[Jesse H]

This past Saturday I was at a friend's house and everybody was sitting around. I was somber and tired since I drove 5 hrs w/3 hrs of sleep to visit a friend whose brother had just passed away, guess I wasn't on my toes. I had got up from the couch and in the process my shirt rode up on my grip, carried IWB, 4:00. The gun side was facing the wall, so I figured nobody noticed while I discreetely pulled the shirt back over it. Later that night, during dinner, my friend whispers to me,

"I feel safe around you."
"eh, what do you mean (trying to play it off but realizing he noticed)?"

Another friend overheard, and asked why I carried. Told them it was good insurance, like a seatbelt. She's a smart girl and pretty much agreed.

Yesterday another friend tapped my gun while he was walking by and his eyes lit up, he smiled and knew exactly what it was. He's not a shooter, but knows that I'm a gunny.

Getting made sucks, but at the same time I like the fact that the reactions/responses were all positive.

[RTFM]

Worked with a guy in Dallas, I figured out that when he had his Brown brief case: No gun, Black brief case High Power.

I called him on it, he just :D .

Also had a friend that ALWAYS wore a brown leather vest, had a velcro opening on left side for right hand draw. One day we were working on a control panel and while going up a ladder, his vest went "CLUNK" we both just started laughing. After that we became shooting partners until I left Dallas.

[pax]

In three years of carrying, to the best of my knowledge the only person who has ever "made" me is my mom.

But she's done it twice.

And she doesn't like that I carry. It's so ... so ... so ... unladylike! :rolleyes: :D

Moving this down to handguns.

pax

You have the right to remain helpless. Should you choose to waive this right, anything you do may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an assailant. If you cannot find one for yourself, the court will release one for you. -- Steve Munden, quoted by Jeff Cooper in his commentaries

[Skunkabilly]

I saw my mom's side of the family for dinner on Monday. I'm wearing my P7 at 3:30 IWB, a t-shirt and an open button-down shirt as a concealment garment.

My uncle examines my shirt, and opens up the front. He missed the P7 though. :banghead:

Had a few close-quarters close-calls, usually at crowded social gatherings. I learned to take advantage of my tuckable feature and even wear my Leatherman over where my gun is in case anyone bumps it.

[narmer71]

Galco IWB with the top half painted balck to match my pants.

[Serpico]

My Uncle was made last week in NY...sure was a lot of ring kissing going on...

[Hot brass]

What type of IBW holster do yopu use?
I use the VMII. I have never been made:uhoh:

[Flashpoint]

It was more like an out right flash.:what: I was in line to rent a movie wearing a pancake holster at about 4 oclock with a pair of shorts with a very high back pocket. When I reached in my pocket to get my wallet it became a fight with my holster because my holster had slid around to cover the top of the pocket. The only way I could get my wallet was to grap my holster and slid it around a little and when I pulled my wallet it hung on my shirt and lifted it up over the holster. All this happen with about 8 people in line behind me. I'm sure at lest half the people noticed. I just acted like it was a normal thing to be carrying a handgun under a shirt, paid the cashier and went home.

[Jesse H]

What type of IBW holster do yopu use?

Comptac Ghurka. I've been using it for a little over 2 months and it's stable and thinner than my previous Bladetech IWB for about 2 yrs.

Before this week, I've never been 'made' to the point where the 'makers' realized I was carrying a gun. Been out on a few dates where the ladies would reach around me but not think twice about it.

I have a funny friend that likes to discreetly tap the gun/holster when we're out and happen to be in a shady area, or if he just doesn't beleive I can be hiding a gun with what I'm wearing.

[Skunkabilly]

Been out on a few dates where the ladies would reach around me but not think twice about it.

Gee, that's never happened to me before.... :uhoh:

:(

:banghead:

[Jesse H]

Tell ya what. When the Skunkabilly Tour '03 hits Texas, I'll see what I can do. :D

[Kobun]

When I reached in my pocket to get my wallet it became a fight with my holster because my holster had slid around to cover the top of the pocket.
When you wear a gun, NEVER have anything you need in the pockets on the same side as your gun!
Wallet, keys etc. goes on the oposite side!


