Do You Carry a Backup or Just a Primary?

[mljdeckard]

I do not mock anyone for carrying more than one, but I do not at this time. If one bad thing can happen, (you get attacked) another bad thing can happen. (Your primary plan fails for any of a number of reasons.)

The main reason I htink I don't, is I am working with the family when I'm out and about as well, sometimes carrying a child. It's hard enough to stay on top of one gun. Adding another makes life more complicated. FOR ME, an extra mag, a knife, a flashlight, and a cell phone is plenty of backup for now.

One day I could see myself getting a sub-compact Glock, or a Colt Detective Special in an ankle holster.

 

[bpisler]

I have my KT P-11 in my right front
pocket at all times,when i'am not
at work i also have a 3" K frame
on my right hip.It feels strange to
me not to have the P-11 in the
pocket so i just leave it there when
i carry my primany.

 

[hemiram]

I carried one of my Dan Wesson Model 15's or my S&W 28 as my primary gun, and I had a series of backup guns that I couldn't trust to actually work, before finally settling on a Beretta 950. I've never had a single problem with it.

I didn't carry a backup until a friend got assaulted and his main gun taken by the idiot who hit him after my friend got into it with his wife at the carry out/gas station he was working at. As the guy was kicking him, he pulled his Walther PPK and the guy froze like a statue. As it was he had to have a bunch of stitches and had two broken ribs. The moron went to jail.

After that, I started carrying one. Never really had to use it, but I did come close to pulling it once during a fight with a loon who was trying to take my gun.
My partner solved the problem by whacking him with a paper punch.

 

[Clipper]

Carrying a second gun just feels silly...I mean Michigan only recently became shall-issue, and for nearly 50 years I was fortunate enough to never need a carry gun, but always resented being forced not to carry one. However, the one time I carried two (I was trying a new pistol/holster and kept my P3AT on me in case the new combo became a drag and I might want to take it off before I got home) I felt like a Mall Ninja in training or something...

 

[mjrodney]

A holstered j-frame in one pocket, a speed strip in another, and a fast pair of running shoes rounds out my setup.

 

[fiVe]

S&W 642 with 5 extra rounds in a Bianchi speed strip.

 

[tegemu]

one 1911 & spare mag.

 

[logical]

Without exception, every "what do you carry" thread ( I am not suggesting that this thread is one) is full of pictures of pristine grain-matched lizard and alligator belt/holster combos fashionably complimented by enormous mint condition custom guns and knives. Why people do this I don't know. I assume these are people who don't carry at all.

Then there are those who genuinely carry a full or medium size gun always or nearly always. For those, I commend you. And even more so if you also actually regularly conceal a back-up. I have no idea how you do it.

I am in way too many situations where walking around in a seasonally innappropriate jacket or an untucked shirt is simply unacceptable....and I'm not sticking a gun anywhere near my boys in some wierd custom modified underwear holster nor am I going to be seen sporting a fanny belt purse at any time soon (ever).

I have guns up and down the size scale and would love to carry my two-tone P229 or the P239 SAS or even the Ruger SP-101 but I just don't do it more than once or twice a year. In reality, the only thing that ever gets carried regularly is a Rohrbaugh R9 in a pocket or ankle holster or maybe the Smith 340PD in a pocket holster. Even on the weekend, in the winter, on a day where I am not going anywhere where carry is prohibited...I just find it easier and more importantly, perfectly adequate to put one or the other in my pocket. The only time I have carried two at once was in a range bag.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Massad F Ayoob item/BUGs-second guns...

Well known gun writer; Massad F Ayoob, a weapons/tactics instructor and sworn LEO, wrote a recent item about BUGs(back-up guns). It goes into detail about how and why a second gun or "back-up" is a smart idea. If I were a sworn LEO or federal agent I would carry at least 2 firearms with me while on duty. I'd use either a smaller semi auto pistol model as my main duty weapon(like the HK P-2000/P-30 and the P-2000sk) or I'd carry a J-frame S&W model 638/640 .357/.38spl DA only revolver. A well made semi auto pistol that can take the larger model magazines is a good back-up. A DA/SA revolver may be good if you are ill, wounded or must be able to shoot one-handed in a CQB type incident but a DA only weapon is safer and better to justify in open court/criminal investigations.
I remember a police shooting many years ago in Pittsburgh PA, where 2 sworn LEOs in heavy winter jackets were in a fight with a subject who had a loaded firearm. The officers were going to arrest the subject and when an LEO went to unholster his small frame DA revolver, the hammer spur got caught up in his parka, . These incidents can show why it is so important to know what weapons and tactics work best before you decide what to wear or carry with you.
-Rusty S

 

[PX15]

Walther P99c/AS when conditions allow, along with my LWS32..

LWS32 all the time..


J.Pomeroy

 

[rdrancher]

Primary - 642 or Vintage CA Undercover w/Speed Strip or Hi-Power 9mm

BUG - Taurus PT92 truck gun w/spare 15rd mag

My profession usually keeps me within sight of my truck.

rd

 

[fwm]

Backup

I carry 25 rounds at all times.

