Lessons of longtime CCW...

[SMMAssociates]

If nothing else, maybe I should track down that teenager from the bus, and get her to sign an sworn statement attesting that my method of carry is indeed VERY 'plain sight'.

'Cept you can't get on the bus....

Obviously, nothing came of this situation; I'm not that hard to find if the police wanted to follw up on that phone call..

Maybe they're making a list and checking it twice....

(Just tell 'em to talk to my agent - "Petrof"....)

I wonder how things would go if you called the PD and told them that you were the guy the frightened teener was calling about? She probably had difficulty getting your license number....

Every once in a while I get to confuse the local PD guys.... The kid used to attend football games on Friday nights and then walk to the McD's with her girlfiends (that's not a typo) where I'd pick her and one or more of them up for a ride home.

She didn't want to be seen in my ancient Town Car, so I had to wait about a block away and they'd walk over.... (The car was 11 years old when I traded it in, and a strange "Sheriff's Brown" color that my wife both picked out and couldn't stand.... Perversely, I liked it....) I had a scanner in the car. As I was waiting one night, the PD was called to "investigate" the crowd at the Mc'D's, and one of their guys stopped to talk to a knot of them that my daughter was in. (I couldn't see them, but I'd seen her in that area.)

At about that time another PD guy pulled up beside me with a "can I help you?" (Sensible - not that I didn't belong there, but I'd have asked me . )

I told him that "I was waiting on one of the kids Sgt. Hughes is talking to." Got one of those " " looks - "that's what that extra antenna's for!"....

(By then, about everybody on the local PD vaguely knew my car - I used to handle all the late-night alarm drops at the former day job.)

Regards,

[MR D]

Gee I wonder if that female student is even allowed to use her cell phone on a school bus....

Several school districts in my area have made them forbidden items on school property...

It is against the law for the Bos driver to use the phone ....except with the walki-talki feature....

[Jronjakoh]

If in any case the girl on the bus happened to get your license plate number,I'm sure the P.D. would run the plate to find out who the "man with a gun " showing was, and find out that he was a 'licensed' carrier.
Hopefully this was the case, Otherwise I think they would have caught up to you. lol
Seen a few heads turn when a Big Truck pulled up alongside me today on the expressway.Was on my way to the gun show and truck driver thought he was scaring the dude in the pickup by pulling up my right side. Until he seen the gun on my passengers side (plain sight)and backed off about a quarter mile.

[Cruiser]

Until he seen the gun on my passengers side (plain sight)and backed off about a quarter mile.

I actually wish I could see a response like that! Guess I cover to well.

By the way, how were you carying that he could see it on the passenger side?

[Jronjakoh]

Cruiser
You ever rode in an 18 wheeler? I tell all the women (and this is no lie)
that we drivers can see you from the waist up to you neck. So Don't wear a short skirt or open blouse. Truck drivers have a WILD imagination and you would no believe the WILD stories that are told on the CB radio. Seen a lot in my 29 yrs as a driver.
I was carrying 'plain' on the right side about 3:00 o'clock when he came up the passenger's side of my pickup and looked down and seen the gun on my side.

[Brian D.]

Since I'm still "here" among the rest of you, obviously nothing came of the high school kid on the bus spotting my holstered firearm while in traffic. Jronjakoh's post reminds me though--I wonder how many folks in high-riding vehicles have indeed seen my pistol being carried in plain sight?

Maybe a humorous sign that I could hold up would be in order, after someone "makes" my blaster that way: "Yeah, nosy, that's a handgun--SO WHAT?"

If the smiley didn't make this clear: I'm kidding about the sign!

[Cruiser]

Since I'm still "here" among the rest of you, obviously nothing came of the high school kid on the bus spotting my holstered firearm while in traffic. Jronjakoh's post reminds me though--I wonder how many folks in high-riding vehicles have indeed seen my pistol being carried in plain sight?

Maybe a humorous sign that I could hold up would be in order, after someone "makes" my blaster that way: "Yeah, nosy, that's a handgun--SO WHAT?" :lol:

If the smiley didn't make this clear: I'm kidding about the sign!

