In Or Out Of The Pocket

Is Pocket Carry Enough

  • Is Pocket Carry Normally Enough?

    Votes: 94 81.7%

  • No Pocket Carry Is Not Enough

    Votes: 21 18.3%
  • Total voters
    115
  • Poll closed .
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kokapelli

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This just came to me in another thread.
About ten years ago I decided I was no longer going to be a slave to my pistol and have to dress around it.

I'm 82 years old and and in all those years have never had to defend myself with my pistol other than alerting a potential robber that I was armed which has always been enough. So about ten years ago I decided that I was not going to dress around and carry a large hunk of iron, but was just going to drop a pistol in my pocket, accept occasionally carry a larger pistol when I knew I was going to be in a particularly dangerous area.

So the question is, is pocket carry enough for most situations?
 
kokapelli said:
I'm 82 years old and and in all those years have never had to defend myself with my pistol ....

......is pocket carry enough for most situations?
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You answered your own question; for most situations no gun at all has been enough.

For most self defense situations, the pocket gun will likely be enough. But do we plan for the best and hope for the best, or plan for the worst and hope for the best?

In 17+ years of flying when I was active duty I never needed any of the fire extinguishers, yet it was required to memorize their locations throughout the airplane. One crew found that every fire extinguisher on the airplane wasn't enough, after discharging them all before landing (safely) and handing it over to the fire department.

All handgun carry is a compromise- gun size, caliber, comfort, efficiency, concealment, etc. One of the paradigms (that I used to believe myself) was with the limiter "concealed". What does concealed mean to you?
--100% undetectable regardless of body position?
--Undetectable when you're standing or sitting, but might print when you reach or stoop?
--Or (as I do) as simply being covered, no concern if it prints, bulges, or even occasionally is exposed.

Your state and maybe local laws may decide that definition for you, but if they don't, maybe you can rethink why and how you can carry what.

EDIT to add: I cannot answer the poll because you failed to identify what "enough" means.
 
I pocket carry a .380. For all the poo bahhs out there, I'm adamant that small holes are far superior to no holes.

I'm not 82, but I'm in my late sixties. I've carried Kel-Tek-32s, Sig P238s and now a Glock 42. Oops, I forgot the Kahr CW380. The Kahr fits any pocket I have.
 
Posted by kokapelli: I'm 82 years old and and in all those years have never had to defend myself with my pistol...
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That really should not enter into your thinking. The likelihood that you will ever need to defend yourself with a firearm is less than remote. But the question is, what are you likely to need if you do ever have to use a firearm?.

So the question is, is pocket carry enough for most situations?
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Seems to me the issue is two-fold: can you produce it quickly, and can you use it effectively?

Second point first: most pocket sized firearms are more difficult to shoot well. There is also the capacity limitation.

On the first point, you may be able to draw a pocket pistol from a jacket pocket very quickly, but a pants pocket could present problems.
 
I would rather have the option of taking along "more than enough gun", and dressing accordingly for concealed carry, than just slipping my KelTec P3AT into my pocket and having it as my one and only weapon of choice primarily because it's convenient and easy to carry that way.
 
I've never much liked the notion of carrying a bigger gun or more ammo if I thought I was headed to a worse place than normal.
I do carry almost always a pocket 380 simply because it is always there and ready. I just read in another thread a comment about how we have all turned to wimps because we no longer carry steel guns on heavy belts.
I pocket carry 95% of the time because my work has always involved climbing on, over, into machines and structures and at time wearing a belt so pocket is my only option.
In the OP's case I'd say he has to weigh the pros and cons and decide what serves him best. But to be sure he understands the limitations of the weapon.
When I am not working I like to carry a G26 in my belt with a spare mag in my pocket, it doesn't weigh an excessive amount and covers well IMO.
 
I am a firm believer in "defense in depth".

The probability is that you are more likely to be attacked in your home, then, your car.

If you do not wish to carry a more than capable side arm all the time, you could easily feel more than armed well enough by having a very good, full sized arm for home defense. And keep a full, medium or compact arm in the car.

Walking around with a pocket gun, then, might seem particularly well suited to you, since you would then have the highest probabilities more than adequately covered.

Hope this helps
 
Based on what I have read Most small caliber pocket guns seem to work as well as the large guns in stopping or preventing the attack. Most of the time the gun need not be fired to stop the bad guy. The mere presentation of any gun might do it. Greg Ellifritz and others have written on this subject with evidence from actual confrontations. For people like us who are not in Law enforcement, where a long shot may be necessary, the pocket gun for a CCW is good enough. I have both 9mm and 380ACP pocket guns, and carry them frequently without worry.
 
You can fit a J-frame .357 magnum in your pocket loaded with 125 grain full-power JHP magnums.

YES, pocket carry is enough! :D!

EDIT: Just realized this is the autoloader section. My bad! But still, there are several pocketable 9mms, .40s, and even .45s (read XDS 45) that are pocket sized. Still plenty of POP!
 
For most pocket guns I'd say that statically speaking you will not need to use a handgun in SD so they should "be enough", but if you do need to use your handgun the stats mean very little.

Most "pocket" guns are hard to shoot and have tiny sights making it even harder to get good hits, so personally I prefer a bigger handgun.

I have carried just my 642 before because it could not be know that I was carrying. I prefer belt to pocket carry if only carrying one handgun because I can draw it easier from more positions than I can from a pocket. (Although I think pocket carry is great for a second gun.) YMMV.
 