Don't really know if I've been made.
Can't carry in Norway, but in S.Africa the local groups of black guys hanging out were sure interested in looking at my and my friends hips...
Guess they knew from experience. ;)
They didn't give us any trouble when we were walking around, and we always walked in a "cover pattern" so we wouldn't get jumped both at the same time.
It is good to have a friend you can trust to shoot straight under pressure. :)

[WonderNine]

Boy, I sure love pocket carry. Looks like I might have to sell one of my pocket guns though :(

[cordex]

Been out on a few dates where the ladies would reach around me but not think twice about it.
That reminds me of a funny story ... the details of which are not suited for The High Road. In short, a friend of mine (whom I have no reason to doubt) claims to have successfully concealed a full-frame automatic throughout an ... er ... intimate encounter with a lady friend who didn't like guns.

I just told him he must have been doing something wrong.

I've been made a couple of times, but only by friends or family.

[Monkeyleg]

"I just told him he must have been doing something wrong."

Reminds me of a couple of lines from an old Woody Allen movie:

Shrink: "Do you think sex is dirty?"

Allen's character: "It is if you're doing it right."

[faustulus]

Been made a couple of times by my friend. We were getting tacos one time and I was leaning on the counter. He came up and tapped his fingernail on the plastic grips of my sig. It was covered by a shirt but... You know it looks like you are wearing a gun.' he said. I changed the position of the holster in the bathroom and didn't have any more problems.
Of course he was one to talk he was carrying too. :)

[AZLibertarian]

Actually, I once "made" myself.

A couple of years ago, we hosted an exchange student from Argentina. She's a great girl, and we've come to view her as "our" daughter who happens to have biological parents who she lives with in South America.

Anyway, one of the things we did while she was with us was to go down to Tombstone. She loved all that 'Cowboys & Indians' stuff. As we were doing the tourist thing in town, we walked past one of those old-timey photo places where they dress you up in cowboy clothes and take a sepia toned picture. She insisted that we do this.

It was Spring Break, and somewhat cool here in AZ, and I was wearing some sort of shirt, with a fleece vest as my cover garment over a pancake holster and my Glock 23.

The sales lady hands me this pair of old looking pants, and a shirt that had been cut up the back and velcro installed to make putting it on over my street clothes easy. She wants me to take off my vest and put all this on right in the middle of the photo set.

So as the whole family is getting suited up in their 'Cowboy' clothes, I'm looking around for a place for me to privately put on my clothes so my Glock won't show. It was obvious that I was stalling, so the sales lady asks me "What's up?".

I didn't think I had any real choice but to tell her the truth about what I was carrying, so I did. She laughs, and says that she'd just taken the course, and was still waiting for her CCW to show up in the mail. It turned out to be no big deal.

As an aside though, since then I've changed to an IWB holster that works for me. I've found that I am much less conscious about what's printing through my cover garment now that I've got a layer of pants breaking up the outline of my Glock.

[clubsoda22]

the only person who i'd have to worry about is someone who I am VERY intimate with.

http://www.smartcarry.com/

[dsk]

I've never been made, but I also noticed I tend to get ignored in public. I swear I could be toting my M4 Carbine slung across my torso, and the cute girl at the local bank still wouldn't give me the time of day. :scrutiny: :fire:

[Skunkabilly]

I've never been made, but I also noticed I tend to get ignored in public. I swear I could be toting my M4 Carbine slung across my torso, and the cute girl at the local bank still wouldn't give me the time of day.

I know the feeling... :(

[Scoob]

dsk and Skunk-you guys are making me feel better. Sometimes I wonder if I could walk right into a bank and rob the place without being noticed:eek:

I don't let it get me down though, I just consider myself stealthy and cat-like:D There's cute girl at a local video store that I've been trying to intice. I've done everything short of cartwheels to get her attention. I'm seriously considering sticking my tongue out at her next time to see if I at least get a reaction:p

As for being made, not yet but I've only been carrying a month.

[Skunkabilly]

Ruh roh Raggy!!!

Girls don't notice me ...maybe it is because I'm so stealthy.... :(

[seeker_two]

Girls don't notice me ...maybe it is because I'm so stealthy....

