Do you change the handgun and equipment you carry depending on the situation?

[Armored farmer]

^^^^. I’m a fan of pepper spray in bear country with a gun as back up. Problem is the spray I have is bear canister sized and I’ve been meaning to get something a little smaller for the walks with the dogs.

If I can get this 10 inches of new snow off the driveway I may actually head out around noon and pick that smaller spray container up.

I buy the little purse sized cans for all my girls at Christmas time. Saber usually

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

Usually it's about what activities I'm up to and/or who I'm looking after.

Riding horses up in the mountains gets a different gun than looking after my son in town.

Fencing/ranch stuff is a different gun too, usually depending on location, season, absence or presence of snakes, etc

That said. 90% of the time it's the same gun

 

[Charlie98]

I pack pretty much the same thing everyday... and have for years.

Gerber knife, eye drops, chap stick in the left pocket, truck keys and spare magazine in the right pocket, CW9 (...or very very remotely the smaller CM9...) in one of two holsters. Wallet in the right rear pocket, cell in the left rear.

If I really think I'm going somewhere where that basic loadout doesn't handle it, I have my go-bag I can throw in the seat next to me, or I can wear it (it's a small backpack...) if I'm on the motorcycle.

Now, if I'm out in the woods... that's a different story. 4" S&W 58 .41MAG, or.... better... my Marlin 1894FG .41MAG... or both.

It's funny what even 3 years of Military service will do to you. When I'm out in the desert, which is where I usually go these days, I feel nekked if I don't have an AR on me, let alone a pistol.

 

[WisBorn]

I do carry different handguns in different areas that I go. If walking the beach for the week it is probably my LCPII 380. Hiking the Appalachian Mountains at minimum it's a j frame, but normally a 357 or 45acp. If I venture to the Rockies I go with my 41mag.
Much of the time I carry a New York reload instead of a speed loader/magazine.

Additional items: my hiking partner (my wife)
Carries a can of bear spray. She also has a little pepper spray for a walk around the neighborhood .
We both have knives in our packs. We carry a first aid kit that includes an EpiPen. I stepped on a bees nest a couple of years ago in SNP miles from the car not much fun...
One thing that I always carry extra of is bottles of water. If I see someone in need I help them. Many people underestimate their need for water. It is also helpful to wash out a cut or scrap.

For daily carry its normally a j frame or LCPII. I'm currently vetting a micro compact 9mm so I hope that it will be a good choice for much of my needs.

 

[Robert]

Read the quoted text. Then read the first line of your signature.

Heh, I haven't read that thing in years.

 

[Wireguided Marine]

I carry a M&P compact 9mm with a RMR. I trained at work with the M&P over twelve years ago and have grown to like it. I have briefly carried the M&P 45 compact and the Sig P320 RX compact but I kept going back to what I think of as my Goldilocks gun.

One thing to never do is go between wildly different types (1911, Glock, Beretta). The last thing you want is to spend time while defending yourself trying to disengage a thumb safety that isn’t there. Or vice versa.

 

[Bazoo]

I pretty much have carried nothing but single action revolvers in the last 2 years. Before that it was a 1911. I pick something and stick with it mostly. I occasionally will carry a new gun a while to get a feel for it and such, but I don't switch around depending on situation.

I'd like to add a Smith and Wesson 642 for the times I cannot effectively conceal a big bore single action. But, since I have owned one previously and am quite proficient with one, it will be an easy addition.

 

[Tallball]

Depends partially on what I'm wearing. I'm glad that shorts weather is coming back. I carry my LCR in the cargo pocket of my shorts for about six months of the year. My hand knows just where it is.

If I were going to a place that was so dangerous I needed "firepower", I just wouldn't go there.

 

[trackskippy]

If I were going to a place that was so dangerous I needed "firepower", I just wouldn't go there.

Someplace like a school in a good neighborhood, your workplace, or the mall, etc?

You see that quote come up a lot, and I have to wonder if people ever go "anywhere" then, and just stay at home and hide.

