Unusual (?) story about carrying concealed...
'Hope you guys find this amusing and perhaps educational!
Do you know what a Tilley hat is? They're made in Canada, although there's another brand called "Ultimate Hats" that are made in USA. They're soft fabric hats with a brim all around, a bit like a boonie hat but heavier fabric and a little broader brim; they usually have ventilating grommets in the crown and snaps so you can snap up one side (Aussie-style) or both. And there are two cords that can go under your chin and behind your head and hold it on in a hurricane.
There's also a pocket inside the crown which holds a removable flat piece of foam that helps make the hat float.
OK so far? Well, 30 or more years ago (during my hippie days) I lived in the NW and I frequented a nude beach along the river. It was a pretty civilized place; even families went there, and everybody was very well-behaved, although naked, and there was never any trouble among the folks on the beach. But it was pretty remote (you had to drive a ways and then hike a ways) and there were no cellphones back then, of course, and even if there had been, if there were trouble you'd have to handle it, because calling the cops would be out of the question.
Well, occasionally there were some young guys who would come up in boats and harass the women (figuring "Hey, they're naked, they're fair game"). And sometimes they got pretty vulgar and aggressive, and a cautionary word from us (naked) guys on the beach was met with an "Oh Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?"
My favorite personal arm at the time was a stainless .380 BackUp (a dandy little hand-cannon, except that it didn't have an exposed hammer and so there was no way to de-cock it except to drop the mag, eject the round in the chamber and then dry-fire it; also you had to drive a pin out in order to strip it for cleaning; I eventually traded it for a Colt Mustang -- same size package but a superior design, like a mini-1911).
I guess some of you probably already see where this is going. I stashed that BackUp in the pocket inside my hat. And when I had to admonish 3 or 4 guys who had come up in a boat and were being jerks, I just looked to them like a naked guy in a hat, but I knew something they didn't know, which is that, with my hat off and my hand inside it, I already had them covered. I was prepared to flash some steel if I had to, but never had to take it out of the hat. Somehow I managed to project to them, by my voice, attitude and posture, that they were at a tactical disadvantage. Sort of like Josey Wales talking to Ten Bears, there was iron in my words.
As they made their retreat, I looked around on the beach and noticed a couple of my fellow naked beach-goers with their hands inside beachbags or knapsacks. I surmised that they, too, were armed and ready, but no iron was ever displayed. I'm sure that, like me, nobody had a permit. But it sure seemed to prove that "an armed society is a polite society"!
Footnote: That's about the only circumstance where concealing a gun in your hat would work. Any other time, somebody could come up behind you and snatch your hat right off your head! But it also goes to show that you can be naked and still have something "up your sleeve"!