"Bulge carrying" is the best of both worlds

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Ken65

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OK I'll admit it, I don't have the stones to open carry. There are benefits to open carrying though. I am coining the phrase "bulge carrying" to refer to intentionally carrying with a bulge on the hip which is OBVIOUSLY a firearm, but which is still legally concealed. I didn't arrive at this intentionally. I happen to carry on my hip sometimes, and several female relatives give me constant grief for the hip bulge. Since I just cannot bring myself to full blown open carry, and after bulge carrying a few times, I lost my shame of it. So many people flip out at open carrying that this essentially prevents that (99% of the time) while still essentially carrying openly. My shirt becomes a type of veil that keeps the emotional types from flipping out. Carrying at the small of my back is ultra uncomfortable. Carrying inside the waistband is ultra uncomfortable, plus it requires the use of larger pants. I guess I've just gotten too old and too tired of completely catering to the fears of others. I would prefer to carry fully openly, but I've had to accept that there are just too many people who view it as sticking your gun in their face and I cannot change their perception, SO, I believe that "bulge carrying" solves this.
 
Thank god!
I thought you were gonna say you got one of them jock-strap Thunderware holsters.

rc
 
Printing is not legal in all states, in some states printing is considered open carry and you can get in big trouble for it.
 
Printing is not legal in all states, in some states printing is considered open carry and you can get in big trouble for it.

Having a lump under your shirt is not printing. Most of the time printing means you can CLEARLY tell it is a gun.

In these days of smart phones, PDAs, iPods, etc. the idea that a bulge is a gun won't even enter most people's heads.

I agree with the OP and I OWB "bulge carry" often.

That lump under my Tommy Bahama looks as much like a BlackBerry in a holster as it does a handgun.
 
That lump under my Tommy Bahama looks as much like a BlackBerry in a holster as it does a handgun.

Well, my blackberry is usually is a visible holster. But printing and open carry is OK in OR (most of it at least), so Im not too worried
 
I admit it would take x-ray vision to see my weapon while concealed,but if anyone besides the Leo's ask about my buldge my answer will be "its an insulin pump".
But mine most likley will never be made.
 
I do this sometimes. Usually the grip of the 1911 is covered by a T-shirt, and the rest of the gun is concealed by brown leather, a.k.a. my holster.

Its nice not having to worry about crap like my shirt getting hung up on the grip, the wind blowing my shirt up, not completely concealing the gun AND the holster, or printing. I would imagine that anybody would know I have a gun on my hip, but I have the right to not give a hoot, and they do too.
 
I thought "bulge carry" was going to mean using the natural concealment created by love handles, spare tires, and beer bellies to hide your handgun :)

I don't think "bulge carry" as described by the OP will work for most women. Women don't like having bulges. (Does this gun make me look fat?)
 
So many people flip out at open carrying that this essentially prevents that (99% of the time) while still essentially carrying openly. My shirt becomes a type of veil that keeps the emotional types from flipping out. Carrying at the small of my back is ultra uncomfortable. Carrying inside the waistband is ultra uncomfortable, plus it requires the use of larger pants. I guess I've just gotten too old and too tired of completely catering to the fears of others. I would prefer to carry fully openly, but I've had to accept that there are just too many people who view it as sticking your gun in their face and I cannot change their perception


This statement is so far from the truth that you might as well just go ahead and say that only police should have guns because they are dangerous.

I open carry every day. Most people don't even give me a second look and probably just think I'm a policeman. Even in banks, people don't care. It is a bad rumor that people flip out over open carry.
 
Well, that might be because you're in Wyoming. ;)

Since TN issues just a carry permit so that we wouldn't have any issues if we inadvertently expose our handgun and just enacted the guns in restaurants that serve alcohol law, I don't have to care if I bulge or print anymore. ;)
 
This statement is so far from the truth that you might as well just go ahead and say that only police should have guns because they are dangerous.

I open carry every day. Most people don't even give me a second look and probably just think I'm a policeman. Even in banks, people don't care. It is a bad rumor that people flip out over open carry.
You do live in Wyoming. It's not like that for some of us. I happen to live in Northern Maine, so I don't imagine anyone would care here, either, though I've never seen it done. But I used to live in TN like HexHead (Murfreesboro, to be exact) and I can imagine a number of possible reactions, none of them pleasant, when the middle aged soccer mom at the mall catches sight of a gun.

I prefer concealed carry anyway. Less to worry about.
 
I carry at 4:30, outside the waist band. With a cell phone at about 9:00, and with my small but perceptable tummy bulge, it looks like I have a spare tire.

Woody
 
I do use the Thunderwear holster..... and I had to learn to carry a smaller gun because the bulge was so big..... usually not obvious until I sit down.....
 
I'm in TN, and we have to have a permit to carry open or concealed.

I open carry my 1911 probably more often than I go concealed in the summer. Of course, it all depends on the social setting. Some call for more "discretion" than others...

That being said, I open carry in plain sight of police officers, people with children, and any of your average citizens. I have yet to get more than a passing glance from any of them.:)

I somehow think that our culture isn't as anti-gun as some people would like to believe, at least not in this area of the country.
 
open carry only is percieved as ok if your well dressed prim and properly shaved otherwise your a scumbag to the publics eyes
i am a heavily tattooed scruffily shaved individual and when i open carry i see alot of people pulling there kids away and shop keepers get nervous

unless you look like an off duty cop your more than likely causing someone some form of nervous tention so for me the OBVIOUS solution is to simply use my CCDW that i paid all that money for in the first place and carry concieled it makes life easier for me and them

and yea i bulge carry sometimes because not all of my pants will allow IWB
 
I'm from Texas, so no open carry.

If we did have open carry, I wouldn't do it (at least not if I could avoid it).

It is my personal, humble opinion that visibly carrying a gun paints a big target on your back. I think my chances of stopping a bad guy are a lot higher if he thinks that I'm not carrying.

Just my 2 cents.
 
If you dont have the "stones" to open carry where it is legal, you don't have the 'stones' to protect yourself in a SD situation and you need to turn in your guns to the local gun grabbers. Grrrrrrrrrr!:fire:
 
open carry only is percieved as ok if your well dressed prim and properly shaved otherwise your a scumbag to the publics eyes
i am a heavily tattooed scruffily shaved individual and when i open carry i see alot of people pulling there kids away and shop keepers get nervous

unless you look like an off duty cop your more than likely causing someone some form of nervous tention so for me the OBVIOUS solution is to simply use my CCDW that i paid all that money for in the first place and carry concieled it makes life easier for me and them

and yea i bulge carry sometimes because not all of my pants will allow IWB
I have a full sleeve tatoo on my left arm . It is a work of art by a master artist. It cost me over $6000 and over two years to complete. I open carry very often. It's legal here. I get some looks from the sheeple but I get trouble from none. Generalities suck. You make your decisions, I'll make mine. I am a law abiding citizen that happens to have tatoos and carrys a gun. I dont make my decision as to how I carry based on how others might perceive me. I make my decision based on my rights. Having a tatoo doesnt brand you criminal.
 
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