Don't worry guys. I went through the same thing before I found the ONE that did...:D

And then she & I decided to "notice" each other for the rest of our lives...:evil:

And now she's gone from noticing me to keeping an eye on me...:uhoh:

Especially when I've been to the local gunstore... :eek:

And now I can't get away with ANYTHING... :banghead:

You lucky stiffs... :p

[Monkeyleg]

This is the honest-to-God-truth: women don't "notice" you until after you're married. Once they see that ring on your finger, they know that they can tease, entice and torment you.

It's cruel and unusual punishment. But, from what remember from 25 years ago, it's not that bad. ;)

What does this have to do with handguns? I don't know.

[Lennyjoe]

Havent been made since I been carrying. (2 yrs) At least that I know of.

The wife does occasionally put her arm around me in public and bump into the CCW but never says anything about it out loud.

[only1asterisk]

Skunk,

Girls, don't notice you because when you turn sideways, you dissappear! Talk about low observability!

seeker_two

Yeah, my wife and I have a similar story. Esp. when it comes to watching me around gun shops.


David

[mete]

A couple of points have been missed. First while it might be easy to conceal from a civilian, a criminal is LOOKING for such things. If you ever need your gun the element of surprise is very important. Second, loose talk, you should keep your mouth shut about carrying as should people who know you are carrying. Example - about 15 years ago a couple went into a bank, he was carrying and his wife knew it. While in the bank , two BGs entered to rob the bank. The wife ,in a loud whisper ,said to her husband "don't pull your gun". The BGs heard it and immediately blew him away.

[only1asterisk]

I have heard and read that only the smallest of guns were concealable, and that if you carried anything bigger than a Beretta .22, some "operator" might "make" you. To this I say BS. My own mother can't tell if I have a 5" N frame on.
Criminals, for the most part, know jack about guns. Have you ever seen the surveys they've done in prison? Every other felon claims to have a Glock, a Desert Eagle, an UZI or AK. Unless you're printing so badly that anyone can see it, criminals have no clue. Your gun isn't going to give you away, your body language is. This is what the criminal notices; this is how you tell someone has a gun. They telegraph it.

As for the poor guy in the bank, I wonder if that woman sleeps at night.


David


PS Last time I checked most criminals were civilians.

PPS I sound like an @$$ this morning, but the info is valid so I think I'll post it anyway. No hostility intended

[CB900F]

The easiest ones to 'make' in my experience are LEO's. They seem to get so complacent that they don't even bother with the basic ABC's. Not all, mind you, but certainly some. For instance:

City detective gets out of his car & comes into the shop. I didn't know him by sight. Forgets to put his jacket on & comes waltzing in with an Officer's .45 on the right hip, no badge visible. However, since he made no 'move' & behaved like a normal I just waited on him & kept the weather eye out. Noticed the plate on the car when he left.

It's been in the 90's & 100's here recently. So when I saw a guy that I know by sight in the fast food place, wearing a light windbreaker, I wondered. It was open in the front & when he turned, the belt clip with two magazines was clearly visible. Didn't see the gun, but DOH! Just coincidentally, he came into the shop the next day, found out he was a Fed.

900F

[itgoesboom]

So far i haven't been made by anyone but my wife, and thats usually only when she hugs and kisses me.


I do have two sets of friends that know i carry, and both of them are considering getting their CHLs too. Even after both of them knew i carried, neither of them have noticed when i carried.

One friend and i had a conversation about CHL, and i told him that i have mine, and when we got to his apt. when he was showing me one of his firearms, i pulled out my carry piece, and he was suprised to find out that i actually had it on me the whole time.

The other friend has been wanting to get a pistol for a while, and had asked me a bunch of questions about pistols, since he knows that i carry and shoot. So that day, i was helping him move, and in front of his entire family, a bunch of my other friends (who don't know, and won't know that i carry), i bump into the wall right on my pistol ( was helping move a bed) and it made the loudest "thud" possible. I was convinced everyone would have noticed. NOPE. Even he didn't notice. I then told him later on what to look for to see if someone is carrying, and where i personally carried, and even then, he didn't notice that i had a pistol on me.

I.G.B.

[incursion]

I don't think anyone has ever made me. In addition, I don't think people even realized what they were touching when they put their hand directly on my CCW.