Some of us were never given the luxury of that choice either, and have to live and work in places a lot of people seem to be afraid of going to or through, which is often, pretty much anywhere you might go, and dont even know it. Im sure the last thing going though the minds of those people in Nashville yesterday, was that nut job was going to come to that school and start shooting things up.

Just making a general observation here, but I think a lot of people just arent very realistic about what they carry and why, and are WAY overly optimistic about their skills with what they do choose. The whole point is to be as prepared as possible for that one thing you hope you "never" get, as opposed to what you think you never will, and dressing for that.

 

[Armored farmer]

Someplace like a school in a good neighborhood, your workplace, or the mall, etc?

You see that quote come up a lot, and I have to wonder if people ever go "anywhere" then, and just stay at home and hide.

Some of us were never given the luxury of that choice either, and have to live and work in places a lot of people seem to be afraid of going to or through, which is often, pretty much anywhere you might go, and dont even know it. Im sure the last thing going though the minds of those people in Nashville yesterday, was that nut job was going to come to that school and start shooting things up.

Just making a general observation here, but I think a lot of people just arent very realistic about what they carry and why, and are WAY overly optimistic about their skills with what they do choose. The whole point is to be as prepared as possible for that one thing you hope you "never" get, as opposed to what you think you never will, and dressing for that.

We are going to have to admit to ourselves that right is now wrong. Good is bad. Normal has been made abnormal. Churches and schools have become dangerous places. Mobs and gangs are good.
Soon there will be no such thing as a 'good guy with a gun'. The media will make that clear.

 

[lee n. field]

Do you carry different guns and equipment for different situations? If so, can you please share what you do and why?

Do you have anything you would like to add to your carry equipment?

Not often. I "upped my game" a little bit, when things were crazy a couple summers ago and they were trying to start "days of rage" in My Little City.

 

[WisBorn]

I am truly saddened by these continued attacks on soft targets like schools, churches, retail spaces, and theaters. They are the most dangerous places I go. More than once I have said Walmart is the most dangerous place I go in the threads of this forum.
By far these attacks are lone shooters. Yes I avoid areas that have high crime rates where multiple attackers are more common. So I do feel properly prepared with a small handgun against one attacker.
I am thankful that the Nashville law enforcement community acted quickly (unlike the cowards in Uvalde).
If you carry it is for your protection, but remember RULE .303.
Us in the gun community need to help in eliminating these attacks. Much has been written about better root cause mitigation and improving are mental health systems . If we don't the rights we defend in the 2A will be lost...

 

[Rexster]

Do you carry different guns and equipment for different situations?

If so, can you please share what you do and why?

Do you have anything you would like to add to your carry equipment?

Yes, of course, I carry different guns, in different situations. My basic “primary” is normally a Ruger SP101, or an S&W K-Frame will relatively compact grips. A 3” or 4” GP100 will enable me to carry higher-velocity ammo, which increases my options. All of these revolving pistols works close enough to the same, in my hands, to be considered “a medium-frame DA revolver.” Adding a Glock can add to my options, but I will never shoot a Glock as well as a 4” to 6” revolver, or a 1911, which can matter in a long-range situation. Adding a highly-accurate 1911 pistol, with appropriate sights, can increase my practical accuracy.

It is a very normal thing for me to carry more than one weapon.

“Different situations” can really matter. Riverine habitat, in rural areas, here in SE Texas, means there will be very large feral hogs. A home health care nurse was killed, in her clients’ driveway, one county east of here. Parts of metro Houston/Galveston seem to present an amazingly high risk of being attacked by multiple escaped/feral dogs, with numerous fatal incidents, recently. A trip to a bank is not the same threat profile, in my opinion, as a trip to a local lemonade stand.

“Different situations” can also be a reflection of whether I am alone, or with other people, and the threat profile(s) of those individual(s). One of my friends is an elderly business owner. I think that we all know that such folks can be seen as tempting targets.

“Different situations” can mean whether or not my aging right hand/arm/shoulder are having a bad day. I am decently ambidextrous, with most of my handguns, but some are better left-hand guns, and some are better right-hand guns.

As for other equipment, the biggest difference is whether my day’s activities will take me far from my local habitat, where police, EMS, and groceries/supplies are readily available. I am out of time, to type more, so, will stop here, for now.

