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anyone carry a backup gun? im going to carry an HK usp .45 compact. i also have a springfield xd. 40 subcompact. haha maybe im just itching to see the xd in an ankle holster.

Sometimes.

Kahr PM9

Not me. I trust the one I have.

Does a trunk gun count?

I usually carry either a KT P11 or a vest pocket Colt .25 in my pocket in addition to my Hipower. I figure I carry my extra ammunition in a second gun so that it will be good to go if I need it.

As above - Sometimes.
I will carry a back up when going some place legal but for some rare reason I will need to drop my primary & need something tiny in my back pocket.

In a high threat situation. Rita, then & a couple of other times like that but not near as bad.
When I have 2 guns for percieved high threat I will have my primary & a quad pac mag carrier for it.
The back up then is "Snoot". Ruger SP101 w/ speed loader in pocket & 2 Bianchi Speed Strips. I completely trust my primary & in that situation am not carrying backup to come into play due to failure.
In a Rita situation "when seconds count the police may only be a couple of hours away." You could be on your own & the BGs have come to stay.

I carry a BUG most of the time. A lightweight Kimber ultra cdp or a S&W 642.

I have never felt the need to carry a backup in my 12 years with my CHL. However, my primary changes from season to season and situation to situation. I trust them all.

642 S&W w\laser in pocket

gduncan52 wrote:I have never felt the need to carry a backup in my 12 years with my CHL. However, my primary changes from season to season and situation to situation. I trust them all.

I recently rethought my BUG policy after a course in early March with John Farnam. Previously, I seldom carried a BUG but, like LT, I would carry one of my small guns as primary, depending on dress and situation.

In Farnam's advanced class we spent a couple of hours practicing retention drills, and BUG transition. One thing he reinforced was that, as we all know intellectually, most outside-the-home civillian uses of a handgun for self defense occur at very close distances, better measured in feet, not yards. In real close-range gunfighting, the possible--even likely--scenarios don't look much like an IDPA shoot. It's probably close enough to get physical. What if your gun-hand is pinned? What if the VCA tries to wrestle you for your gun, and he's big enough to do it? What if there are two bad guys and one has grabbed your gun hand and the other is closing with a knife?

You get the idea. A BUG really has nothing to do with trusting your primary weapon to function properly, or for use instead of spare ammo. It's for that unpredictable situation that may occur at bad-breath distance with the bad guy.

I'm righthanded, and carry IWB on my right hip. After taking Farnam's lessons to heart I went out and bought a left-hand (front) pocket holster for my Seecamp .32.