Waterpark carry

[ibex]

I was wondering... how do you guys and gals carry in a waterpark or other swimming-related public area?

My first idea was to carry in a backpack or fanny pack, but you'd have to take it off to actually go into the water. If you are not alone, one might watch the left-behind sidearms and look out for threats while the others go swimming, but it requires more than one person to be trustworthy as well as comfortable and trained with firearms.

I also considered carrying a knife (can't do much else anyway), as it is more concealable, but even that is hard to conceal in swimwear. Also, rust is an issue and I have not yet seen a folder made entirely of plastic or other non-metals.

What do you do? Avoid waterparks as a place where you can't carry? Go without? Put your gun/knife in a watertight bag and carry in a fanny pack?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Redneck Repairs]

Since I dont partake of " tadpole " like activitys , i just carry iwb as normal LOL

[P95Carry]

I no longer (or rarely) go to these places but reckon if I had this dilemma I would change from OWB normal carry to fanny pack for instance.

And as you remark - there will be considerations involving safe storeage while swimming. That for me would be best dealt with by having a trusted party member watching - my wife even, and just accepting we have to go dipping separately.

[longtooth]

AS above I am the supervisor of the ones in the water. There comes a time when we who are responsible for the safety of those around us must choose to not play in the water, & instead, watch what is happening around the water. That is one of the places it is impossible to an A+ job of both. C- in the safety dept is not acceptable here.

[rodc13]

In Texas water parks qualify as "amusement parks", so it's not legal for us to carry there.

[cmidkiff]

Let me picture this... a grey haired fat man running around a water park in a bathing suit... huge crowds, sky-high ticket prices, $2.00 sodas, other peoples screaming offspring, ill-mannered teenagers...

Nope, don't believe it's going to happen. There's one situation that I don't have to worry about!

[PapaScout]

You could always use the new "That Really Smarts! Carry." Sure it's a little difficult to get in place, and you can time the presentation speed with a clock but at least you have a gun handy.

No tongues or cheeks were harmed in the posting of this reply. :)

Seriously, I avoid those places like typhoid but I would at least look for a SCUBA rated knife of somesort to have available if I absolutely had to show off this "fish-belly white" body at a public swimming pool.

[PapaScout]

Actually, I've been swimming in my pond quite a few times with my Benchmade Ascent (ATS-34) with no rust or pitting. No cloriene either, though.

[Freedom Doc]

In Texas water parks qualify as "amusement parks", so it's not legal for us to carry there.

Actually, that is not quite correct. If you have a CHL and the park is not posted 30.06, you can carry there. See packing.org for Texas and note carefully the places marked with '*'.

[floridaguy911]

Buy a glock, they shoot under water! (Stands erect, like he made the best point ever) LOL.

[Redneck Repairs]

glock, they shoot under water!

ROFLMAO dayumm finaly someone posted that .

[mbuesing]

I scuba dive and keep my dive knives rust free by buying good knives (440 steel, I believe) AND by applying silicone grease to the blade. Then i rinse and dry my knives, then reapply the silicone grease. I dive every other week here in Hawaii and my knives are rust free.

I can recommend a few online shops, or stop at your local Dive shop.

[Leadslinger]

Buy a glock, they shoot under water! (Stands erect, like he made the best point ever) LOL.

Bass fishing ain't never gonna be the same.

[rodc13]

Actually, that is not quite correct. If you have a CHL and the park is not posted 30.06, you can carry there. See packing.org for Texas and note carefully the places marked with '*'.

I stand corrected. I was thinking about the large waterparks, like Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, but even it doesn't measure up in size. Here's the applicable definition:

"Amusement park" means a permanent indoor or outdoor facility or park where amusement rides are available for use by the public that is located in a county with a population of more than one million, encompasses at least 75 acres in surface area, is enclosed with access only through controlled entries, is open for operation more than 120 days in each calendar year, and has security guards on the premises at all times. The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk.

That's why forums like this are so valuable - they keep us on our toes! Thanks, Freedom Doc.

[ibex]

Update: Okay, I went there and I decided to carry my embarrassingly cheap-o Herbertz knife I paid about $20 for. My brand new CRKT Kaspar should arrive in the mail today, so no tears if the Herbertz gets rusty. I clipped it to the inside of my trunks (where else) at 2 o'clock. The silhouette is nearly invisible even in tight trunks if the colors are right, but the silver clip is a dead giveaway. I went back and forth between my locker and the showers twice, trying to decide if it was worth the risk of being intercepted by the lifeguards within seconds to be told to leave and never come back.

Thanks to you guys, I decided to go ahead. Some of you have said one could carry a H&K G3 on a shoulder sling and nobody would notice. You were right. I felt like everyone was staring, but I know in my head that nobody did. Still, I spent most of the time in the water to avoid strutting around in front of the lifeguards or worse, the mothers.

As I expected, I was the only person with a defensive tool as far as I can tell, although I spent more time looking at the wimminfolk - for tactical reasons, of course. The female of the species is more deadly, y'know. As stated above, there are more than one way to conceal a weapon in a waterpark, but I would definitely have noticed a clip like mine on somebody else. Can't believe I went unnoticed.

While I was there, I had an idea. Of course. Like with snappy retorts, I always come up with this stuff when it's too late. A neck knife or a very small folder like the Böker Subcom Folder would fit into the little pocket in my trunks that I use for these nose clips that supposedly prevent the hardly diluted chlorine from chemically burning away your olfactory receptors.