Why SOB carry is a bad idea.

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JamisJockey

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Went for a mountain bike ride tonight. Night ride....fast singletrack...good times
:neener:
Had my Kel-tec in a fanny pack. I wear it on the right hip/butt cheek.
Slipped while crossing a log and came down pretty hard on the gun. Hard enough that the spare mag put a gouge in the grip. Hard enough to smash my cellphone. Hard enough to bruise my :cuss:-cheek.
If anyone thinks that placing a metal gun against thier spine is such a good idea....just fall over on it once. You'll change your mind fast.
 
For cycling I carry in a shoulder holster or in a coat pocket. Aside from falling on the firearm, having any steel attached to me is annoying while riding. You could also rig up a seatpost bag to carry iron in, and just remove your seat post when you leave the bike.
 
Even if you take the possible spinal injury (if you fall directly on it) out of play, I can think of no reason why a SOB holster is any more concealable or accessible compared to a IWB worn in a more conventional position. :confused:
 
Cosmoline, you already know that I can't fit a shoulder rig under the lycra.
:neener:
The fanny pack works great, but it didn't feel good landing on it. I normally would just ride condition white and not worry about it, but it was in close to the Beltway, a county park, and at night. Thought maybe just in case....
 
First off, a fall from a Mtn bike is probably a little more painful than slipping on ice.
Couldn't you fasten the fanny pack to your bike frame that you could keep it there while riding, but pull it off if you are going to be walking later?
 
I disagree. I've slipped on Ice, busting open my leg. I slipped once in my garage on sawdust, landing square on my tailbone. That hurt pretty bad. If I'd had a firearm IWB SOB carry, I probably would have broken it. It was black and blue for a week.
The mountain bike fall was at slow speed. I've tripped and fallen harder.
Why would I attach the gun to the bike? Homeless bum rushes out of the woods and tackles me. I'm now separated from my gun. Um...no.
Roadkinklarry,
I actually have a similiar gun bag. I found its not very comfortable when I wear a camelbak.
This is the first time I've fallen directly on my fanny pack when I've carried it.
 
Homeless bum rushes out of the woods and tackles me. I'm now separated from my gun.
Click to expand...
If the homeless guys where you live can outrun a guy on a bike it's time to move.
 
SOB (small of back) beside being generally slow to get to and hard to draw without sweeping yourself (and the general insecure feeling I had in my youth when I carried that way) the BEST reason to NEVER carry a gun SOB.

Wheelchairs are no fun! :(

I knew a guy that really REALLY discouraged this mode of carry. I finally asked him one day just why (he is a pro who instructs with a "big name" friend at their training school/supply business...I assure you he knows what he's talking about) I expected all the above reasons along with something like "you'll sweep the guy next to you"...or..."you'll shoot yerself in the butt kid" Instead it was explained to me that mode of carry generally puts the gun in a great possition so that even slipping on the sidewalk or in the parking lot or getting in a bad car wreck the gun can very easily push on your spine in a way that leaves you in a wheelchair the rest of your days. And he knew at least one person that had happened to. That was good enough for me. I never carried SOB again and started buying better belts and strongside leather holsters that properly supported the gun and locked it in with the belt-loops of my pants for comfortable secure carry.

And me and my 1911 lived happily ever after :)
 
If the homeless guys where you live can outrun a guy on a bike it's time to move.
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Blind corners. Woods. Oh, and it was a night ride. Oh, and think about ambushes nitwit.

Jonboynumba1,
Even a non-damaging blow to the spine can really, really hurt. Getting knocked backwards in a fight, and landing squarely on the gun on your spine could potentially break the spine, sure. But I think the overriding concern is that the resulting pain is like getting the wind knocked out of ya. Last time I fell on my tailbone hard on concrete, it took me a few minutes to get the fortitude to get up. I couldn't imagine if there had been a gun in my SOB....ouch....
 
I love SOB carry. I carry an H&K USP Compact in a Galco SOB holster. It is one of the fastest draws I've experienced, second only to OWB strong side carry. As easy to conceal as an IWB carried at 4:30.

I have a wide variety of holsters, and SOB is pretty much my favorite. Wearing a Milt Sparks VM2 right now. The only advantage it has it that it just snaps on (don't have to take my belt off to put the holster on.)
 
It's called small of the back, and not tailbone carry for a reason. If you can slip and fall in any normal fashion on a SOB holster, you're doing it wrong. I've worn SOB for many years now and have not once managed to fall on it... But I have managed in that time to creatively fall on just about everything else.
 
