Drawing from Concealment

[Deaf Smith]

Most of us here have spent time, even prodigious time, drawing from whatever we use to conceal our weapons. And in such matches as IDPA it’s par the course to use concealment.

This is always a big plus in practicing defensive use of firearms. But the only problem is we tend to practice in nice environments that do not subject us to the elements. That is wind, rain, cold, heat, etc… even foreign objects one put in the pocket on the side where the weapon resided.

Let’s take the wind. I’ve seen (and I’ve screwed up) many a draw because the wind was from my back and it forced the concealment to push forward and compromise my drawing from under a coat. Usually if you do this you end up with a fist full of coat as well as gun. And you will find the wind, if from the strong side, tends to push the garment closed despite your best efforts.

And then there are car keys. If you put them in the coat pocket on the same side as the weapon, and your technique didn’t account for that, you will also find yourself with maybe a hand full of coat as well as gun.

The point is, whatever you use to conceal your weapon, practice at first in a calm environment with no obstacles. But later, I strongly suggest you practice in the same environment you carry. And yes, some days go shoot when the weather is windy or such and see what you really can do, and, if needed, correct the faults.

 

[KChen986]

Luckily, Anne Arundel IDPA is an outside course, which shoots even in light rain, and in the cold. My first IDPA match was in the high teens, low 20s. I was able to see how hard it was to draw from concealment, in the cold...

 

[Japle]

All the IDPA matches I go to are outdoors.
My wife and I go out to eat every Saturday night and the matches are on Sunday. I've made it a rule to wear whatever I had on the evening before to the match; same belt, holster, mag/light pouch, shirt or jacket. I will substitute jeans for dress pants, but otherwise it's all the same.

Lots of shooters wear vests and other stuff they'd never wear outside a match.
It's a matter of priorities, I guess.

 

[NRAhab]

Practice practice practice, baby. For drawing from concealment, IDPA is probably one of the best places to get practice on this skill in a variety of weather conditions. A good way to help "fight" the effects of wind is to put something heavy in the pocket that covers your gun - I use a spare mag to give my jacket/vest a little weight.

The key thing is to practice though - both inside before matches and of course during matches. If you don't go through the motions (literally) of drawing in your home/relaxed environment, when the buzzer goes off your mechanics are going to get all whacked out. Before you get to the match, work on using the least amount of motion possible to clear the concealing garment out of the way so that your hand can take the most direct route to the pistol.

 

[Brit]

Part of JAPLE Post,

match; same belt, holster, mag/light pouch, shirt or jacket. I will substitute jeans for dress pants, but otherwise it's all the same.

Lots of shooters wear vests and other stuff they'd never wear outside a match.
It's a matter of priorities, I guess.

So many of the shooters at our club roll up with their gear in a box! Then put holster and mag: pouches on, plus pistol.

Then a vest that is never worn outside of a match.

My light pouch is a heated up in the sink glock mag pouch, takes my surefire, then doubles as an extra mag pouch at the match, light goes back in after match. Belt frequent flier from Wilderness, holster, a Glock sports wee one, cut up my way. Total weight? not much, all day and every day wear in Orlando.

 

[Powdersmoke]

I took my P220 ST out to practice one rainy day and boy did I get a wakeup call the first time my wet hand hit those rubber grips when I went to draw from concealment. They were actually tackier when my hands were damp. If my first contact with the grip wasn't perfect there was no sliding the web of my palm high up under the tang. The only way to get a proper firing grip before I drew was to let go of the gun and move my hand. That situation has since been remedied by coating the entire surface of the rubber grip with a thin coat of RC model builders super glue. The pebble grained surface still gives a very secure grip once my hand is where I want it but now the problem of not being able to slide my hand up high under the tang when it's wet is eliminated. There is no tacky surface to catch the concealing garment and make it ride up either, killed two birds with one stone!

 

[Steviewonder1]

Drawing from Colcealment

You put a spare mag in the right or left pocket of that vest or light jacket. At the BEEP you pull left hand to chest, right hand rakes the front of the jacket/vest between the thumb and forefinger (next to the International Salute Finger) pull the vest/jacket to the rear, the mag will keep it going for a little while, get right hand on gun, draw and present to target along with the left hand following. Practice this a couple hundred times and it is Muscle Memory. You gotta have some weight in that right/left hand pocket depending on where the gun is stored.

 

[pax]

Outdoor range and stubborn friends to train with. We practice in the rain, wind, sun, sleet, and rain. Mostly rain. *sigh* I'll sure be happy when spring gets here for good. Tried to wimp out on a day when the sleet was coming down sideways a few weeks back. Sent an email to my training friends mentioning the weather. They wrote back: "If it ain't raining..."

As for the draw in the wind, a pocketful of keys on the strong side sure helps the coat fling back during the drawstroke.

Another technique: as your right hand begins moving toward the gun, use your left hand to grab a big handful of hem behind your hip on your left side. Then stick your left arm out straight from the shoulder (as if signalling a left turn in traffic). The entire right side of the coat moves away from the holster and can't flop back. It's fast and it's certain and you won't ever get tangled up during the draw, but you'll often dump everything out of your pockets.

pax

 

[ZeSpectre]

We practice in the rain, wind, sun, sleet, and rain. Mostly rain.

Hah!
Been there, done that, have the torn fingernails to prove it <grin>.

I've done some close quarter drills (CQD) for people at the Staunton "Shoot n' Greet" before and they've seen it done successfully and they've seen me screw up and have a fistfull of jacket rather than gun.

One instance the wind was so high that the target stand blew over and hit me in the head and hand. That was just a bit more realism than I prefer for training

One cold/wet day it occurred to me "hey, I have gloves on, how the heck would I
A) get the gloves off
and
B) get through all of these layers
NOT a happy thought!