CCW Clothing you hate/love

[rambosky]

same here, jeans and t-shirt + IWB cbst. I don't understand how anyone would need much more to conceal. I wear a 32" waist/slim fit jeans and medium t-shirt and the G26 goes bye bye.

I'm 64 years old I wear a 32" waist Abercrombie & Fitch slim / straight jeans and an extra large T which I'm wearing in my avatar picture. I can conceal my Colt Commander or my Walther PPS. In cold weather I through on a hoodie.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rambosky]

I'm old and wear vests....So.

What is "old"? I won't consider myself old until I'm in my 80's. Even then if I can still shoot and can "get down with the get down feeling, and I get up and get it on", I might not feel "old" even then. I laugh at these young guns at IDPA matches who think faster is better with no idea of sight alignment, breath control or trigger control. And they wonder why us "old" guys finish ahead of them.

[tactilame]

I have a 5.11 vest that I bought just for going shooting, as it's convenient for holding my earpro, ammo, extra AR mags, water bottle, etc. etc.. I have worn it a couple times though when walking to the corner store as a concealment garment, just because it was too hot to throw on anything else and I was too lazy to load one of my smaller guns.

I have a tactical vest and black combat boots (I wear them regularly just because they're comfortable and can withstand pretty much anything I throw at them. One day I had a friend over and he was going through my safe and insisted I put on all my gear and put my slinged AR-15 on, so I did and we had a good laugh.

We went across the street to the gas station, and I left it on just for kicks (not the AR-15, obviously). Combat boots, black pants, black shirt, tac vest, black tight-fitting beanie, shooting glasses, etc. He was wearing a suit. A couple young teens were walking past us being loud and smoking cigarettes and when they saw us they got real quiet, stamped out the cigarette and stared at us, and one of them said "Oh ***, it's the police" quietly and they both said "Hello sir." as I walked by.

However, what I normally wear is pretty much regular clothing. I have a couple blackhawk leather belts, but you wouldn't know they weren't regular belts.

[rambosky]

I generally go for a long sleeve shirt in a non earth tone, jeans, and Clark shoes, brown or black.

None earth tones? Shoes? I wear PF Flyers, they make me run faster and jump higher.

[Richard58]

Back in the late 70s and early 80s it was a S&W model 60 in a shoulder holster under a members only jacket...Now it's a IwB PF9 under a t shirt or a S&W 642 the same way or in a pocket holster. In the upper 90's and in NC rain forest summer humid days I have a kel Tec P32 in a pocket holster in my Cotton short pants with a cotton t shirt while I'm hunting for air conditioning.

[redbeardsong]

My pet peeve is the Wilderness Instructor belt that every tacticool person has to wear at all times. I have never seen one on a non-gun person. .. not once.

Doesn't mean it doesn't happen I just have yet to see it so when I see a wilderness instructor belt I almost always want to ask, "Whachya' packin'?"

Most often the wilderness instructor belt is accompanied by 5.11 pants and one of their three discreet cover garment shirts. It looks like someone went to their catalog and just bought everything they saw.

Now, I'm not knocking the wilderness belt. I have one. I wear it to the range and I have no issues with instructors who wear it during classes, etc, but for average, everyday wear, it just SCREAMS "GUN!!!" at least to me.

YES!

What, exactly, is the functional purpose of those instructor belts? I much prefer leather.

[jdsumner]

"YES!

What, exactly, is the functional purpose of those instructor belts? I much prefer leather." - redbeardsong

1. The functional purpose of instructor belts (at least for me) is longevity, and to have practically infinite adjustment. Not happening w a leather belt w holes. Also, I've never seen a leather belt, don't care who it's from, last as long as a WildTac. I work in the telecom industry, so I spend a lot of time getting very hot and sweaty in attics where the moisture is literally sucked from your pores and saturates all articles of clothing. Took me less than a year to go through leather belts, even of good quality. Been using the same WT for work for over 8yrs. For gun carrying, the CSM model can handle the heaviest of loads (used to carry 5" all steel 1911, now g22) and make it comfortable (for me).

2. YOU much prefer leather. Good. Different strokes and all that.

[High Noon]

Great while standing or walking, but how do you sit down??

Most body types do not have a problem with appendex carry when they sit, some do but its an easy fix.
Its an FAQ at our Site.

