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CCW Clothing you hate/love

38K views 176 replies 130 participants last post by  Bad Bob 
#1 ·
#39 ·
I just wear normal clothes. Normal for me is jeans and hoodies in the winter, and t-shirts and cargo or basketball shorts over the summer. Anything that needs held up is held up with a Wilderness instructor belt or a cheap Wal-Mart belt since I don't want to buy a leather belt while I'm losing weight. I've thought about picking up some 5.11 pants since they look similar to cargo khakis for winter wear and for classes I take over the summer that make you wear pants (as opposed to shorts), although it would be nice to test the effectiveness of my camo boxers.
 
#40 ·
Being an old, gray, fat guy, I would think I could pull off wearing a vest, especially in cooler weather. I have bought a couple, one of them an expensive leather travel vest that is very conservative, but I just can not bring myself to wear them. If I could stand wearing a vest, it would be a good solution most of the year.
 
#41 ·
Being old, fat, and gray myself, not to mention cheap, I have come to enjoy the iron-on holster patch (HolsterPatch :: Home). I iron them to a t-shirt right up under my arm, then my daughter sews them on just to be secure. They are comfortable, and I can wear a button-up or pullover shirt over it, and it isn't an attention grabber. If anyone suspects and asks, I'll tell them the lump is an insulin pump. My daughter has worked up a variant of the patch that works even better. I don't wear a vest, because I've never worn them and would look odd changing my mode of dress all of a sudden. Besides, if you've ever experienced a Texas summer, a vest is pretty impractical.
 
#42 ·
Summer - cargo shorts & a Hawaii shirt. Birks or sneakers depending on where I am going.

Winter - cargo pants & a button up shirt untucked. Sneakers.

All season - t-shirt (beater) under the outer shirt and Perry suspenders between the shirts. A&G gun belt.

As to the OP's question - if I hate it, I don't have it.
 
#43 ·
Here in the Pacific Northwest, sporty and casual is the norm, so cargo pants, shorts, all sorts of fanny packs, backpacks, messenger packs, vests, whatever, all are pretty unremarkable. Dress like James Bond and you will really stick out, though.

Anyway, I'm in cargo pants and T-shirts for work, sometimes with a Carhartt vest. During the winter, it's jeans or 5.11 tactical station pants and turtlenecks, vest, leather jacket depending on the weather. Summer is jeans or capris with T-shirts. I've certainly never been a girly girl, and my style of dressing didn't really change much at all when I started carrying concealed.
 
#44 ·
Easy on us vest wearers! I wear fleece vests all winter as I hate the restriction of wearing a coat, especially in the car. Its also nice in a restaurant if its a bit chiily. I have a photog vest I bought in the early 80's I bought to "suprise" wear when I did a lot of photography. Also handy when travelling because of the pockets. Owned it and wore it close to 30 years before I started CC'ing, just a habit. Nobody gives me a second look.

And yes, I carry a 1911...
 
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#45 ·
I'm personally a fan of the way I dress :image035:
I'm 22 and I usually wear what I consider the "I take myself/school serious" college apparel; Button down shirt and nice blue jeans (I wear boot-cut). Sometimes I'll wear a plain-ish long sleeve or T-shirts, almost never with any images, just a brand or logo. I wear a plain shirt underneath my button down shirts that I tuck in between my pants and my crossbreed supertuck. It keeps my shirt from getting stuck on the grip of my XD. I also wear hiking boots (like the ones in the picture below) in the winter and Puma running shoes in the summer. I bike regardless of the weather, so the boots serve an utility. I carry my gun on a black leather gun belt with a Colorado belt buckle (It was my dads and it's where I spread my dad's ashes - he always loved it there). I carry a pocket knife, but that's also not out of place for a lot of people at my school.


And since its always more interesting to look at pictures, here's what I'm wearing today:

Jeans Standing Footwear Leg Room



I personally don't care what other people wear, so I can't say I hate any particular CCW clothing. I see enough people wearing "combat boots" and camo that I know don't CCW. Most of them just like playing video-games too much. I almost never see anyone with the "shoot me first" vests or fanny packs, the people that do wear fanny packs are usually walking dogs and pull bags out of them.
 
#47 ·
I'm usually a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I'll throw on a hoodie when it gets cold and usually wear them large enough so that makes it easy to conceal IWB. I will probably have to rethink my wardrobe when the weather gets warmer since I just started carrying and may need to make adjustments.

