Strong hand damage - draw problems!!

[P95Carry]

I wonder if we give enough regard to this? I am still expecting hopefully to reach my casket never having drawn in anger but ..... yesterday, whilst shifting some lumber .. a piece fell and smacked the back of my strong hand pretty hard.

No damage ... just a bit bruised but I thought ... what if in the initial stage of an ''incident'' the gun hand was compromized? I sure as heck would not find a weak hand draw easy at all, with my usual carry methods.

3.30 to 4 o'clock OWB would be awkward but manageable - if damned slow .. but were I using a vertical sho rig ... problems methinks!! Fumble, fumble!

Any thoughts .. ever tried a weak hand draw? I practice weak hand shooting .... but got to get the gun into play first!

 

[BluesBear]

I am lucky to be 85% ambidexterious. The only thing I really can't do left handed is play bass or guitar. I shoot almost as much with my left hand as I do my right.

I have developed methods for reloading left handed and practice them often. For me belt carry is either OWB at 3 or 9 and IWB at 4 or 8. The 3 or 6 is the hardest to draw with the off hand. For me, a shoulder holster is actually much easier to draw from wrong handed.

I think far too many people shoot weak handed but don't give enough thought to drawing or reloading.

In a face to face confrontation having one or both arms injured is a very real possibility ande veryone should have a plan B.


Sorry to hear about your hand Chris. I hope it heals fast.

 

[Preacherman]

It's not a bad idea to practice with a BUG accessible to either hand. A snubby in the offside pocket balances the primary on the strong side, and can be a lifesaver if the strong hand is disabled or otherwise occupied.

 

[P95Carry]

Sorry to hear about your hand Chris. I hope it heals fast.

Thx dude ...... but I was VERY lucky in fact ... it was just one of those things that prompted this line of thought.

Had my hand been on something solid it'd have been way worse ... much more ''crush'' ... as it was ... hand was just hit a glancing blow .. no biggie I'm glad to say.

Makes me realize tho ... I have to give MUCH more thought to methods for draw ... and as Preacherman says ... there is the opposite side BUG aspect too to consider.

 

[El Tejon]

Call me a crazy Zen monk ("El Tejon, you're a crazy Zen monk"), but no one promises you a rose garden or two hands in a fight.

This is why both my primary pistol and bug are on the belt and accessible with either hand from either side.

As to techniques, there are several which are taught by different instructors. Once learned they should be practiced. I urge professional instruction.

Congrats on your Zen moment that a fight may not be what you desire it to be. Be careful, learning may lead to more learning and the Yeehawists will be angry!

 

[enfield]

I learned how to do the weak hand draw, but I found the one-handed reload with the weak hand can be a real trick unless ALL of your spare mags are accessible with your weak hand. The first time I tried the one-handed weak side reload in training, my spare mags were in my strong side front pocket, the instructor was yelling in my ear from 4 inches away, and I looked like I'd stepped on a fire ant nest.

Front pockets and jacket pockets are poor places to carry mags!

 

[Amish_Bill]

I crushed the end of a thumb a while back.

Until then, I'd never noticed that I only had strong-side holsters. Only strong side holsters.... The draw is kind'a difficult if you lack a proper opposable thumb... ;-)

 

[biere]

I am mostly left handed but in this right handed world I learned to make due at times. I have come to the conclusion that this is great and I have continued shooting both handguns and rifles using either hand or eye just to make sure I can make due no matter what.

I will admit that now that ohio has started the ccw process I mostly plan to have the back up gun for one hand and the primary for the other. Of course both are adequate to be primary guns in my opinion and while it would be difficult I can get to them using either hand.

The reload is something I have not figured out yet, but I have options and I expect to sort of "learn on the job" since I have several ways to do things that work fine around my little place in the country. Some may not be so useful in the real world, isn't city life a reality show?

I am also really guilty of hurting one hand or foot and learning that while a stick shift is nice it is not as easy to drive while using crutches or having an arm in a sling or whatever.

Glad you got an easy lesson, and really glad you posted so that more folks can consider this idea.

I grew up with it, but it is good for all those righties to realize that one day thier righty may be more useful as a club.