Questions


Justin

[jdsumner]

" My pet peeve is the Wilderness Instructor belt that every tacticool person has to wear at all times. I have never seen one on a non-gun person. .. not once.

Doesn't mean it doesn't happen I just have yet to see it so when I see a wilderness instructor belt I almost always want to ask, "Whachya' packin'?"

Most often the wilderness instructor belt is accompanied by 5.11 pants and one of their three discreet cover garment shirts. It looks like someone went to their catalog and just bought everything they saw.

Now, I'm not knocking the wilderness belt. I have one. I wear it to the range and I have no issues with instructors who wear it during classes, etc, but for average, everyday wear, it just SCREAMS "GUN!!!" at least to me."- limatunes

I like my WT belts. But, knowing they are usually a gunny giveaway, my untucked shirts are long enough to cover them, as well as closed in the front to prevent buckle recognition, while also keeping my Spyderco's clip hidden. While clip knives have become more prevalent amongst non gun folks, there was a time when a clipped knife was a pretty good sign of other hardware. I've been in this game (concealed carry) now for 20yrs. I can generally spot even leather gunbelts by the width and thickness. If you are seeing someones WT belt, just like if they are wearing full coverage 5.11 clothes and 'the Gunny-this is my glock...........' shirt, they WANT someone to notice them.

dan

[jdsumner]

Being the 'grey man' doesn't mean one can't use good 'tactical' (hate the word, but you ladies and gentlemen know what I mean) equipment, it just means making it a non issue.

dan

[jem102]

You know, this cracks me up. I got my first carry permit in Montana in the 90s. I started getting a bit more serious about handguns last March. Until then I had never heard of "tactical" pants, shirt, vest, shorts, or underwear. They were just clothes. You bought a gun and holster, learned how to run it, and kept it hidden. How simple is that? I imagine that there were a ton of guys wearing "shoot me first" vests around me, but as I was not one of the annointed at the time, I never noticed. I don't reckon those who are not educated in the ways of the Force could tell if a guy had a gun or not, even if the guy was wearing a Woolrich Elite vest, 5:11 pants and shirt, an ACU pattern hat that screams GLOCK PERFECTION, and wore a sinister, suspicious look on his face for every individual that strayed within the 7 yard kill zone. I kinda doubt that crooks are up to date on our highly advanced, stealthy , and oh yes, "TACTICAL" methods of concealed carry.

But that's just me, me and my vest.

Outstanding!

[greencobra]

Another old guy here, OK you got me, I'm still wearing the same type large flannel plad shirts I wore in my Grateful Dead hippie days. The shirt coupled with a bulky tee shirt handles all my carry needs nicely.

[Hammerhead7]

Interesting plethora of opinions...this is exactly the kind of back and forth we wanted when we wrote the article. Anytime you can challenge people, just a little bit (even maybe get some "danders" up!!) and make them consider a topic that they would not have even thought about before, well you have educated and did some good.

And to answer the question about "Do BAD really guys really give a hoot about what I am wearing, and why should I even care?" I can answer that with some stories of my PSD days, being posted on my blog Soon. I think it will change your way of thinking.

Stay Dangerous Gents!

[goawayfarm]

..... Every time I see one it's an older gent that you just know has a 1911 on him. LOL

I guess that's me.....(but be warned: I know how to use that 1911!)
The only people who call them 'shoot me 1st vests' are other gun people. I have NEVER heard of any body getting shot because of the vest.......

[Gary T]

I have NEVER heard of any body getting shot because of the vest.......

I'm wondering the same thing. I've been reading the phrase, "shoot me first vest," for quite some time, but I've yet to read where that actually happened.

As for what I wear, I wear mostly the same clothes I wore pre-ccw days, although I have changed some. I now wear sweaters more during the winter than I used to. I was raised thinking that ALL shirts were ALWAYS tucked in. I've worked hard to change my raising so that I can now wear shirts untucked more often than tucked. During the summer, I usually wear an untucked short sleeve, loose fitting, unbuttoned casual shirt (not sure the actual name, but I think of them as "fishing shirts" and buy them at Bass Pro or Academy Sports). For casual wear, I still wear jeans most of the time during the winter. During the summer, I wear cargo shorts a lot more than I used to.