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Thursday, October 31, 2024

Appendix Carry | Is It Right for You?

Appendix carry, where the firearm is positioned at the front of your body (typically between the 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock position), has sparked debates among concealed carriers.

While some swear by its speed and efficiency, others are concerned about comfort and safety.

To help clarify whether appendix carry is right for you, I spoke with Scott Jedlinski of the Modern Samurai Project, a firearms instructor renowned for his teachings on the subject.
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No thanks. The article touches very briefly on comfort, but to me that's one of two reasons I won't carry like that. At 5' 10" and 175 pounds, I don't have much of a belly, but I'm still getting jabbed and poked. 
The other reason is printing. I usually wear a loose fitting work shirt or T-shirt. With a work shirt, I can carry on my side and walk into a fucking cop shop without raising an eyebrow, yet with appendix carry I can look straight down and see a protrusion. A T-shirt? Forget about it. It's even worse.
Then there's that dick, balls and femoral artery thing.....

27 comments:

  1. I prefer a side carry. I don't tuck tee shirts in so I buy them a size to big and let it hang. My wife knows I am always carrying and says she would not know it otherwise. Sometimes in the shop I practice drawing it. Not quick draw stuff. One for practice and two because I forget I have it. Yet let an armidillo run in front of me on the land and it is in my hand. So, guess I'm good to go.

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    Replies
    1. slow is smooth, smooth is fast. and hits are the only thing that matters.
      summer time, OWB in leather under a shirt. winter is a shoulder holster under my jacket. and as always, draw and point. one thing I have done for years now is face the corner of the room. draw while keeping the weapon pointed at the corner.
      bring it up in a straight line to eye level.
      back a long time ago, I used a Walther PPK in 380 at the small of my back.
      the guy who showed how to do that carried one in 22lr. yup. and he was able to hit
      anything with it too. as he was fond of saying I teaching your muscles to react.
      you have to be able to draw and fire without thinking about it

      Delete
  2. I've never been a fan of appendix either. Much prefer strong side carry - OWB. which for me is 9 o'clock. I shoot lefty.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I carry outside the waistband too. IWB is just too damned uncomfortable for me.

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    2. I reckon inside is good if you don't do much more then walk or sit. I'm climbing under tractors or some piece of equipment, on the end of a chain saw a lot, digging fence posts. I reckon just a lot of twisting and turning. Inside does not work for me.

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    3. I found if I buy my pants with a bigger waist, I can do iwb fairly comfortably.
      -lg

      Delete
  3. I was a town justice for ten years always carried inside left ankle, easy to reach sitting down.

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  4. My preferred carry is my leather owb carried at 4 - 5 o'clock... I do have a iwb kydex that works well but seldom use it...
    JD

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    Replies
    1. I refuse to use Kydex if I can find a leather holster for my gun.

      Delete
    2. I'm not a fan either but like most everyone that carries I have a few in the drawer that occasionally see a little action
      JD

      Delete
  5. Sig P-938 or Glock 19 in strong side "pancake style" OWB holster for me for EDC. I try to cover it but we're an open carry state so if somebody sees it, F em. I do carry my .357 mag in a horizontal shoulder holster under my left arm when I'm running around in the woods.
    Seems to me like IWB appendix carry violates the rule about keeping it pointed in a safe direction.

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    Replies
    1. I tried to discuss that very topic with some gun people online, years ago. One would have thought that I had 3 eyes, the way they seemed to look at me, virtually of course. I asked about the 4 gun rules of safe gun handling, and was told that I didn't know what I didn't know.
      It seems to be that those who are proponents of AIWB carry just dismiss the rules for that one instance. But to me, that instance is the most important one, due to where you must point that gun. Granted safe and cautious handling can minimize most issues but they do not completely eliminate the fact that you are pointing your gun at places best left unmuzzled.
      The very same people often will tell you that small of back carry is bad because you might fall on the gun in a fight, harming your spine. But they never bat an eye about any injury you could incur if you fall onto your front side.
      I have 2 methods of carry that I use exclusively. Strong side OWB, and strong side IWB. Both of them are maintained at around the 3:30 point of my body. And it was not until I lost around 50 pounds that the IWB finally started to become comfortable. I use leather for OWB and Kydex for IWB.

