CCW Dilema.. weight of gun .vs. weight of gut

As long as my pants stay up its no problem. If it's so heavy I have to pull on them all the time I won't carry it regardless of my belly weight.

Im 6'1 240lbs and I carry a full size glock or 1911 every day and I always carry two spare mags. People always have reasons for carrying a tiny gun. None of them are valid IMO. My wife carries a glock 19 and two spare mags so I shake my head everytime a grown man tells me that they cant conceal anything larger than a Ruger LCP.

TAKtical said:

Im 6'1 240lbs and I carry a full size glock or 1911 every day and I always carry two spare mags. People always have reasons for carrying a tiny gun. None of them are valid IMO. My wife carries a glock 19 and two spare mags so I shake my head everytime a grown man tells me that they cant conceal anything larger than a Ruger LCP.

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I can one up that. Im 5' 10" and 155 pounds and I can conceal a Smith 439 or a BHP no problems. No complaints about weight, I think a lot of the "too heavy" complaints are coming from people wearing the wrong belt for the job.

I think a lot of it has to do what type of belt you use and how you dress. If your pants are sagging and the belt you use sucks....well I think that full size whatever you're carrying is going to be quite cumbersome.

I think what you are trying to say is that it is easier to carry a heavy gun, than a heavy gut. The difference is a gut is attached to you physically, and why guts can tend to "hang" it is in a different manner than a foreign object like a gun.

That being said at 6' and 175, I don't have a gut, but I do find that being thinner creates its own issues with concealment, but I do think they are easier to deal with than being heavier.

+1 on pants. I'm too old too travel gangsta. Although, with a good belt and holster I have yet to not carry due to weight if the gun. My sig carries far better than my glock, but glock is lighter.

People always have reasons for carrying a tiny gun. None of them are valid IMO.

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You might think differently if you'd torn your anterior rectus femoris. As an otherwise healthy man in my early thirties, it made carrying a Beretta M9 or M1911 impossible without suspenders.

"But I ask you, how many of you are 10 to 20 lb (or more) overweight?"

They're the people who can't afford to tote around another 3 pounds worth of gun all day.

I'm 6' and 185# and I can't sit down with an FNP-45 stuffed in my waistband. Sure, let me run out and buy pants two sizes larger and I'll just tell everyone they're bellbottoms.

And I'm not going to wear a sport coat or jacket over shorts and a t-shirt during our sub-tropical summers just to cover up a large gun just so folks like you will think better of my manlihood or whatever you're going on about. Experts, sheesh.

I have said for years, I think that the gun industry and publications have been trying to convince people for years that they have to have more than one gun. "Yes, of course you need a 1911, everyone does. It's a good shooter and an American classic. But don't believe for one second you can carry it. It's too heavy. You must ALSO buy a smaller one to carry."

I've been carrying full-size guns for 18 years. Buy a good belt, wear a long shirt. No big deal.

There is no relationship between a persons weight and the weight of the gun they carry. Nothing new about this either. Ever since the first guns were invented shooters have been trying to find a lighter option. Ounces add up.

These photos are of rifles, but they illustrate the point very well and the same could be said of handguns. If a lighter optin works just as well, why carry around extra weight. On your gun or gut. The Kimber and a brick weigh 1/4 lb less than the Savage. The Kimber is more accurate. I CAN carry the Savage, and I could carry a Kimber and a brick in my pack, but I cannot think of any good reason to do so.

I think my steel framed 5" govt 1911s are "too heavy." I'm pretty fit, have six pack, & wear an ares gear ranger belt. Sure, I can carry it or other similar guns but they are notably heavier than some other choices that I feel just as confident using in self defense. Different people dress differently including attire required by one's profession, so even what is concealable and what belts can be worn varies (a belt looks silly with scrubs or a woman's skirt for example).

I carry my gut concealed but it prints right through my shirt.

I never have a problem with people carrying whatever works best for them. If you shoot it well, carry it. What I have a problem with is people saying things like; "It's impossible to carry a full-sized gun comfortably." or "My tiny gun works just as well as your full-sized one."

Well, ask yourself how often you pull your weapon, ever.

I have never pulled mine in over 20 years. Ok once on a pack of pit bulls in the forest but never on a human.

So a light, one pound revolver or pound and a half pistol is just easier and more convenient. I don't need a special belt for one of those. If I do feel the need for more I do have a special belt and the holster for a bigger pistol. But for the most part the smaller, lighter, easier to carry version is the one I take most of the time.

