Real-World Mall Scenarios to consider

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Originally Posted by VegasSIG

+1

But I do have a couple questions. One how much does all that "hardware" weigh, how do you hide it all? Batman utility belt? Two, how long does it take you to gear up in the morning?

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About 15 extra pounds, bringing me up to a total of 147lbs at my 5'6" height. I hide it pretty well, cargo's and button up shirt. I used to use a Tucker Gunleather belt, but now I use a CrossBreed gunbelt. It takes me a minute or two to load up, but I carry all the other essentials such as cell phone, a fat wallet, large set of keys, hand sanitizer, gum, chapstick, extra CR123A's, eyeglass cleaner, and pen, so that takes a little longer.

It just doesn't bother me, and really the only problem with running is the PPS in the pocket holster likes to move around and hit my thigh. I have to be carefull and not bend at the waist too much or I'll print, but I'd have to do the same if I just wore one gun only.

I'm gonna have to get some pictures up sometime. . .

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Originally Posted by MilitaryPower

About 15 extra pounds, bringing me up to a total of 147lbs at my 5'6" height. I hide it pretty well, cargo's and button up shirt. I used to use a Tucker Gunleather belt, but now I use a CrossBreed gunbelt. It takes me a minute or two to load up, but I carry all the other essentials such as cell phone, a fat wallet, large set of keys, hand sanitizer, gum, chapstick, extra CR123A's, eyeglass cleaner, and pen, so that takes a little longer.

It just doesn't bother me, and really the only problem with running is the PPS in the pocket holster likes to move around and hit my thigh. I have to be carefull and not bend at the waist too much or I'll print, but I'd have to do the same if I just wore one gun only.

I'm gonna have to get some pictures up sometime. . .

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I read this and I think... Liberty and freedom? There you are. That man makes a good case too.

I met some friends after a range trip and wasn't leaving my guns in my car So I carried three dirty guns concealed for lunch. Wasn't that bad actually.

Man if it HTF and those antis got a look at the armory.:rofl:

My daily load is
1 1911. Usually my Kimber Raptor or Nighthawk Talon bobtail
two spare mags for the 1911carried SOB
P3AT carried weak side, no reload
One SOG FlashII folder carried strong side front
One SOG FlashII Folder carried weak side rear
Surefire 6P Defender
Cell phone
I've recently started carrying a KaPar TDI (ala Lima) accessible strong or weak side.
I can conceal it pretty well under a lightweight button down untucked shirt on a wilderness belt. I don't feel like it's overkill..w.ell perhaps the 3 knives but I was a boyscout in a former life and I like to be prepared.

I was listening to a news report last week on a local talk radio station about issues at a mall in what used to be the rich part of North Dallas (Northpark Mall) where recently a woman was shot in the face. Turns out the various call boxes they have all over the parking lots DON'T WORK and have been that way FOR SOME TIME NOW, admitted by the mall management.

Nowhere is safe anymore, and to borrow a signing line from Retsupp 99:

Stay armed...shop online...stay safe! :smile:

Seven or eight years ago I encountered a Real-World Mall Scenario. I lived in an apartment complex on the edge of a medium-sized town, only about a mile from the local indoor mall. I was young, and statistically in a "safe" area, so I would often go walking on the streets in the evenings. This particular night I was out walking with my Hi-Power carried SOB.

My cell phone rang, and I answered to find my girlfriend on the other end. She told me she was at the mall, being followed at a distance by several guys who were occasionally "saying stuff" to her. She hadn't seen a security guard or anything, and didn't know what to do. It was nearly closing time - some of the stores were already closing and most of the other shoppers had gone. I told her not to go outside and to keep moving and watching for security, and that I'd come get her as soon as I could.

