Front pocket carry the best?

Stangbangr,

What kind of holster is the second one you posted a picture of? I like that! I used to pocket a Glock 26 but without a holster. I had the plug that went behind the trigger. When I draw the gun, i just push the plug out and the gun is good to go. I carried my wallet in front of the gun to break up the outline. The problem is that the G26 is still a bit thck so I switched to the Kahr PM9. I give up 4 rounds but it is a bit thinner. I use a Desantis Nemesis.
 
I have practiced drawing from the pocket and at Seven yards shooting at a plate on a plate rack I average 1.4 seconds.
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Just curious, was that starting with your hands out of your pocket at your sides, or with your hand on the gun?

My times drawing from under my shirt, AIWB run about the same as yours.

I cant get my keys or phone out of a pocket that quick. :p
 
AK103K said:
Just curious, was that starting with your hands out of your pocket at your sides, or with your hand on the gun?



My times drawing from under my shirt, AIWB run about the same as yours.



I cant get my keys or phone out of a pocket that quick. :p
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Hands out of pockets, hanging at side. The key is, for me, having pockets big enough to get a full grip on the gun while it is in the pocket, then pulling out.
Having said that, if I were to try it right now, cold it would probably be more like 1.7ish. After a half dozen tries I could probably get it down to 1.4 again.
 
Anyone who has taken a good training class in defensive pistol shooting will leave with the stark realization that, if he or she ever does have to rely on the skills learned, the chance of getting out of the situation unharmed will be a lot lower than one would like.
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I don't need a training class to realize that accepting that I'm going to be ambushed and have to rely on my draw is a losing proposition, also don't really need a class to know how fast I can do a Bill drill I have a shot timer app on my phone. and yes with practice 1.5 is pretty easy from a pocket, whit my hand starting in my pocket under 1 is very do able.
 
I don't need a training class to realize that accepting that I'm going to be ambushed and have to rely on my draw is a losing proposition....
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What??

I would hope not!

...also don't really need a class to know how fast I can do a Bill drill I have a shot timer app on my phone
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That's all well and good, but one thing that a good class will do is help you work on drawing and shooting at a target that is not right in front of you, and one that you had not been contemplating shooting, while moving off line or around something, when you had not been thinking that the signal to draw was imminent--as in the real world.

...and yes with practice 1.5 is pretty easy from a pocket, whit my hand starting in my pocket under 1 is very do able.
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Anyone a draw more quickly starting with one's hand in one's pocket.

One of the things I do not like about front pocket carry, which is what i started out with around eight years ago, is that I don't see how to draw as quickly while turning or moving off line as when standing still. I have seen students in classes do that very well form concealment from OWB. Perhaps it has to do with the kind of pants I wear.

I think it was Claude Werner who said that people who have not availed themselves of training do not know what it is that they do not know. That was certainly the case for me at the outset.
 
Weighing less than 160, I ankle carried for few years until I found the MIC holster for the Shield. Pocket carry too uncomfortable. Now I appendix carry at 4 o'clock with the option to BUG.

Love this on going discussion about training. Had I more time I'd train more.
 
people who have not availed themselves of training do not know what it is that they do not know.
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It's kind of hard to practice without knowing what and how to practice, ain't it?
What if all yer practice is insufficient, but it won't become apparent as such until it's too late?
Oops.
 
What??

I would hope not!
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You just said 5 posts ago.


Should you ever have to use your gun outside the confines of your home, you will face a surprise, rapidly developing, and very violent attack, probably from within five or ten feet and from a direction that you did not expect. An ambush, frankly.
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Should you ever have to use your gun outside the confines of your home, you will face a surprise, rapidly developing, and very violent attack, probably from within five or ten feet and from a direction that you did not expect. An ambush, frankly.
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Good thing to keep in mind, and a good thing to train for.

In the event, it would be a very scary situation.

But I would not characterize it as a "losing proposition" for one who is trained and who has practiced and who has done everyone possible to stay safe.

But it would be scary, and survival is by no means guaranteed.

I liked the I.C.E. PDN Combat Focus Shooting course, also called Dynamic Focus Shooting and offered at Gander Mountain Academy locations.


The skills that are taught are valuable, but for me, the mindset is just as important. I had never walked close to a dumpster or around the corner of a building or past the opening of an alley in quite the same way since I took the course.
 