13 in my 9MM
7 in .380 &
5 in my .357 mag

 

[Mad Magyar]

I carry 25 rounds at all times.

13 in my 9MM
7 in .380 &
5 in my .357 mag

How about a pic on that one.....

 

[miko]

How about carrying a second gun if only to loan it to a person without one?

miko

 

[ExSoldier]

I've never carried a BUG. Prefer a primary and a spare mag or speedloader (in the case of my M642). In addition I always carry a knife (Spyderco Delica combo blade) and a flashlight (Surefire G2) Anything more than that is too bulky and too heavy for the south Florida weather. My spare mag is almost always of a higher capacity than the primary. Hence when I carry my Sig P245 with a 6rd mag + 1 in the tube, my backup is a P220 8rd mag. If I carry my Glock M27 there is the std 9rd mag (+1) and I'll carry either a M22 or M23 mag with 15 or 13 rds respectively. I have a plastic spacer installed on each so as to provide a seamless grip area. If I carry my Sig P226 Blackwater 9mm, my spare mag is the newly redesigned Sig P226 20rd mag. Ooooh yeah!

 

[ATW525]

I'm currently packing a 5 shot J frame and one "reload".

 

[Finalizer]

I almost always carry a BUG, and for the same reason I carry my primary. Two guns isn't any more difficult or any more of an inconvenience (for me) than one, and better to have it and not ever need it than to not have it and need it.

I carry a Sig P229 IWB as my primary, and a S&W 340PD as my BUG in my weak-hand front pocket.

 

[sb350hp]

Primary only extra mag sometimes.

If BG breaches 24 foot parameter w/ me my intention are to be locked on and ready to rock anyhow. If I cannot hit him with 8 how effective are the second 8? After all my intention is to 1. eliminate the threat 2. retreat to safety if possible.

Someone mentioned "bad breath range". If I can smell his breath and I do not have my weapon fixed on him, if he has a knife I have already lost (FBI studies prove the 21 to 24 foot barrier rule)

 

[The Annoyed Man]

One H&K USP Compact .40 S&W with 1 extra magazine (24 rounds total). Otherwise, one 1911 with 1 extra magazine (17 rounds total). I figure that if one or the other pistol by itself isn't enough firepower, then I don't belong there anyway and need to be somewhere else... ...in a very big hurry.

...(shades of "Ninja is my name. The mall is my game")...

 

[Autolycus]

I can definatley agree with Rusty Shackleford on this.

I prefer guns that allow magazine compatability. Its nice to have a fullsize spare and a BUG that can also use those spares.

 

[Mad Magyar]

"I love listening to your little piss-ant soldiers talk tough."
Bennet- Commando(1984)

This is what this entire thread reminds me of....I wonder how many actually carry on a regular basis, non-LEO's, and or act like the above??? Being able to conceal just one handgun & perhaps a spare mag is quite a feat in all types of clothing-weather conditions...Give me a break....
Remember, Mas Ayoob writes & runs a PD school for a living....HE has never, by his own admission, fired one gun let alone use a B.U.G. on any perp during his long & illustrious career....Now, Jim Cirillo is another matter....

 

[rocket lad]

Just a primary - XD .45acp, spare magazine in the car

 

[BikerRN]

Off-Duty I carry a BUG 95% of the time.

I prefer revolvers, but today I have my Glock 19 and a Kahr PM9. My normal Off-Duty Carry is a N-Frame Revolver and a J-Frame.

The reason I carry a BUG is because I want a weapon accessable to either hand since I do not know which hand I will be able to get to a weapon with when the ballon goes up.

Biker

 

[peacemaker45]

On days that I'll be sitting most of the time, it's a 1911 on my right hip, 1-3 spare mags on my left, and a kel-tec p32 in my pocket.

On days that I don't have to sit all day in a driver's seat that has entirely too much in the line of kidney support, I might replace the spare mags with a second 1911. that's actually pretty comfortable when standing or walking around, but jabs me in the ribs in the driver's seat. Sometimes, when your primary is the heaviest thing on earth short of an IPSC open gun, carrying more stuff actually makes it more comfortable. Balances out the belt, if you've got a second gun, or a bunch of mags, instead of just one.

~~~Mat

 

[Rexster]

BikerRN: "The reason I carry a BUG is because I want a weapon accessible to either hand since I do not know which hand I will be able to get to a weapon when the balloon goes up." Amen, Sir! My earlier response, of carrying no back-ups, but more than one primary, reflects this same train of thought. Moreover, I do not carry multiple weapons because Mas Ayoob says so, but because Mas Mas Ayoob wrote that Jim Cirillo does so, among other reasons, of course. I also know what it's like to hear a rattling sound inside a weapon, and dissassemble it to find two mid-sized pieces of mainspring when the weapon is supposed to have just the one big piece of mainspring. Also, being a skinny guy 24 years ago, when I started carrying, and having added only one inch to my waist size since then, I find it easier to conceal two or more smaller weapons than one big one.