Fidgitty - checking concealment

[Teamless]

I (hopefully today) will receive my plastic. I received my MiniTuck on Friday and wore it all weekend (around the house with the pistol) and out of the house without.
Every so often, I caught myself checking to be sure the weapon was concealed.

Other than just "time" are there any tricks to not being fidgitty about concealment?
When I had a long T-shirt, I was not checking so often, but when I tucked a golf shirt, then moved in various situations, sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, etc and repeating these, because of how the tuck works, any bit of pull of the fabric worries me that it will become untucked and show.

Hints, tips, tricks or just don't worry, its concealed?


Thanks!

[The Annoyed Man]

Hints, tips, tricks or just don't worry, its concealed?

Strap it on. Wear it. Forget about it.

[silverbear]

Being a couple weeks ahead of you on plastic, I know what you mean. I can tuck in my tuckable, but it has to be a roomy type of collared shirt. I don't think my polo shirts or t-shirts would conceal much if tucking. So my standard wear right now is nice Hawaiian and camp shirts over the IWB. For really good tucked concealment, I have a smartcarry holster - but be ready to catch grief around here if you admit your wearing manties!

With respect to checking concealment all the time, "time" as you said will take care of that.

[rbftfire]

...For really good tucked concealment, I have a smartcarry holster - but be ready to catch grief around here if you admit your wearing manties!

I've been weighing my options on how I will carry when I get my plastic. The smartcarry is on my list of options but just got a big mark on the "cons" side.

[Kevinf2349]

but be ready to catch grief around here if you admit your wearing manties!

I prefer to call it my Beefeater box as it protects the Crown jewels :)....and besides it sounds better than manties.

As to the original poster. Confidence grows with time, but I still check whenever I get out of the truck 'just in case'. With the shirt tucked in I would be very confident that the weapon was a 'no show' as the Crossbred holds the shirt pretty tightly. With a normal T-shirt I would probably just check that the shirt didn't ride up.

I went to grab a pizza on Saturday wearing a OWB with the Bersa in. I was wearing shorts and a T and even though I saw the bump myself, nobody even gave me a second glance.

[silverbear]

...For really good tucked concealment, I have a smartcarry holster - but be ready to catch grief around here if you admit your wearing manties!

I've been weighing my options on how I will carry when I get my plastic. The smartcarry is on my list of options but just got a big mark on the "cons" side.

The manties (the term officially coined by TAM) are third on my list of carry options for the 26 behind, IWB and pocket carry. But smartcarry does work and it pretty comfortable.

Manties - Kinda reminds me of that Joe Namath pantyhose ad.

[Teamless]

Thanks for all of the replies, much as I had expected, its just a time thing.

But most of all, I have to give it up for TAM , he is so blunt, pointed and much the same demeanor that I carry in my life, I like your response the best!

Strap it on. Wear it. Forget about it.

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks for all of the replies, much as I had expected, its just a time thing.

But most of all, I have to give it up for TAM , he is so blunt, pointed and much the same demeanor that I carry in my life, I like your response the best!

Strap it on. Wear it. Forget about it.

Thanks for the props, but I can't claim credit for that one. I actually learned it here, just like everyone else.

This is as good a place as any to bring a couple of things up which are related...

First, when you first start to go out in public while packing, you're going to suddenly feel like everyone is staring at you and knows you have a gun; and you're going to get positively light-headed the first time you are around a cop while carrying. There is a point at which one's paranoia actually becomes suspicious behavior in itself, and it will draw unwanted attention. The best antidote is to calm down about it.

The best way to do this is to remind yourself that: A) you have a 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and by choosing to carry a gun, you are positively affirming that right, which makes you a good citizen; and B) you are committing no crime because the great state of Texas, in its wisdom, has seen fit to affirm your right to carry a gun in a concealed manner, making you a trusted citizen. (Whether or not the state should have any say one way or the other in whether you can be trusted with carrying a concealed gun is a separate issue. But for purposes of CHL, they do, which makes you good to go.)

The first few days you carry, you will likely feel exhilarated, as if you are "getting away with it." But that feeling will wear off soon enough, and pretty soon, you may not feel fully dressed if you leave home without your pistol.

