we got to warmer weather, the more I wondered just how difficult it was going to get. I had really been keeping half an eye open for a single stack 9mm to give me a more easily concealed, smaller & thinner carry gun for the warmer months. Have long wanted a 2nd or 3rd Gen S&W single stack 9mm, but was considering settling for a Kel-Tec PF9 or even giving a longer look to a Bersa or even an LCP if I were forced in to pocket carry.
Well, that search is over! And the fact that I just bought a couple new guns a week ago has helped to end that search... I can't justify spending more money on more guns. What I did do was to pick up a couple of "wife beater" shirts.
Yep, it's a lousy name for these things, but it really kind of fits... anyone who has seen even half an episode of cops knows why they call them wife beater shirts. It's nothing more than a sleeveless undershirt, like a tank top, but it fits close to the body, not loose like some crusty beach wear tank top.
Worn under any of my many short sleeve button shirts (I like hawaiian shirts and have been wearing them for years, but any summer style of shirt works), these "wife beater" shirts make concealing a pistol being carried IWB just horribly easy.
I wasn't completely sure of the level of comfort I could expect from wearing two layers on a hot summer day... but I'm happy to say that I'm back from a 2,500 mile car trip that took the family from Ohio to Ft. Myers, then St. Pete Beach and in to temps of 101 degrees and sunny. I carried while walking a sandy beach... carried while attending a wedding and reception, and carried for each and every driven mile. Carried in every different hotel we stayed in (six different joints!) and at every crusty gas station we stopped at.
Is the cheap wife-beater undershirt the answer to everyone's every need in concealment? Obviously not. But it is one heckuva good answer for me for summer carry. I can wear a button down shirt open or partially buttoned. For the few family wedding pictures that I was in, I had it my shirt tcuked in even, and concealment was natural and very, very good.
Never, not once did I feel like I was printing or that I looked at all like a guy who was carrying. Was also very nice to be out of Ohio and able to sit in a restaurant that also happened to serve alcohol. And for the pro-gun and pro-carry among us, every state between Ohio and Florida is VERY pro-carry and gun friendly and it felt welcoming.
Georgia was the only state that didn't honor my Ohio CHL, but my non-resident Florida permit covered me there. And on the drive back, as the wife and I were kicking around other destinations for car trips (since our kids, two of them under 11 did so darn well on this one) I am left wanting for a destination and a direction from here where all the states are accepting of folks who prefer to go armed. And it's slimmer than I like, that's for sure. PA is a good one, but steer clear of NY. And avoid Maryland. Can go west in to IN, but IL is like a nasty black cloud, and a damn large one at that. MI wants our touring dollars, but WI wishes we'd rather go elsewhere. And we'd love to show Niagara Falls to the kids, but Canada doesn't think AT ALL the way that we do.
Now I'm rambling off my own subject. Just glad to be home, I guess. Anyhow, I highly recommend anyone try some wife beaters if they haven't. They are going to become a "go to" piece of my concealment for summer carry.