First Time Appendix Carry

[Tnichols00]

I have decided that I was going to try the appendix carry on my LCP for concealment reasons. I bought my LCP about a year or so ago so I could carry more concealed when need be. It has become very handy but many times at work I wear a T shirt and jeans and while most ppl here (including my boss) know and dont care that I carry I still feel I should keep it as concealed as possible so I dont make the workers who might be offended by it uncomfortable while they are at work.

Anyways I swiched my IWB holster from a 330 to a 1230 and it has defiantly helped hide it, I now know that if I have to bend over my gun is not sticking out.
My initial thoughts when I put it on this morning where "Oh this isnt too bad at all" but then I sat in the car and the sitting is not nearly as comfortable. Well a little over 2 hrs into my day and I think I am started to get use to having it stick into my pony keg. I think another couple days of this and I wont even notice it there anymore!!

 

[Birds Away]

My initial thoughts when I put it on this morning where "Oh this isnt too bad at all" but then I sat in the car and the sitting is not nearly as comfortable. Well a little over 2 hrs into my day and I think I am started to get use to having it stick into my pony keg. I think another couple days of this and I wont even notice it there anymore!!

I wouldn't worry about it sticking into my pony keg. It's where the other end is pointing that scares me.

 

[dans4420]

I wouldn't worry about it sticking into my pony keg. It's where the other end is pointing that scares me.

riddle me this if there were a discharge would it make it a "pony wiener"?

 

[Aaron1776]

Congrats on figuring out the safest way to carry!!

Yes I know all of the nay-sayers are going to post "OMG YOU'RE GONNA SHOOT YOUR DICK OFF!!! BLAH BLAH FURTHER INCOHERENT NONSENSE"

Here's the deal. Use a kydex holster, always manually check your holster before inserting the charged firearm into the holster, and enjoy the speed of use you'll gain and the increase in safety. If you're worried about it still, rock a manual safety and train with it until disengaging the safety on the draw becomes muscle memory.
I worked in an ER for four years with lots of Drs and Nurses who carried firearms. Many of us appendix carried or carried no further back than 3 O' Clock (if we could help it). The reason being is that there is an important nerve track in your lower back. If you frack that up by say....falling on your gun on the ice, mud, wet grass, etc, you could have issues walking for the rest of your life. If you fall on your front, you get a bruise. The chances of an AD with a proper, kydex holster are far lower than falling on your back and messing it up. If you use a manual safety as well as a kydex holster, your chances of an AD are non-existent.

Yes I know you manual safety haters are out there. Get over yourselves. "Fingerless" shirts, shell casings, etc get into holsters and make guns go boom. I've seen it. Yes it's rare. No. When properly trained, you're not going to fail to disengage your safety. People have been doing it for over a hundred years and continue to do it today with AR-15s, 1911s, shotguns, etc.
You can either manually check your holster each time or use a safety or both. I don't care which one. Just be sure to ingrain one or both into muscle memory.

 

[Birds Away]

I don't dispute a word you said. But it's still pointed at my

 

[Denny347]

It's the only way I carry off-duty. Welcome to the club.

 

[Tnichols00]

The gun is holstered when I put it on in the morning and does not come unholstered for any reason throughout the day unless a true need would arise and I dont see anyway it will be going off inside the holster. If I was worried about my gun going off inside the holster I would not be carrying it anywhere IWB. Once I get home the firearm and the holster come out at the same time and then I unload the LCP and go to one of my other guns.

I do like the appendix carry for concealment but I think for now I will leave my bigger guns on my hip. I dont think I could stand my 1911 or 9mm's poking me that much

Thanks for the advice on the nerve Aaron, I actually find anything much past my hip to be very uncomfortable while sitting so I make it a no go.

 

[NWI Serb]

HAHA Awesome use of the Banana emoticon...Well played, sir

I don't dispute a word you said. But it's still pointed at my

 

[Birds Away]

You are making very rational arguments. However, I can't help being irrational in this case.

 

[Tnichols00]

I don't dispute a word you said. But it's still pointed at my

[video=youtube;RFAmuhZ68jE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFAmuhZ68jE[/video]

 

[AlwaysVigilant]

I have been carrying AIWB for a long time. It is no more dangerous than carrying any other way. We use terms like negligent discharge to dumb down shooting yourself, but that is what it really means. Safe gun handling is a skill that must be practiced all the time. The manual safety debate is tired, train with what you prefer, hundreds of thousands of times to mitigate the risks inherent with both designs.

 

[cosermann]

OP, thanks for sharing your experience starting to carry AIWB. I will only say this - it is not a carry method for the careless and inattentive. Be careful. Be deliberate. People do shoot themselves holstering and unholstering - don't be one of them.

If there's a neg discharge, the shot placement when carrying AIWB is "worse" than some other carry positions, and frankly, you may not get a second chance.

 

[Tnichols00]

Thanks, I have thought about and that is really why I have not done it before. I will only be carrying with my Ruger LCP AIWB and if you have ever shot one you know it is a true double action only pistol with a long trigger pull. I will only be unholstering the pistol while practicing, I leave the pistol in the holster when putting it on and taking it off.

Everyone jokes that it is pointing at your junk but in reality it is pointing almost to the center of my thigh were it meets my torso. That could be one of the worst places on the body to be shot. Largest bone in the body, the largest artery and well below my heart so the blood flows free. I will make sure to be careful with not only the goods but also the vitals in the area.

 

[lovemachine]

Appendix carry is the only way to carry. The benefits outweigh the negatives.

Defensive handguns should never have an external safety. Never ever.

Anyone that says they will never Appendix carry because of the way their gun points at their junk, doesn't have anything there that's large enough to shoot off anyway.

 

[HoosierLife]

Ok just confirm, appendix carry and deep concealment are the same thing? The holster goes around your waist and into your "below the belt" region?

 

[Denny347]

Ok just confirm, appendix carry and deep concealment are the same thing? The holster goes around your waist and into your "below the belt" region?

Deep concealment is appendix that rides very low.

 

[92ThoStro]

Carrying on your hip is the only way to carry, the benefits outweigh the negatives.
See what I did there
Aside from being pointed right at you, i'ts also mainly CC.
I always OC and open appendix carry IWB would just look completely goofy. Probably a lot of MWAG calls as well.
And OWB appendix carry would be freaky.

 

[twfshelton]

What is the best holster for AIWB carry? I tried it yesterday with a Don Hume I have for my G19, straight drop, no body shield. Worked out better than I thought, but I still have a tender "strawberry" where it pinched me a couple of times and rubbed against me. To be fair, I was doing un normal activites ie. painting. so lots of bending over. I do like how your belt doesn't have to b super tight with this method. I did carry unchambered just to play it safe, call me a sissy. I am searching for a dedicated AIWB holster and am looking at comptac 2 o clock and philster and blade tech.

 

[Que]

What is the best holster for AIWB carry? I tried it yesterday with a Don Hume I have for my G19, straight drop, no body shield. Worked out better than I thought, but I still have a tender "strawberry" where it pinched me a couple of times and rubbed against me. To be fair, I was doing un normal activites ie. painting. so lots of bending over. I do like how your belt doesn't have to b super tight with this method. I did carry unchambered just to play it safe, call me a sissy. I am searching for a dedicated AIWB holster and am looking at comptac 2 o clock and philster and blade tech.

I'm carrying a mid-sized handgun and found that Hooch Holsters AIWB holster is the perfect fit for me. I can bend and even sit in my car without making adjustments.

 

[twfshelton]

I have 2 of his, didn't know he had an AIWB, I will text him. Thanks