For anyone interested, there is an I. C. E. PDN premium video (subscription required) in which Rob Pincus demonstrates the use of a pants pocket holster with a small pocket semi-automatic pistol.

He does not move while drawing; that may be to better show how to draw from the holster.

The implication seems to be the he would suggest IWB as a better choice for persons who can carry that way.
 
This thread has made me give my chosen carry option (revolver in front pocket) a fresh assessment for how to be more efficient.
While we focus on the actual mechanics of drawing and shooting, we also need to try to sharpen out situational awareness, to pick out possible threats in time to avoid, evade or manage the encounter to our benefit. I'm NOT referring to a paranoid suspicion of everything around me, but a simple awareness (which, BTW, will also enable us to see much of the Good Stuff around us) that enables us to see the little 'off' things that might become a threat. Such a posture of awareness is often off-putting to a potential attacker, who looks for distracted, easily taken victims--"If you look like prey, you will be eaten'...
 
I have two semi-autos on my permit and carry them on my belt. 99% of the time I carry a J-frame revolver (S&W 337 .38 Special, 11oz.) in an ankle holster, occasionally in a pocket holster (wearing shorts on the weekend). I am usually in business attire and the ankle holster is comfortable concealed whether or not I am wearing a jacket, and quit accessible when driving. Other times the draw stroke from ankle carry is quicker than one might think, especially if practiced. The biggest down side is retention during vigorous physical activity - and that is not my reality, at least without enough warning to draw.
 
Pocket Carry

No single method of carry is perfect for all situations, so we all compromise.

I like pocket carry because it sidesteps several other problems :

No need for a covering garment, a big factor for me because I start getting uncomfortably hot and sweaty when temperatures get over about 80 degrees.

No worries about accidentally exposing the gun to the public when reaching up to get a box of Wheaties on the top shelf at the grocery store.

Very good weapon security.

Gun can be held in hand without drawing attention if the need is felt.

Sure there are a couple of drawbacks, but for me personally, in my relatively low-threat environment, if it won't fit in my pocket, I 'aint carryin' it.
 
Great conversation here, Rusty! I front pocket my 9mm XDS often. I carry my spares in my back left pocket. Simple. Also, there's an argument to be made here for carrying a smaller pistol in the pocket - whether it's primary or backup carry. It's a more natural gesture to reach inside one's front or rear pocket - where phones and wallets are kept. It may help to buy a fraction of a second worth of time in a potential deadly encounter because you are masking your movements in a way.
 
I think that you are overrating speed of draw in this conversation. Speed of draw from a concealed position is poor and you are always, due to the laws of the land, going to be at a major disadvantage. By the time you recognize a threat that rises to such a level as to allow display of a firearm you are going to wish you had it in your hand well before. The difference between pocket carry (a bit later than you wanted it) and holster carry (a little less later than you wanted it but still late) is being overstated.

Quicker is better - but one has to ask if that better actually matters. If I am fallen on by multiple determined and competent attackers who have done any planning and have a goal of doing me serious harm it is unlikely my concealed carry weapon is actually going to save me regardless of where exactly I carry it. I am hoping for undetermined, incompetent, or unprepared attackers - actually I am hoping for no attackers but you get the idea.

Carrying a concealed handgun is a series of compromises. Carrying a .308 battle rifle is highly inconvenient and, even in areas where it is legal, frowned upon. The same goes for a 10MM MP5 (or whatever its called in 10MM). The same goes for a full size duty firearm in a quickly accessible though unconcealed holster. The point is by the time we are discussing a firearm in a concealed holster we are long down the list of compromises - making one more to go in the pocket is not untenable.

Do I Think carrying in the pocket is BETTER then carrying a concealed firearm on a belt? No. A full size 1911 in 10MM for me on the belt would be far better than the P938 in my pocket that I actually do carry.

See those last four words. Step one in unarmed combat: ARM yourself. My gun in the pocket is better than the gun intended to be on my belt that was inconvenient and left at home or in my truck. Is it a compromise? Sure. But for many of us the compromise is not between a full size (or even a compact) gun on the belt OR a gun in the pocket. It is a compromise between a gun in the pocket or no gun.
 
I don't know about it being the best. Though it sure is convenient to be able to just slide the gun with a pocket holster in my pocket and go. I can also dress a whole lot more comfortably when it is hot.
 
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