 

[The Night Rider]

I carry for the possibility of having to defend against human attacker(s).
The goal of stopping attacker(s) ASAP does not change based on where I'm standing.
Dressed normally, cargo shorts & untucked shirt, I'll have a Glock 22 or 20 AIWB plus a Sig 365 in pocket
Going to the gym, wearing gym shorts, I'm going to have to discontentedly settle for a snub in Smartcarry and LCP 380 in pocket.
Some people say "better than nothing" like its a goal to aspire to; my philosophy is try to carry a handgun I'd prefer to defend myself with.

What about alligators?

 

[The Night Rider]

Do you carry different guns and equipment for different situations?

Isn't that kind of a given?

"Different situations" covers a huge area of discussion.

Somebody mentioned the Marines being issued a primary weapon. I want to expand on that example.

When I was in the Army they issued me a lot of different equipment. I had different equipment lists for different tasks.

While I was stationed overseas I was required to have my dog tags my military ID card and my SMLM card and my Ration card on my person anytime I was wearing clothes.

Then I had the equipment that I was required to carry or wear when we were going to the local training area, the LBE the Kevlar the gas mask.

Then I had the equipment I was required to carry with me in the field. My rucksack, my duffel bag, my sleeping bag, my MOPP suit and the like.

But I didn't carry all that stuff everyday. I didn't show up for PT in MOPP level 4 (unless I was getting smoked), I didn't wear my PT uniform to the field.



^ This is a real thing that happened^

( for whatever it's worth I posted this picture on another forum and somebody told me "Right behind Mel Gibson over that rise the road goes to the Broken HIll Reservoir and the lookout over the Mundi Mundi Plain, which gets my vote for the flattest place on earth.")

I used to have this full load out that I carried everywhere I went, everyday. Then I retired.

Most of my social activities center around going to the gym. I spend the vast majority of the time that I am not at home wearing this.



I don't put on street clothes unless I have a reason to.



My EDC is normally Water bottle, charging cable, Glock 26 & reload, Flashlight, UDAP OC. SAK Climber, Gym lock, Ear buds, Wallet and phone in the fanny pack.

I absolutely do not leave my home without OC spray. When I worked as a security guard I never had to shoot anybody. I don't think I drew my gun more than four times but that OC spray came out every single night. I already said it but there are times when I will leave my house without a gun, there are no times when I will leave my house without OC spray.

When I go hiking in the mountains I carry "The Ten Essentials" in my pack and I carry a bigger can of OC and my Glock 19 and 2 reloads.

 

[Thomas Mayberry]

Very little change for me. S&W Shield plus for EDC, S&W 642 on rare ocassions. When in the woods a revolver mainly for the ability to have snake shot in the first two chambers.

 

[Rodfac]

^^^^. I’m a fan of pepper spray in bear country with a gun as back up. Problem is the spray I have is bear canister sized and I’ve been meaning to get something a little smaller for the walks with the dogs.

Yep, same here when I'm fishing the remote trout water in the Smoky Mtns. For day to day carry here in KY, when going to town, it's a P365 Sig or my Smith M-60. Both are toted in OWB's and I dress around the gun as needed. Rod

 

[C0untZer0]

There's almost always a Rohrbaugh R9 in my pocket. Sometimes there are places in Illinois that don't allow carrying a loaded firearm, and I'll "transport" an unloaded CM9. The CM9 has almost the same trigger as an R9. I also have an RM380 for backup - its almost identical to the R9.

I also always have a SAR B6P in a Gum Creek vehicle holster just to the right of my right knee whenever I'm driving.

 

[TacticalJanitor]

Isn't that kind of a given?

"Different situations" covers a huge area of discussion.

Somebody mentioned the Marines being issued a primary weapon. I want to expand on that example.

When I was in the Army they issued me a lot of different equipment. I had different equipment lists for different tasks.

While I was stationed overseas I was required to have my dog tags my military ID card and my SMLM card and my Ration card on my person anytime I was wearing clothes.

Then I had the equipment that I was required to carry or wear when we were going to the local training area, the LBE the Kevlar the gas mask.