I considered where I was and decided that it would take me less time to walk on to the mall than to return to my apartment for a vehicle. When I arrived at the mall, I entered through the door nearest where she'd told me she was. She was on the upper level, which was essentially a balcony on either side with occasional cross-overs, so there were railings and visibility to the floor below. The guys following here were on the other side of one of the "chasms," trailing her by a little bit. Probably thirty to forty yards from her. All big guys - the "hefty redneck" stereotype - behaving as though drunk. I simply took her arm and we headed for the exit nearest her car. The guys kept throwing occasional comments our way, now including me in their derision. When we turned down the hallway leading to the exit door, I watched to see if the guys would cross from "their" side of the mall as if to follow us. When they did (although still a fair distance back), I paused and bent over as though I were adjusting a shoelace, and adjusted my un-tucked shirt so that it would reveal the butt of the Hi-Power when I stood up. I heard several muttered profanities and noticed that we were no longer being followed. We exited the mall, got immediately into her car, and drove away.

Now, I did a lot of things "wrong" here. At the time I'd had zero tactical training whatsoever beyond "how to shoot" - so you can pick apart my response if you want, but you likely won't be telling me anything I haven't already considered and learned better in the intervening years. I just share the scenario to make the point that even in relatively benign, "safe" areas, crazy mess still happens. A mall's being a "public" place doesn't deter an attack or harassment from those who are drunk or high and just don't care.

in peace
faithmyeyes

Three flashlights? I can understand more than one gun as I sometimes carry two. Maybe more than one knife, but I never have. But, three flashlights??

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Originally Posted by mtnclimber

Three flashlights? I can understand more than one gun as I sometimes carry two. Maybe more than one knife, but I never have. But, three flashlights??

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Duh.

A small one on the keyring just because they're fun. A medium-sized one that puts out a solar flare's worth of light for blinding the bad guy. And a bigger one to throw to him.

Once he catches it, he's armed with a club, so you can shoot him.

I'm sorry guys, but ever since somebody posted some stuff about the "Gecko45" guy on some other board I just crack a smile when I think about how hard I laughed when I read Gecko's little fantasy of being a "mall ninja".

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Originally Posted by atctimmy

I don't decide. I simply asked a question. A question, by the way, directed to someone else, not you.

Limas thread the case for weak side tools got me thinking. 2 guns, 4 knives, and 3 flashlights does seem like a little much to me, but I'm not bashing anyone. I just asked why.

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Because my life's experiences are probably a whole lot different than yours!

I don't know what you do for a living, but I deal with violence. I've dealt with the aftermath of well, well over 100 homicides. I know the value of human life in the eyes of a street thug and I have been in situations where I really wasn't sure I wasn't going to end up in the morgue. Life changing and life altering events. To experience a homicide scene, you really need to be there and take it all in using all your senses. To watch it on TV with out the benefit of smell and sometimes the taste you get in your mouth, the heat and humidity of a air on a hot august night just doesn't quite cut it. To be right there, up close to someone who had been bound, beaten, raped and tortured, and just stare into their glazed over dead eyes and wonder what was going through their mind at the moment they died... or just who the heck they were and who their family is because the have no ID on them... wonder what their family is going to do when they get the news, is something to be experienced. It will change you. It will change how you see the world and how you see your fellow man. It will certainly change the way you see the criminal element who walks among us.... invisible... ready to pounce on the unwary.

I intend to go home at the end of the day. I carry two guns and have carried three on plenty of occasions because I deal with death and have dealt with the killers. Talked with them, touched them, smelled them and taken them to the hospital after they were caught or after they were injured during the course of murdering someone who fought back and got a couple good licks in before they died.

And while I'm not an LEO with powers of arrest, I am an armed member of a tactical team. I train regularly and off duty, I avoid trouble like the plague!

But I'm not afraid to go out to dinner because it's late at night, or travel after dark in a large metro area. My wife can spot trouble brewing way before I can, but when we do see something that just smells kind of weird, we are outta there, way before things go south.

Now, maybe if I worked for State Farm, or was an auto mechanic, or sold houses, or worked as an electrician or school teacher, maybe I would only carry one gun. Maybe even only on a part time basis when "I felt the need."

I'm certainly not judging anyone because a lot of people in those occupations I just stated carry 24/7/365. And some of them may even carry more than one gun.

So, I hope I can answer why some people carry 2 or 3 guns and a couple of knives...

It's because Survival is a Personal thing... Some people place more value on their life than others do! It's as simple as that.

And yes, I am very cynical... and carry a lot of occupational baggage, so it isn't all good.