By the way, you must have missed my earlier question!

By the way, how were you carying that he could see it on the passenger side?

[Brian D.]

Cruiser, I though you were asking jronjakoh how he was carrying, since at the time you were quoting a snippet of one of his posts. (This careful reading malarkey gets tough at times don't it? )

Anyhow, I carry in either an IWB or OWB holster, with the gun at the "3 o'clock" postion, or thereabouts, on my right hip. Make darn sure my cover garment is either tucked very well behind the gun butt, or just take the coat/vest off. I have a pickup truck that isn't the highest riding vehicle on the road, for sure. The people riding in buses and REAL trucks, can certainly see down into my passenger compartment.

Now if I properly read the post that you quoted from, Cruiser, jronjakoh was carrying about the same way. He wasn't in his 18-wheeler at the time he was "made", but a pickup truck.

Did we clear that up?

[Cruiser]

Sorry, I got two posters mixed up. The original post kind of sounded like the gun was on the seat on the passenger side. now that I have reread it, it just saw it was on the passenger side. We have to assume that it was in a holster.

[Brian D.]

...to make this post! Sorry, I love bad puns! Anyhow, my newly acquired Practical model BHP came with a set of Pachmyer rubber wraparound grips. They don't fit my hand well, but I was willing to live with them until some nice skinny checkered wooden replacements could be found. After putting the pistol in my iwb holster, I put on my jacket du jour and spent a few seconds seeing how everything worked together. Glad I didn't just leave the house and go out into the world. The coat's lining and the Pachmyers just about stuck to each other like glue.

It may seem like a minor thing, but such incompatibility will ruin any chance of a clean draw, espaecially if there's some urgency involved. Some rubber grips are notorious for this, others aren't.

My solution right then was to grab a different jacket. Since then I bought a pair of Argentine(?) black plastic grips at a nearby store. Only after spending that $10, discovered a set of the black plastic OEM grips were hiding in my parts stash all along.

My point is about trying your carry equipment as a system, before going out the door. (Okay, maybe there's something in this about being, or NOT being, a "parts packrat" , too! )

[Brian D.]

Moderators, any chance of making this thread a "Sticky"? Lots and lots of good info in it, whether you count my contributions or not... Thanks!

[Brian D.]

Several of the Safety Officers at TDI this weekend were talking about drawstrings on clothing--no, I wasn't the one who brought it up! Anyhow, every one of us cuts the darn things off as a habit. Worth thinking about, folks.

[NavyChief]

Moderators, any chance of making this thread a "Sticky"? Lots and lots of good info in it, whether you count my contributions or not... Thanks!

After thinking about it for a day or so - and trying to remember how to do it (not that hard, just completely escaped me for a bit) - I agree. Done.

[Brian D.]

Moderators, any chance of making this thread a "Sticky"? Lots and lots of good info in it, whether you count my contributions or not... Thanks!

After thinking about it for a day or so - and trying to remember how to do it (not that hard, just completely escaped me for a bit) - I agree. Done.

Thanks, NC! Will try to keep up the stream-of-consciousness, and continue to welcome on-topic contributions from the rest of the gang here.

[Brian D.]

Right now it's Vest season, as opposed to Parka season anyhow. Point being, nice as the 5.11 and similar products are, one can start getting carried away and really fill up all those pockets! Am guilty of this at times myself, BUT...

Try to dedicate particular pockets for specific gear each time you wear the garment. (If you can use a similar arrangement in your winter coat, you'll be "good to go" year-round or close to it.) The more critical the gizmo, the more important this concept is. For example, you wouldn't want to rummage around in six different pockets desperately searching for your pepper spray, impact device, flashlight, etc.

Don't be afraid to experiment, but try to settle on some kind of consistent arrangement of your (non-firearm) CCW "accoutrements". Of course in the summer if you ditch the vest on hot days your available pocket space decreases a whole bunch doesn't it?