Two and a half years of constant carry.

Okay, it's been a few years now since the better half and I fled the peoples republik of Maryland for freedom in Texas. In that time, I've rejoiced in having all my rights, to include the second. Not long after settling on a house. the better half and I both took the class and got our license to carry. It's been a trip.

Carrying a gun full time, every single day, day in day out has been an education. I've definitely found out how much BS the gun industry puts out, and what carries well and what doesn't.

I've sworn off revolvers. I used to be a revolver guy, but sold off my J frames before I left Maryland. Just too chunky. For a while last year I tried to carry a Ruger LCR, but it was bulky. Not really a pocket gun. And that was the problem. Carrying a gun everywhere, every day, in a place where it gets damm hot, is hard. I abhor IWB holsters. Gun and holster gets sweat soaked and even stainless guns get grungy by the end of the day. Not to mention at 95 to 100 degrees it gets dammed uncomfortable. In this Texas climate, I've fond that carrying a gun means right hand pants pocket and pocket holster. If a gun needs a real holster that needs a belt, that gets to be a PITA quick. Anything over a pound needs a heavy duty belt and good pancake holster. This means another PITA when wearing light nylon cargo shorts and fishing shirt.

So, for hot/warm weather pocket carry I've been using a Ruger LCP2 and loving it. Light and easy you can actually forget about it for short time now and then. The carry of one or two spare mags is way easier than a sped loaded for a revolver and you have more rounds on hand. Same for the little Beretta .32 tomcat. I've found light weight is a good thing for morning to night. These guns are almost as easy to carry as my little NAA mini revolvers in .22.

A gun is no good if you start to leave it home. I made the decision when I got my license that if I was going to carry, I was going to commit to really FULL time carry. Hiking, fishing, going out to dinner at a nice restaurant, a day trip to San Antonio zoo with the granddaughter, anything. This means a smaller gun than you wold think. Yeah, yeah, theres guys claiming they carry carry a full size 1911 or .44 magnum everywhere they go. Bull hockey! In the two years we've had open carry here, I've seen just two people carrying openly. Just not done a lot. When it gets hot here, the uniform of the day is shorts, T-shirt, and sandals. So far, almost all of June was upper 90's to 100 degrees. Yeah, it's a drier heat than Maryland, but it's still damm hot.

So, here I am after two years of every day carry, and what seems to work is my .22 mini revolvers and a flat little semi auto in a pocket. Everything else just gets too uncomfortable in hot weather. And if you're really going to commit to full time carry, comfort makes a bigger difference than you'd think. Not being a very big guy, I have a limit now that I won't look at a carry gun over a pound, and no revolvers, except for my NAA mini's. A few CCI stingers in the bread basket will ruin a low life's day, or night.

But I've become a very enthusiastic fan of the Ruger LCP2. It seems to feed any ammo I shove in it as long as it's FMJ, and with that light a round I'm not sure it's worth going to a hollow point. And the Beretta seems to be very reliable little beast. Easy to keep on target with very quick second and Third shots. Easier to shoot than the short barrel J fame .38's that I used to think the world revolved around.

Carrying every single day, getting dressed in the morning and putting gun in pocket, has been an eye opener.

Oh stop bragging.

Try it with a P229, 2 spare mags, cuffs, knife, credential wallet, personal wallet, work cell, personal cell, and whatever else in your pockets. Add on top of all of that, traveling, flying for hours, for many years for work. It gets old real quick.
If and when I do carry, it's a small G42or43 iwb.

Carrying sucks.
Those who rarely carry when they travel out of Maryland never get out of the "dumb and happy" stage newness of carrying.
One thing for sure is after a long time, you learn what works and what doesn't.

Welcome to the club.

I carry a glock 43, but I'm LEO. My partner's used to give me grief, but I figure 6 rounds and a short sight is vastly superior to the other option... not carrying a gun.

A full size g17 is great, but impractical. I'd rather have 6 shots than none...

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Blaster229 said:

Try it with a P229, 2 spare mags, cuffs, knife, credential wallet, personal wallet, work cell, personal cell, and whatever else in your pockets. Add on top of all of that, traveling, flying for hours, for many years for work. It gets old real quick.
If and when I do carry, it's a small G42or43 iwb.

Carrying sucks.
Those who rarely carry when they travel out of Maryland never get out of the "dumb and happy" stage newness of carrying.
One thing for sure is after a long time, you learn what works and what doesn't.

Welcome to the club.

