Bad shopping Habit

[SleepingZ]

I finished my shopping Sat. afternoon, and caught myself making a stupid mistake-----I'm carrying my bags with my strong hand
A person constantly has to be thinking to carry properly. Old habits are hard to break.

Are your carry rigs set up to operate with one hand, or do you need both to successfully deploy your weapon?


Z

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[SpringerXD]

I finished my shopping Sat. afternoon, and caught myself making a stupid mistake-----I'm carrying my bags with my strong hand
A person constantly has to be thinking to carry properly. Old habits are hard to break.

Are your carry rigs set up to operate with one hand, or do you need both to successfully deploy your weapon?


Z

I don't really see that as a problem. If you needed your gun, I have a feeling that you would have no qualms about dropping the bags. In fact, it might even give a better element of surprise.

[Rossman]

Interesting concern and Springer XD may have a good take on it. I was carrying today with an XD in my coat pocket (inside breast). It was so comfortable I forgot it was in there.

[Edward Nigma]

Mine are set up to operate one handed. If my fiance has a free hand, I sometimes remind that I need to have my strong hand free when we're out in the open.

[Thumper]

Right hip IWB... I've caught myself a few times loading up my right hand. WHOOPS! (A hot coffee doesn't count cuz it doubles as a weapon!)

[mslaughtertx]

I have a rig for single hand deployment. Though I agree that I would not have a problem dropping bags to engage a threat.

[Roadrunner]

Four years in the army makes carrying stuff in my weak hand second nature. Always have to be ready with that salute. Sometimes it's unavoidable, and in those cases I just make sure whatever I'm carrying isn't tangled up in my hand. I can always drop it and go for my gun if necessary.

[SIXTO]

I don't really see that as a problem. If you needed your gun, I have a feeling that you would have no qualms about dropping the bags. In fact, it might even give a better element of surprise.

It is a problem, it can be huge one. When faced with a life and death situation, most people will simpy clutch whats in there hand and never think to drop the bags. There are many documented cases of this.

[matiki]

I finished my shopping Sat. afternoon, and caught myself making a stupid mistake-----I'm carrying my bags with my strong hand
A person constantly has to be thinking to carry properly. Old habits are hard to break.

Are your carry rigs set up to operate with one hand, or do you need both to successfully deploy your weapon?


Z

I carry my back up off-hand so I'm good to go with either hand free...

[retsupt99]

I constantly think about keeping my strong hand free, even hold the car keys in my weak hand...just a habit, I guess. With a cover shirt, I also keep it unbuttoned enough to swing it aside for a faster draw...

Stay armed...keep it convenient...stay safe!

[SpringerXD]

It is a problem, it can be huge one. When faced with a life and death situation, most people will simpy clutch whats in there hand and never think to drop the bags. There are many documented cases of this.

I have to say that I'm surprised by this. It seems to me that if a guy pulls a knife on me and tells me to hand over my wallet, then when I put the packages down and reach for my "wallet," he's in for a surprise.

Not disagreeing with you, but I just think that reaching for the gun would make the packages secondary.

[SIXTO]

I have to say that I'm surprised by this. It seems to me that if a guy pulls a knife on me and tells me to hand over my wallet, then when I put the packages down and reach for my "wallet," he's in for a surprise.

Not disagreeing with you, but I just think that reaching for the gun would make the packages secondary.

Thats a logical thought, but the mind is not logical during extreme stress.
The guy with the knife senario you give is only one of thousands of possible senarios you could encounter.

Action is always faster than reaction, so your packages in your strong hand puts you two steps behind instead of one.

Carry your packages as you wish, I'm just giving you something to think about.

[Roadrunner]

Different people will respond differently to an attack, that's for sure. I guess I'm counting on my immediate unconscious follow-up action to the realization that I need to defend myself will be to go for my gun, quickly. I imagine the reaction will be similar to how I respond when deer hunting (bear with me here). Granted, hunting whitetails isn't in the same league as fighting for your life, but it does produce a good-sized adrenaline rush. When I shoot a deer, I always work the bolt of my rifle without even thinking about it. I got one this season and had to take a second shot. After the second shot I knew the deer was down for good, so I worked the bolt slowly to make it easier to grab the case. Looking back, I have no recollection of working the bolt after the first shot. None. Every bit of my focus was on that deer. I wouldn't consider this so remarkable if I hunted often enough for something like that to be second nature, but I don't. With school and work I rarely fire that rifle outside of deer season. But still, when I need to use it, that bolt gets worked and a follow up shot is available without any input from my conscious brain.

What I'm trying to say with this is that if we think ahead about these situations and have a mindset that is prepared to fight back if necessary we may find ourselves doing things like dropping a bag or flicking off a thumb safety that we won't consciously think about doing, our lower brain will just take care of it while our focus is on the threat. I'm not suggesting anyone count on that to the extent that they fail to prepare, but my own experience tells me that my subconscious reaction is to take care of things like that, and I would bet the same is true for many of us here. Sometimes we may worry too much about little things instead of just getting out of our own way.

[Ram Rod]

I don't really see that as a problem. If you needed your gun, I have a feeling that you would have no qualms about dropping the bags. In fact, it might even give a better element of surprise.

You never know what tactics are going to buy you an extra second or two. I also consciously think about things like that.

[SIXTO]

Different people will respond differently to an attack, that's for sure. I guess I'm counting on my immediate unconscious follow-up action to the realization that I need to defend myself will be to go for my gun, quickly. I imagine the reaction will be similar to how I respond when deer hunting (bear with me here). Granted, hunting whitetails isn't in the same league as fighting for your life, but it does produce a good-sized adrenaline rush. When I shoot a deer, I always work the bolt of my rifle without even thinking about it. I got one this season and had to take a second shot. After the second shot I knew the deer was down for good, so I worked the bolt slowly to make it easier to grab the case. Looking back, I have no recollection of working the bolt after the first shot. None. Every bit of my focus was on that deer. I wouldn't consider this so remarkable if I hunted often enough for something like that to be second nature, but I don't. With school and work I rarely fire that rifle outside of deer season. But still, when I need to use it, that bolt gets worked and a follow up shot is available without any input from my conscious brain.

What I'm trying to say with this is that if we think ahead about these situations and have a mindset that is prepared to fight back if necessary we may find ourselves doing things like dropping a bag or flicking off a thumb safety that we won't consciously think about doing, our lower brain will just take care of it while our focus is on the threat. I'm not suggesting anyone count on that to the extent that they fail to prepare, but my own experience tells me that my subconscious reaction is to take care of things like that, and I would bet the same is true for many of us here. Sometimes we may worry too much about little things instead of just getting out of our own way.

Again, good logical post. However, these things are not logical. Your mind works your rifle on its own because you have done it over and over and over. It flicks the safety off your pistol without thinking for the same reason.
When you go to the range, to you drop your shopping bags, draw and fire?