Posted by Hometeached1: Most "pocket" guns are hard to shoot and have tiny sights making it even harder to get good hits, so personally I prefer a bigger handgun.
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Yep. As Mainsail pointed out in Post #2, "All handgun carry is a compromise- gun size, caliber, comfort, efficiency, concealment, etc."

Some time back, I usually carried a revolver in a pocket holster. Capacity, trigger pull, sights, and sight radius led me to change that.
 
Some time back, I usually carried a revolver in a pocket holster. Capacity, trigger pull, sights, and sight radius led me to change that
Click to expand...

And so you now carry.........
 
^^^^

A single column 9, OWB.

A revolver in a vest pocket sometimes comes along for backup, too.
 
I'm not a doomsday kind of guy. I tend to carry the largest firearm that I can comfortably pack around. Most days in the warmer months it's a little LCP that I keep tucked in my back pocket. In the cooler months, I tend to carry full size OWB pistols.

For most everyone, SOMETHING is going to be better than nothing. It's just going to depend on if better than nothing is enough. I don't concern myself too much about that, honestly. I simply don't have the desire to dress around a firearm short of throwing a shirt over it. Do I like just carrying a 7 shot .380? Not really, but a lot of the time that is the most i can carry on my person and hope that I can get to the 9/40/45 in my truck/desk. Do I feel "well enough" armed with the just the .380? Yeah, it's reliable, accurate enough in my hands, and is better than trying to disarm an attacker with my winning smile.

My grandfather is 87 years old. He can't see very well, but he's been carrying the same .22 snub nose for at least 40 years. He's never needed it short of threatening a scumbag kicking his door one evening 20 years ago. It was enough to scare the punk off, but I know he wouldn't have thought twice about emptying it into the guy if he made it through. It's basically the only firearm he has short of an heirloom .410 shotgun and an old 16 gauge bolt gun. He has no ammo of either of those as he hasn't hunted in nearly half a century. My grandparents live in a crummy neighborhood and are considered softer and softer targets as they age. Even still, Grandpa seems to be content with his little .22 in his back pocket.
 
Rule number one is to never go anywhere you wouldn't go without a gun. So is it "enough" is something only you can answer. If you think you need more gun, then do what makes you feel comfortable.

That being said, it is impossible to predict all possible threats, so carry a more powerful and/or higher capacity gun may be a good idea.

Personally, I carry a 5 shot .357 on a fairly regular basis or a 6 shot .45 acp. I think if you start pulling the trigger, the culprit or culprits will be leaving quickly. That's no guarantee of course.
 
I bought the Rohrbaugh R9 because I wanted a small lightweight pocket pistol.

I often carry the R9 in my pocket and an unloaded CM9 in a Ka-Bar TDI pack - just because of the funny way that Illinois carry law plays out.

I'm putting a holster in my car so I can have a full-sized gun just to the right of my seat, if I tried to draw my R9, from my pocket while I'm sitting in my car seat - I'd have to first ask the assailant to wait a minute.

In other words I'd be screwed.
 
I have no problem carrying my LCP in my pocket. I like carrying my Shield or p220 but don't have a problem with my little 380.
 
I have a number of small pistols, Solo, Nano, PM9, and a G42, and I pocket carry every day. I have come to rely upon my G42 as my EDC primarily because of weight. That said, I also keep a full size 9mm and two extra mags in my truck console at all times.
 
I started off carrying IWB every day, but it wasn't worth it for me. Now I just slip a j frame into my pocket and call it a day.

If I'm going to be out and about (read: not doing much sitting) or if I'm working the concession stand (my wife works for the city so I get 'volunteered' to sell tickets, beer, etc at outdoor events a few times a year) I'll carry my CZ-P01 in a Milt Sparks IWB, but aside from that I've always felt comfortable with a pocket gun in my strong-side front pocket.
 
Many of the folks I know use a derringer. Tiny, compact, and light.
Downside, only two shots...great if faced by one attacker, kinda sucks for more.

That's the kicker, what sort of trouble are you most likely to run across??
some like to be Boy Scouts, prepared for Anything with a hi-cap & two extra mags...
others prefer a more minimal approach with a derringer or a small semi-auto...

Whichever way you go, having a gun is always better than not having one.
So carry whatever you like !
 
Pocket carry is always enough, or even more than enough, unless it suddenly becomes not enough.

The thing is, you're just not gonna know ahead of time.

I'm a little over half the OP's age, and still mostly carry on the hip (9mm) just because it's what I'm used to. When I do pocket-carry, it's a .32 pistol, and it's usually because I'm wearing something that precludes hip carry out of necessity (such as while traveling to and from my job site in uniform; I work in EMS now.)
 
It all depends on how prepared you wish to be. There will always be outliers where a pocket gun is not enough. There will still be some outliers if you carry a wondernine on your hip with 3 reloads and a backup. How many outliers and how much difference between the two is not well known or defined (and the outcome of this poll will not change that).

For my peace of mind pocket carry is sufficient. If there is doubt in your mind then perhaps it is not sufficient for you.
 
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I can, and do, carry a slim double stack 9mm with a spare 17 round magazine. Back problems - and only my back problems - may force me to a lighter single stack but at this point I have no intentions of pocket carry for primary EDC.

Just a personal choice.
 
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