Getting back to carry basics

Time for a fluffy thread,

About eight and a half years ago I started carrying a gun for a variety of reasons. I bought my first handgun and fell in love immediately. It's an SP101 in 357 magnum. I carried it in an inexpensive Galco IWB holster and was content.

Then I decided it was time to change my lifestyle and health habits about seven and a half years ago, as I had successfully quit smoking and wanted to continue the trend. My diet changed as did my exercise level. I successfully lost about 50 lbs. Suddenly, I was a pretty thin guy and the natural padding that made carrying a revolver in the waistband tolerable was gone. "Hmmmmmm............ I need a new gun!"

I wanted something slim so I bought a SA XDs in 45 acp as soon as I found one. It rides in the waist band easily, gave me one extra round, and is a great shooter.

This past winter I found myself entering the city on a more consistent and frequent basis and felt that the nature of the undesirables in that city, and the numbers that they typically wander in warranted a shift to a higher capacity gun. So I bought an HK P30SK and carried it OWB in a Stealth Gear Flex holster. I carried that all winter and really enjoy the gun. It has nearly double the capacity of my XDs and is utterly reliable.

When I carried the SP101 back in the day, I always felt I could shoot the gun just fine for defense, but it always beet me up. The reason being was that it had too small of a grip. Well recently as posted in another thread, I put a set of Pachmayr Renegade checkered grips on it. Suddenly, the gun finally fits me as it should and I feel it is a lot more practical for me than it has ever been before.

Lately, due to a change in jobs, I've been at my desk a lot more than ever before. As a result I am in desperate need of woods time for mental clarity and physical exercise. So two or three days a week, I jet out the door at the end of my work day, and go for a hour and a half to two hour walk in the woods. I've been tossing my SP101 in a Simply Rugged pancake holster I picked up a few years ago and been enjoying carrying a revolver again. I don't know why it should matter what kind of gun I carry, only that it works.

However, the feeling is there. I find I just like carrying revolvers for some inexplicable reason. I still prefer a higher capacity gun in the city, and that's fine, but yesterday I went for a hike. The SP101 went in the holster, on the hip, and away we went. I carried it at dinner also. All that sticks out of my shirt is the bottom of the holster below my shirt a bit. You'd have to look directly at it to notice it, and even then it isn't apparent.

Do you just enjoy carrying a revolver for some reason? Can you put your finger on why? I have no explanation for what causes it.

jimbo555 said:

I have the hkp2000sk which is similar to the p30sk. I have 15 round mags and use them for woods carry. That would give you triple the capacity of the sp101.

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I hear what you're saying jimbo. Capacity is important.

Typically I carry my 686+ seven shot 357 in the woods in a hip holster. However, I also carry my 1911, my HK45, My P30SK, and will be carrying my Sig Sauer P220 10mm, Wilson 92 Brig Tac, and my VP9, just as soon as I prioritize money for good holsters.

I actually own more semiauto pistols than revolvers at this point. My point in this thread is that for some of us, carrying a revolver is just plain fun, and in some situations I don't necessarily know why. I mean yes, tradition, chunk of steel vs plastic in some cases, reliability arguments, yada yada yada. We've collectively argued those differences many times in the past and in the end we all seem to acknowledge that both types of guns have benefits and downsides.

Fortunately for me, the larges vicious animal I'm likely to encounter in the woods in my neck are people, dogs, and mountain lions. A 5 shot 357 magnum is adequate for my peace of mind, here at least. Different woods, different gun.