I just don't want to adjust too much where I look like I made a huge wardrobe/style shift, nor spend a ton of cash. I plan to adjust my carry around mywardrobe, not the other way around. So far, I've only purchased a couple of light sweaters to use as cover garments on advice from Limatunes' videos. They work very well.
 
#49 ·
I'll be darned. I've worn vests for years, largely for the pockets, and never knew I was asking to be shot (just got my carry permit recently). Mine are mostly golf vests or pullover sweater types (those are for warmth, and now for concealment as well), although I have a British made Peregrine in wool that looks like something a country squire would wear. I'd think that getting made would come mostly from wearing the tac/photog vests that look out of place unless you have a rod in your hand or a camera around your neck.
 
#50 ·
Never have worn my 5.11 concealment vest. It screams ... He's got a gun! Also, my cellpalholster was a waste of $$$.
 
#53 ·
Just wanted to bring up thoughts about fanny packs for guns. I think it might be considered part of attire. A while back I picked up a Galco one for my J-Frame for summer use. But I don't use it anymore because I'm kind of afraid that it's now a too widely known method of carry. Now, the only time I might use it is for a sunny day hike in the woods.
 
#56 ·
If I had to choose the perfect carry wear, I'd want a Hawaiian aloha button up shirt, shorts, and a thick mustache. Cant forget the detroit tigers hat, and hairy chest, and of course the 1980 ferrari 308GT.
 
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#59 ·
Sure looks to me like redsaber75 is saying that genre of vest is a least favorite. If the answers must conform to a specific format, it would be good to post a specification, or better yet use multiple choice.

I like sports vests for additional cover. I hate cargo pants/shorts.

Edit: Thought Yoda referred to the original question, just realized redsaber is the OP and Yoda is referring to a question that he didn't quote. Nevermind.
 
#62 ·
I have and wear all three (my fleece vest is a freebie from a Ducks Unlimited subscription years ago). I love my fanny packs and my BDU's, but I fall into the 50+, bald and grey camp so it's okay.................
 
#63 ·
:image035:In my area if you see someone in cargo pants you take them by the hand to the espresso shop, seat them in a faux Parisian chair, hand them a copy of Mother Earth News, and order them a $10 latte. Just a culture thing, I guess. :yup:
 
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#173 ·
You wouldn't get too far trying that with me Bubba.
 
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#64 · (Edited)
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.
 
#66 ·
The one item of CCW clothing that I totally love is my Perry Suspenders. I wear them over a plain soild color tee shirt for comfort, then either a polo or tee shirt over them. I carry my glock 27 IWB in Fist #11 holster.
The tee conceals it very well. I personally prefer tee's with crazy saying, or unusally graphics. I figure if they are busy reading my shirt, they are not going to notice a bulge on my hip.
I do avoid gun and ammo tee's because I prefer to go the greyman route.
 
#67 ·
:haha: What's next in this "tactical" world, Concealed Carry Fashion Shows?


(Actually, I don't mind the tips about what is practical and what isn't, but I doubt there is a "shoot me first" fashion unless your pants are down to your knees, your CC britches are showing and your cap's on sideways.)
 
#69 ·
With the right attire, holster and belt you can also carry larger handguns if desired even in warmer weather.

A S&W Combat Masterpiece in a Hays Convertible IWB/OWB holster with a Bianchi stitched belt conceals quite well. :image035:

Jeans Clothing Denim Dress shirt Shirt
Jeans Denim Handgun holster Belt Brown
Gun Firearm Trigger Revolver Gun barrel
Handgun holster Tan Brown Caramel color Leather

click image to enlarge....

Regards,

OS :urla9ub:
 
#70 ·
Old and Style challenged

Interesting thread. I never realized there was a "shoot me first" style of clothing. I've had a cpl in WA. state for 30 years. I skipper boats from here to AK and hunt and fish on my off time. I've seen alot of different styles of clothes but none that say "shoot me first".

That being said, I have been through three "shoot me first" situations based on not on the what they were wearing, but the way these people carried themselves. All three ended safely and simply by going from concealed to open carry.

I still wear the safari or barn style coats, and journalist style vests in green or khaki as i have since the 70's. before I started to carry.

I'd hate to be a target for what I wear!!!
 
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