Chest Bags and Concealed Carry

[MagnumDweeb]

I've regularly carried two pistols for awhile now. My latest rig is a Ruger P345 or Glock 20 in a should holster and a Rossi 462 .357 snub nose or Bersa Ultra Carry 9mm or Glock 23 in my pants pocket.

This is easiest when I'm wearing a suit jacket or a sports jacket which I do often. Mostly a sports jacket as even though I'm a lawyer I rarely wear a suit when I'm not appearing for court or mediation regarding a personal injury case. Yeah I play casual at family law mediations because they can take forever. But I get tired of wearing jackets sometimes.

Well what started my interest in chest bags. Well a couple of months ago the fiancee dragged me out to a hole-in-the-wall club that doesn't charge a cover to get in. I hung out up front because the place was a fire hazard tragedy waiting to happen. I'm sitting there minding my own business and counting the minutes till 2:00 a.m. and this guy just sides up right next to me. And he's wearing a chest bag. Of course the guy is a skin head and has numerous piercings and just looks like a whacko. So I'm in condition yellow to the hilt because he slowly slides up the chest bag and starts unzipping it. I'm going cold and gripping the beer in my hand likes it's Thor's hammer. I'm expecting a gun to come out because it's just the right size and I'm thinking I'm going to have to smash the bottle into his temple and take him to the ground.

Nope, a condom falls to the floor and the guy pulls out a little note pad and starts writing. He of course starts talking to me about nonsense and wasted youth and blah blah blah. But it got me thinking. Men with chest bags are becoming a norm. I'm seeing it more and more.

And then I go back to belly bags and people thinking that if you wore one it meant you had a gun. And then I thought, wow that would be really convenient and more comfortable. I want to get one of those tablets with microsoft word on it, so I can work on the run and while I'm on the treadmill at the gym. And if I got the right size chest bag I could carry a tablet and a service size pistol like a GI frame 1911, or my Glock 20, or my Ruger P345.

Yeah it seems kind of not-masculine to have one of these chest bags, but it'd be comfortable, convenient, and non-threatening ot the public. I get strange looks for regularly wearing a sports jacket with jeans and steel-toed boots (yes I meet with a lot of clients dressed like that, and yes they still hire me after they talk to me).

I'm really thinking of getting one of these less than $20 chest bags and wearing it out to see what reactions I get. On the side I've gone back to powerlifting and have also started doing German Volume training very intensely and in a short time my Lats and chest have grown in size making shoulder holsters more uncomfortable and awkward. I've done IWB but I still have a paunch and it's not comfortable for me. So I thinking of trying this, so I don't have to keep buying larger and larger sports jackets and blazers, and suit jackets.

I've attached some ideas I'm considering.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Sorry, but I'm not seeing me wearing a suitcase strapped across my chest.

 

[Atbat82]

You run the definite risk of looking like a hipster...

That being said, it's probably more comfortable. Maybe not the quickest access though.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[buck460XVR]

Men with chest bags are becoming a norm. I'm seeing it more and more.

Maybe where you're at. Around here they still get a raised eyebrow and a snicker.

And if I got the right size chest bag I could carry a tablet and a service size pistol like a GI frame 1911, or my Glock 20, or my Ruger P345.

Sounds like you need one of those "31 Bags" my daughter in law goes on and on about......"31 Bags"

Yeah it seems kind of not-masculine to have one of these chest bags, but it'd be comfortable, convenient, and non-threatening ot the public.

What ever works for you. I don't fear men carrying handbags or wearing chestbags, but they do make me leery of those with them. How convenient it would be to draw a weapon as opposed to a decent/appropriate holster would be a concern of mine.

 

[allaroundhunter]

If I was going to carry one in a bag....I would use this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0FMspTizyU

 

[Cocked & Locked]

never seen a chest bag...probably none around here.

 

[youngda9]

"Yeah it seems kind of not-masculine to have one of these chest bags" Understatement of the decade.

Looks like a suitcase on the chest, telling of there being a gun in there. Don't know why any self respecting man would want to wear a purse on their chest.

 

[hAkron]

Not to dive down a rabit hole, but I used to carry IWB and found it uncomfortable. I switched to a high ride OWB and its way more comfortable. Off body carry is usually regarded as being a bad choice in the few articles I've read on the subject.

Back to your topic - would a man in his 20's - 40's carrying bag like this stick out? Depends on the area. Here in Akron, OH - the middle of middle America - nobody would give you a second glance. But we also don't go on high alert because a person with a shaved head and earring or two is standing next to us. If that's a situation that makes you think that the use of deadly force is eminent, then you should stay out of those types of situations all together.

 

[Rexster]

If something a bit less metrosexual is desirable, do a computer search for Hill People Gear, and Kifaru Koala. Though not a chest pack, the Safepacker from TheWilderness.com has been my solution for quite a few years now, to carry a larger second gun. (I carry a weapon on-body when I use off-body carry.)