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Been there, done that. In the mid/late 70's I was a police officer in Trinidad Colorado. Had the Sam Brown belt with S&W model 64, two spare HKSspeed loaders, cuffs, night stick, Kel-light, backup Beretta .25 Jetfire in pocket, and spare penlight flashlight in pocket. Sold off the model 64 when I quit law enforcement.

Now I'm just a retired Joe average citizen living a life of leisure in Georgetown Texas. A low crime rate area compared to our former home in Germantown. I'm not a cop, I'm not the Lone Ranger, I'm not even the guy who feeds his horse. I'm not out to apprehend anyone, and just want to make bad guys go away if they think this old man is easy game, like on Memorial Day 2017 weekend. Then a little .22 was enough to send them running off. No shots needed to be fired.

Yeah, an LCP with one spare mag will do me for what I may run into. If 12 runds of .380 ain't enough to get me outa there, then that's my fault for b being there.

I'm looking at the little Glock .380 with interest. It's a flat little sucker!

Have been wrestling with this as I also adapt, here in MD. Flip-flopping between the XD-E and the LCP2 depending on what I'm wearing, the circumstances, etc. The LCP2 is a marvel of comfortable portability and can ride in a tiny holster or be pocketed into invisibility (if not exactly quick-draw nirvana). Like that LCP2 a lot - it and its spare mag are a magically small payload.

Another Maryland refugee in Texas here! Down the road west of Dripping. I USED to carry back when I ran night service calls to DC Public housing.(The carried by 6 or judged by 12 conundrum) Since moving to Central Texas, I really do not feel any immediate need to get a CCL, been here 3 years and love every second of the free air!
The only gun I carried in DC was .25 Beretta. Call him Moses. When the way was blocked by hostiles, producing it would 'part the red sea'. Here in Texas, no permit is needed to carry in your car or on your own property, It is NOT a crime, but a Civic Duty to protect life AND PROPERTY. It is even proper etiquette to protect your NEIGHBORS lives and property. You MUST render aid BY LAW!
I will be getting a CCL , as we are pretty well settled in, and are getting out more. But unlike running night calls in the 'hood', I am not feeling the NEED to be armed in the places I normally frequent, and AM armed at home or in the car. Will get the CCL as I am getting older and someday I might look like a soft target - I come from Ward 7 and PG Co - have never been rolled in my 67 years. Some have thought about it, some have have tried. Ain't happened yet!
To the OP, I have gone the opposite way , I never carried a revolver, I LIKE semi's. BUT here my most used piece is a Public defender with the first 2 #1 buck and the next 3 000 buck. We have a different set of varmint here, when i was clearing the property, my grizzled old (my age!) neighbor was 'splainin about the varmint here, tarranchulas, scorpions, rattle snakes and copperheads,coyotes and such. He was also adamant that anyone moving to Texas should prove they were bringing at LEAST 2 guns with them or be stopped at the border!
I told him that all varmint are about the same - MAKE NOISE, keep your eyes open, always OWN your 6!
Then when the house was up he came over to help unpack and clean the guns. I brought about 10 each for the wife and me. We are good friends now. One of the things that makes Texas special is that they PRIDE themselves on being friendly. The attitude is to be nice if you can, be READY if you can not!
Texas reminds me of Maryland 50 years ago!

I love my Glock 42 .380 it disappears with no problem.

After 10+ years carrying every day in PA, pocket carry or apendix is the way to go in the summer, but I still won't carry less than 9mm, always carry a spare mag, and usually a folding knife or two. I'll carry my G27 OWB on occasion, open or barely concealed under a shirt allows more gun, and more comfortable if I am hiking or biking. I usually carry a PM9 or XDS in a pocket holster though when out in public. Soon as long sleeve shirts and jackets come out it's OWB and a G27 or G19.

Unfortunately, I live under the oppressive People's Republic of MD's laws and can't exercise my God given right to self defence when off of my property. I do, however, get to fullfil this right when traveling outside of the gates. My permits allow me to carry in 40ish other states and I always do so. I've found that a Springfield Armory XD9 subcompact 2.0 with a N82 Tactical IWB holster is a perfect companion. I've also tried Alien Gear, but always go back to N82. Always comfortable, even when it's hot as hell...

Forgot the G42 pic

I too carry daily and have ever since leaving the peoples republic. I have done the lcp in a pocket holster and it is good but i switched to to the p 365 in a n82 and have found it extremely comfortable even when sweating my a** off. According to n82 their lining is meant to be worn against bare skin.