Then I had the equipment I was required to carry with me in the field. My rucksack, my duffel bag, my sleeping bag, my MOPP suit and the like.

But I didn't carry all that stuff everyday. I didn't show up for PT in MOPP level 4 (unless I was getting smoked), I didn't wear my PT uniform to the field.

View attachment 1142805

^ This is a real thing that happened^

( for whatever it's worth I posted this picture on another forum and somebody told me "Right behind Mel Gibson over that rise the road goes to the Broken HIll Reservoir and the lookout over the Mundi Mundi Plain, which gets my vote for the flattest place on earth.")

I used to have this full load out that I carried everywhere I went, everyday. Then I retired.

Most of my social activities center around going to the gym. I spend the vast majority of the time that I am not at home wearing this.

View attachment 1142814

I don't put on street clothes unless I have a reason to.

View attachment 1142813

My EDC is normally Water bottle, charging cable, Glock 26 & reload, Flashlight, UDAP OC. SAK Climber, Gym lock, Ear buds, Wallet and phone in the fanny pack.

I absolutely do not leave my home without OC spray. When I worked as a security guard I never had to shoot anybody. I don't think I drew my gun more than four times but that OC spray came out every single night. I already said it but there are times when I will leave my house without a gun, there are no times when I will leave my house without OC spray.

When I go hiking in the mountains I carry "The Ten Essentials" in my pack and I carry a bigger can of OC and my Glock 19 and 2 reloads.

Lol! I haven't been on THR for long, but this is one of the best posts I've read here. At long last, we now know that The Dude packs a G26!

 

[The Night Rider]

Lol! I haven't been on THR for long, but this is one of the best posts I've read here. At long last, we now know that The Dude packs a G26!

Gratzi

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I don't really change much based on the situation, with one exception which I'll mention. I do sometimes choose my gun based on the climate. My regular EDC is an HK P2000, but sometimes when it's super hot I'll switch to a Beretta Nano. It's much thinner and conceals well under just an untucked T-shirt. The one situation that I think requires a different set of tools is hiking and camping. All of my trips are around my home base in SW Montana or in northern Idaho; within the 60 mile radius of around front door is one of the highest concentration of Grizzlies in the lower 48. My normal loadout for camping is a .40 cal loaded with 200gr hard cast in chest rig and a 12ga loaded with Brenneke Green Lighting slugs either slung or sitting within arms reach of me.

 

[Walkalong]

On occasion, yes

 

[ms6852]

I'm guilty of using two guns. My EDC is a 686 357 magnum. At home I carry what I call my pajama gun. A Springfield 911 .380 acp. It is so light weight that it won't pull down my pajama bottoms. I don't have children at home anymore so I have firearms strategically placed all over the house, should a home invasion occur, it will happen in the blink of an eye. Having the .380 on me at all times in the house gives me an advantage the invaders are not expecting. The other time that I carry the .380 is when I do my walks early in the morning or in the evenings.

 

[drobs]

When Deer hunting, I frequently carry a Ruger Security Six 357mag with a couple speed loaders in addition to my hunting rifle. Otherwise for the most part it's my Glock 43X carried in an OWB holster under and untucked shirt + with backup 15rd mag. Hot weather - Florida or Missouri, I'll frequently pocket carry my Ruger LC9S Pro with 2 spare mags.

A friend in my Jeep club goes out to the local National Forest and has a bonfire almost weekly. Many of us join him. For awhile, I would carry my flashlight equipped Glock 19 and an AR15 or Shotgun with a light. Lately I've been staying with my non-WML G43X and carried a separate handheld flashlight.

I don't carry a flashlight during the day but do keep them in my vehicles. My phone has a light on it.

 

[CapnMac]

Kind of a given in my case at least.
If I have to go to the Post Office, Medical Facilities, County or City Offices, then it's required. Any place with a 50% TABC sign, then it's required.
Travel out of State warrants a change. Overnight travel to another County wants considering, too.

Come to cases, I have battle rattle, not that I ever want to get to MOPP anything ever again. Mind the situation would define which battle rattle I'd take, too.