Let me start with a bit of bragging. I have lost nearly 100 pounds over the past 13 months (I have another 10-15 to go).
I live in Maryland, where it is very difficult to get a may-issue CCW permit (it is almost shall issue if you are a business owner who states their reason for the permit is protecting property, but police and officers of the court are the only people with much chance of getting one for personal self-defense- I'm not a business owner). I do have a UT non-resident permit and carry whenever I am somewhere I legally can (I am in DE, WV or VA at least once or twice a month). What that means though, is that I don't carry full-time, and while losing weight, as soon as my gun belts no longer fit I stuck with a lightweight snub (Taurus 856UL) in a pocket holster for most of the past year. Until then, I preferred a larger gun when I carried. I find I shoot a compact (CZ PCR/P01, SIG P229) or traditional subcompact (1st gen S&W M&P40C) better than a micro compact (in my case, a SIG P290RS) or pocket .380 (Ruger LCP). Meanwhile, I found them easy enough to conceal and comfortably carry that it was worth it to me.
So, on to the question. Has anyone lost a significant amount of weight and then found their carry preferences change?
I am finally ordering a new gunbelt. Using my cheap non-gun belts I've tried carrying my traditional carry guns around the house, and I'm finding that: 1) I notice the size more than I used to, 2) I'm noticing the weight more than I used to (but that may be the belt, so we'll see once the gunbelt gets here), and 3) looking in the mirror, I feel that it prints more than it did when I was fat.
Is it just more difficult to conceal a larger gun when you are fit and I just need to figure out the trick? Or, other than when wearing winter clothing/layers, am I likely going to need to give up the larger guns and go no larger than my S&W M&P Compact moving forward?
I live in Maryland, where it is very difficult to get a may-issue CCW permit (it is almost shall issue if you are a business owner who states their reason for the permit is protecting property, but police and officers of the court are the only people with much chance of getting one for personal self-defense- I'm not a business owner). I do have a UT non-resident permit and carry whenever I am somewhere I legally can (I am in DE, WV or VA at least once or twice a month). What that means though, is that I don't carry full-time, and while losing weight, as soon as my gun belts no longer fit I stuck with a lightweight snub (Taurus 856UL) in a pocket holster for most of the past year. Until then, I preferred a larger gun when I carried. I find I shoot a compact (CZ PCR/P01, SIG P229) or traditional subcompact (1st gen S&W M&P40C) better than a micro compact (in my case, a SIG P290RS) or pocket .380 (Ruger LCP). Meanwhile, I found them easy enough to conceal and comfortably carry that it was worth it to me.
So, on to the question. Has anyone lost a significant amount of weight and then found their carry preferences change?
I am finally ordering a new gunbelt. Using my cheap non-gun belts I've tried carrying my traditional carry guns around the house, and I'm finding that: 1) I notice the size more than I used to, 2) I'm noticing the weight more than I used to (but that may be the belt, so we'll see once the gunbelt gets here), and 3) looking in the mirror, I feel that it prints more than it did when I was fat.
Is it just more difficult to conceal a larger gun when you are fit and I just need to figure out the trick? Or, other than when wearing winter clothing/layers, am I likely going to need to give up the larger guns and go no larger than my S&W M&P Compact moving forward?