When I was a free man I carried a S&W 66 for many years and then a Beretta 92 Centurion. Not easy and a pain at times.

Radom P64, ultimate ccw gun

cb51 said:

I've sworn off revolvers. I used to be a revolver guy, but sold off my J frames before I left Maryland. Just too chunky.

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Hehehehe...I was lucky enough to snatch up cb51's "chunky" revolvers before he left Marylandstan and I am grateful to have them!

And they do love their field trips!
.

Blaster229 said:

Forgot the G42 pic

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The foot?! ha!

G O B said:

Another Maryland refugee in Texas here! Down the road west of Dripping. I USED to carry back when I ran night service calls to DC Public housing.(The carried by 6 or judged by 12 conundrum) Since moving to Central Texas, I really do not feel any immediate need to get a CCL, been here 3 years and love every second of the free air!
The only gun I carried in DC was .25 Beretta. Call him Moses. When the way was blocked by hostiles, producing it would 'part the red sea'. Here in Texas, no permit is needed to carry in your car or on your own property, It is NOT a crime, but a Civic Duty to protect life AND PROPERTY. It is even proper etiquette to protect your NEIGHBORS lives and property. You MUST render aid BY LAW!
I will be getting a CCL , as we are pretty well settled in, and are getting out more. But unlike running night calls in the 'hood', I am not feeling the NEED to be armed in the places I normally frequent, and AM armed at home or in the car. Will get the CCL as I am getting older and someday I might look like a soft target - I come from Ward 7 and PG Co - have never been rolled in my 67 years. Some have thought about it, some have have tried. Ain't happened yet!
To the OP, I have gone the opposite way , I never carried a revolver, I LIKE semi's. BUT here my most used piece is a Public defender with the first 2 #1 buck and the next 3 000 buck. We have a different set of varmint here, when i was clearing the property, my grizzled old (my age!) neighbor was 'splainin about the varmint here, tarranchulas, scorpions, rattle snakes and copperheads,coyotes and such. He was also adamant that anyone moving to Texas should prove they were bringing at LEAST 2 guns with them or be stopped at the border!
I told him that all varmint are about the same - MAKE NOISE, keep your eyes open, always OWN your 6!
Then when the house was up he came over to help unpack and clean the guns. I brought about 10 each for the wife and me. We are good friends now. One of the things that makes Texas special is that they PRIDE themselves on being friendly. The attitude is to be nice if you can, be READY if you can not!
Texas reminds me of Maryland 50 years ago!

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I know where you're coming from. There's little or no feeling of threat down here like back in Maryland or in D.C.. But after a lifetime of having to be sooooo careful about carrying and deep concealment, I've been reveling in the freedom of getting up every morning and selecting my carry of the day as I put on pants. Depending on what I'm doing that day, where I'm going and the time of year, it can vary from a .380 in the pocket or one of my little NAA .22 revolvers. It's like after so many years of fear of being caught with my gun, now it's like I'm carrying just because I can. In truth, in the past 2 1/2 years there's only been one time I had to pull a gun, and that was on a road trip coming back from visiting some family out in Mission Viejo California.

That was at a rest stop between El Paso and Ft. Hancock just after dawn and two illegals wanted to cr jack my truck. They changed their mind when confronted by a .22 revolver vs their kitchen knife.

Aside from that only a rattlesnake on top of the Georgetown dam just after dark while the better half and I were on an exercise walk because it was just too hot in the daytime.

But even with no threat level, because I now have the freedom to carry legally if I choose, then I darn well will because I want to, and they let me practice my 2d amendment rights here in Texas. It's a giddy feeling of freedom that Have not got over yet. Maybe after a lifetime of oppression in Maryland, I never will get over it. I can, so I will.

God bless Texas.

Blaster229 said:

...
Those who rarely carry when they travel out of Maryland never get out of the "dumb and happy" stage newness of carrying.
...

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Lol, that's me, bro. If it's an extended trip, I'll pack a couple different guns (small semi and a 6-shot revolver) so I can rotate my carry.

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zoostation said:

Radom P64, ultimate ccw gun

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Agreed. That or a PPK.

Blaster229 said:

Carrying sucks.

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the cold hard truth. like clint smith said, it's not meant to be comfortable, but comforting. it's insurance, plain and simple. the 'cost' is the discomfort and having to dress around it, on and off at post office, etc. like insurance, you hope to never need it, but it's nice to have if you do.