      Delete
  6. What is the position called where the item is mounted to the belt on the offhand front, with the barrel pointed down and out, so that standing or sitting a discharge never goes through one's own body? Crossdraw? Can also be grabbed by the offhand, clumsily...but still grabbed. Asking from Teutonia, ve haff no gunz.

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  7. I carry small of the back using a crossbreed holster that uses kydex away from the body and a leather panel against the body. It also has an extra mag carrier and I split the two across my spine just in case.

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  8. I have tried most options. The longest I carried front/appendix was while is a hospital while one of the my children was in the NICU and my wife was admitted after the birth due to issues. I stayed for a week before I could take both home. I showered there and wore mostly scrubs and my usual backup gun (SIG P365) work an appendix holster with extra mag.
    I normally carry a Glock 17 or 19, OWB on the right side or just behind the hip sleeving on clothes. When I am wearing pants or at work I add an ankle gun on the left ankle and a trauma kit with spare mag on the right. I work in law enforcement, but carry the same off duty as well.
    I carry a shoulder holster at times instead of the ankle for back up at times during winter.
    I hope that all good guys would carry and all bad guys and cops would meet in jail or hell.

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  9. Naw not pointed at my shank flanked by deez nuts -- no stank you.

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    Replies
    1. No Sir! I knew a couple of locals that carried the "dicknballs" holster. I would tell them that an AD would more than likely render them severely maimed and/or they would bleed out and die. Both were carrying Glock 19s. Fortunately, nothing happened and both carry differently now. I rarely have a pistol holstered in a vehicle. I lay it on the console or tucked between the console and seat. A person needs to be cognizant of that fact. I don't want to be stopped at traffic light and be the target of some prospective 16 year old's gang initiation. As one commentor stated, I am not a big fan of Kydex, but I have a few that I sometimes carry. I am old school and prefer leather, but some folks are crazy for plastic. Like with the choice of firearms, my advice is carry what works best for one's oneself.

      Delete
  10. Amateurs have ND's. Pros don't.
    Amateurs practice till they get it right. Pros practice till they can't get it wrong .

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    Replies
    1. And pros, by and large, have switched to appendix carry.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous @ 8:23
      Question
      Who are these pros and why do we care ???
      JD

      Delete
  11. Seriously! You would put a loaded semi-auto in that position intending to only grab for it in a confusing hysterical life ending situation??? I cannot think of a worse way to go than to shot yourself in the groin from an inch away with a 9mm. Well, maybe a 10mm might be worse.

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  12. I used to appendix carry but it sucks if you sit down. It is just uncomfortable. That and I remembered never point at something that you aren't willing to destroy

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  13. Look into a Sneeky Pete holster. I love mine. Open carry is like laying your cards on the table before the game begins. If anyone can dispute that, you need to train more

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    Replies
    1. You can't be serious. There's no way I would bet my life on a gimmick holster like that.

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    2. Not just no but hell no
      JD

      Delete
  14. AIWB for years now. Used to do 5'oclock IWB until someone went to touch me (in a non-permissive environment..ie...work) and landed their hand right on it, too fast for me to turn or avoid. The look on their face was one of shock and dismay as they realized what just happened. Do OWB on the property..always banging in to shit because suddenly my personal width has expanded 2-3 inches and the brain hasn't calibrated to the necessary dimensions.
    AIWB keeps the piece within the confines of my physical dimensions, plus it is much easier to guide an arm/hand away from it (someone coming in for a hug..etc) , with the final bonus of able to easily ride in a vehicle with it.
    Is it uncomfortable? It can be at times.
    So what? Make adjustments.
    Is it dangerous? Sure, carrying firearms is dangerous.
    Is it the be all end all? Meh, it currently works for me.

    Like the man once said, "You do you boo"

    ReplyDelete

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