Cosmoline, you already know that I can't fit a shoulder rig under the lycra.
Click to expand...

Why not? A Null holster would work fine. If you need a faster draw just pack it in a holster over the lycra and put on a cover shirt. Frankly the whole lycra/shaved legs thing is overrated unless you're trying to win races.
Whatever drag you get from a jacket is going to be minimal.

Why would I attach the gun to the bike? Homeless bum rushes out of the woods and tackles me. I'm now separated from my gun. Um...no.
Click to expand...

Just use your rifle.
 
I carry at 1 or 2 IWB. For me, its the most comfortable, convenient, and fastest access possible. Carrying SOB would dramatically slow me down on the draw, so say nothing of the discomfort of falling on it. Then again, im not very "large" in the midsection, as some are, so that might affect the position in which one can carry.
 
There's more to SOB than a 6:00 position, guys. I find 4:30 or so to be the most comfortable waistband carry there is. Of course, it's more satisfying to castigate anyone who mentions SOB with a blanket condemnation than having to actually think about and qualify your answer, isn't it?

And JamisJockey, You need to balance risk with reward. If you're gonna ride over logs, instead of getting off and lifting the bike over, or instead of riding around it, you risk a fall...I assume you already are aware of your gun and other items you are carrying and the possibility you might fall on and damage or destroy them wherever you carry them.
 
biking

I ride singletrack (often poorly) and have had a few good crashes in the last couple of years. I typically ride with a Camelback MULE and carry, usually a J Frame but sometimes a Keltec, in the outside pocket. While that puts the firearm midback, it is padded by the water bladder and other contents.

I have only tried conventional SOB carry a couple of times, did not like it for the reasons mentioned above.

And don't take ice falls lightly - I slipped on ice while out climbing three years ago, and spent the next 6 months rehabbing a shoulder injury! :(
 
guess its better to have than not but in your bum rush ambush scenerio, you really gonna be able to open that fanny pack up and shoot while defending blows to the face/head? plenty of sticks and rocks for someone to club you with bro. in an ambush, youre probably pretty screwed anyhow. thats why people ambush. ;)

and for what its worth, i have fallen on a SOB carried pistol, and while painful no more so than a leatherman or anything else carried on the belt. course it could have been worse, but i could have cracked my skull too. you pays yr money and ya takes yr chances. and i do believe that SOB carry is easier to conceal a pistol than strong side carry, but it may just be the way im built. ymmv
 
I don't think the fanny pack is a bad idea, just bad taste :D I am teasing. It doesn't matter where you conceal it. If you fall on it it will hurt. The worst thing I have done is fallen on my side on the ice with my derringer in my pocket. That left a mark. I feel your pain. Nothing feels like getting "punched" with a solid piece of metal. Just be glad you weren't a girl on a boys bike
:neener:
 
Getting knocked backwards in a fight, and landing squarely on the gun on your spine could potentially break the spine
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Maybe not... the wearer could easily break his fall with his arms, since he would obviously have both hands behind his back during an attack, lifting his coat tail with his left, and extracting his pistol from his plumber's crack with the right. :neener:

Unless, of course, his cover garment rode up over his gun back there... in that case he'd only need one hand.
 
Why not? A Null holster would work fine. If you need a faster draw just pack it in a holster over the lycra and put on a cover shirt. Frankly the whole lycra/shaved legs thing is overrated unless you're trying to win races.
Whatever drag you get from a jacket is going to be minimal.
Click to expand...

The clothing has more to do with comfort when sweating. You wouldn't know about sweating, or hot weather, living in Alaska and all.
:neener:
And don't forget, I do train for racing. Getting back into the swing of things this year. A jacket wouldn't be out of the question about 4 months out of the year.
Anyways, my only real point to the whole thread was that it hurt falling on my firearm. I can't imagine having it pressed up against the small of my back and falling on that....ouch.
 
I haven't been on a bicycle since I was 14 so I guess it's ok to carry SOB. I even gave up motorcycles a couple years ago but then again falling off a motorcycle at 70 mph it probably doesn't matter where you are carrying.

I have been carrying SOB for many years and I don't see a problem. I think my fat butt will hit the ground before my gun will. I can only remember falling a couple of times in the last 20 years and it was always tripping over something and falling forward, never backwards.

As for slow draw I can draw pretty fast from the open top High Noon holster I use. I also find it more comfortable to carry SOB since it is about the only part of my waist that doesn't hang over my belt anymore!

I have also had people say that it is easier to have someone walk up behind you and take your gun. My response to that is how do they know I have one to take?
 
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