Pilot said:

That being said at 6' and 175, I don't have a gut, but I do find that being thinner creates its own issues with concealment,

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THIS. Wearing a gun on my hip and trying to cover it with just a t-shirt is a no-go unless it's a big, baggy t-shirt. And even then it can print depending on how I move and bend.
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Also, there's always way too much talk along the lines of "I'm such and such size and carry a .50 Desert Eagle no problem!!"

Good for you. Realize that there's vast variation in body shape, even for two people who are about the same height and weight.

OptimusPrime.......I carry my gut concealed but it prints right through my shirt.

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That's good.....

Individuals whose hips are smaller than the gut will always have a difficult time keeping the gun belt up regardless of the weight of the gun. Try a set of suspenders, especially the lumberjack variety that clips onto the belt at the sides. (See Perry suspenders at http://www.perrysuspenders.com/persus.html ) These work wonders on tool belts and gun belts; and though most people don't know it, they are very stylish.

May I gently and most respectfully suggest that overweight individuals consider a weigh-loss program as a matter of health and, secondly, as a matter of holding up the gun belt? After all, the likelihood of suffering a heart attack is far greater risk than that of a gunfight.

I'm a small-framed female. I don't have a beer gut and probably never will. I have enough of an hourglass figure that my hips hold up a gun belt pretty well, and so I usually carry either a 5" 1911 or a full size single stack 9mm of my choice. What do I sacrifice? Skimpy t-shirts in summer. They don't cover at all. So I'm usually wearing a jacket of some kind at work, or if I'm out and about and don't have to worry about looking professional, I actually like a solid color (gray, tan, blue, green) BDU jacket. I've found that by wearing a slightly loose jacket and using small-of-back or shoulder carry, I can conceal a fairly large handgun without worrying about my pants sliding or printing.... Of course, these are single stack handguns only, and even the 1911 is pretty thin. I doubt I could get away with a double stack like an XD or a Glock.

Around the house or in the car, I enjoy open carry... So much easier.

I'm all for people carrying whatever they want to carry. Its better that the carry something they're comfortable with than nothing at all.

But, I'm reminded of a quote I heard Clint Smith say years ago when Thunder Ranch was featured on the old TNT show, American Shooter. "A gun's not supposed to be comfortable; its supposed to be comforting."

I live in Arizona, and mostly open carry. I've never put much thought into the logistics of concealed carry. That being said, at 5'11'' and 145 pounds, I'm very lean, yet don't feel any trouble carry a fully size 1911 daily, and wouldn't have trouble concealing it if I needed to.

As for the matter of weight...if you're concerned with self defense, you need to be concerned with your weight. If your overweight, you're far more likely to be killed by heart disease, liver disease, cancer, diabetes, etc than by an armed assailant. Staying thin is a matter of self defense, and the rate at which our children are becoming obese is truly a matter of national security.

Deafsmith wrote:

CCW Dilema.. weight of gun .vs. weight of gut
Ok gang,

I have been seeing many post complaining about how heavy this or that gun is for CCW. 1911 to heavy... N frame snubs to heavy... all steel guns to heavy...

But I ask you, how many of you are 10 to 20 lb (or more) overweight?

Now if that 40 oz .45 Auto or .44 magnum is to heavy then why is your gut not so heavy?

Maybe instead of reducing the weight of your weapon, reduce the weight of your gut.

BTW.. my minimum guns is a Glock 26 or all steel 640 .38. And yes I do need to drop 20 lbs!

Deaf

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At 6'1 and 176 lbs I have no "beer belly" but am still active in the same physically demanding sport for over 30 years.

While the pants stay up with an inside the pants paddle without a belt, it does not really help a lot with concealing.

I'm fairly overweight, it has little bearing on what I can carry. I can still put my 80lb daughter on my back and walk around no problem.

Skiing the bumps, sure, I'd get in an extra run or two without the gut.

In a decent holster on a good belt it's not the weight - it's concealing the bulk. I don't like the tumor look.

I have an alloy CZ in .40 i bought a thicker belt from Crossbreed Holsters. Dont stretch,stays put

At 6' even and barely 160lbs, I find carrying anything IWB to be a challenge, but that might be due to my unwillingness to audition one of those supertuck style holsters. But with a proper belt, I can carry an all-steel, full-size pistol or even a 5-1'2" revolver in a belt holster without chasing my pants all day.

I am so skinny that if I wear red I look like a thermometer.
A good belt, loose T shirt, Fobus paddle, and off I go with my 1911.
Been doing it for a couple decades.