Secondly, don't worry about "printing." Printing is not a crime. Intentional failure to conceal is a crime, and a zealous prosecutor (search for handog's thread on the matter of being falsely accused and arrested for an alleged intentional failure to conceal) might jack you up if your gun actually shows and the cops get involved. But, and here's another one I cannot claim any credit for, "concealed" means "concealed." The vast majority of people are not even noticing what you're wearing, let alone if there appears to be something underneath it. They're just not that observant. They are operating in condition white most of the time — unlike most CHLers who operate in (or at least should be operating in) condition yellow most of the time. But even if someone notices that you have some object on your belt which is printing against your shirt a little bit, there is no way on God's green earth for that person to know if it is a gun, a PDA, a pair of glasses in a case, or any one of a number of other possibilities. If it were an arrestable offense, the jails would be full of people who got picked up because their crackberry printed against their shirt.

There are things you can do to mitigate printing, both by choosing the right fit of clothes, and also choosing shirts with darker colors and patterns on them — hence all the Hawaiian shirts you see on CHLers. These days, I just assume that anybody I see with a Hawaiian shirt is probably armed, and I probably have as good a chance of being right as being wrong about it. But the bottom line is, don't worry about it too much. I have made my clothing choices, and I stick to those kinds of choices, and it works. And if you think you have to worry about printing in the Walmart parking lot, try being on stage in front of hundreds of people every week like I do! You learn to stop worrying about printing in a big hurry that way.

[RPB]

I (hopefully today) will receive my plastic. I received my MiniTuck on Friday and wore it all weekend (around the house with the pistol) and out of the house without.
Every so often, I caught myself checking to be sure the weapon was concealed.

Other than just "time" are there any tricks to not being fidgitty about concealment?
When I had a long T-shirt, I was not checking so often, but when I tucked a golf shirt, then moved in various situations, sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, etc and repeating these, because of how the tuck works, any bit of pull of the fabric worries me that it will become untucked and show.

Hints, tips, tricks or just don't worry, its concealed?


Thanks!

Extra Tall shirts have more material at the bottom.

Golf shirts, regular shirts with tails etc ...

Even before I carried I got "Tall" shirts as regular ones came untucked .... just switched to extra Tall when started carrying so I had more to "blouse out" at the belt line.

Even J.C. Penneys has a reasonably priced Tall Men's Dept.

I usually get a couple sizes larger AND Exra Tall, for even more "blousing" material at the bottom ... plus it's cooler in Summer.

I'm not saying run buy a whole new wardrobe, but as you replace old shirts .... think about it when buying ...

[Teamless]

J.C. Penneys

I found their Big and Tall section last week, and I LIKE IT!
Got some shorts with a bit of extra room, for concealment, picked up some 3XL shirts, plenty long enough for my 2XL normal and covers nicely.

By the way, they have a sale on now, which is why I am replying, "Buy 1 and get 1 of equal or lesser value at $0.88"
I picked up 6 shorts, 6 polos and 3 Ts to help with my 'growing' body LOL

[Teamless]

The first few days you carry, you will likely feel exhilarated, as if you are "getting away with it." But that feeling will wear off soon enough, and pretty soon, you may not feel fully dressed if you leave home without your pistol.

Yep, I can already feel part 1 of that, much like that first time I had a "real" ID that said I was 21 and ordered my first (legal) beer.

Thanks again TAM (and all) for your ever wealth of knowledge, wisdom and insight!

[RPB]

J.C. Penneys

I found their Big and Tall section last week, and I LIKE IT!
Got some shorts with a bit of extra room, for concealment, picked up some 3XL shirts, plenty long enough for my 2XL normal and covers nicely.

By the way, they have a sale on now, which is why I am replying, "Buy 1 and get 1 of equal or lesser value at $0.88"
I picked up 6 shorts, 6 polos and 3 Ts to help with my 'growing' body LOL

I keep an eye on their B/T (big/TALL) Clearance section seasonally and stock up on expensive stuff at less than 10 bucks usually. Lots of stuff they sold last season at $50.00 you can get for $8.00-$9.00 ...
I"d rather buy those clothes now for $9.00 than wait a few months and spend $50.00 next Fall ... although they do have some Summer clothes, even some no-iron "EXTRA-Tall" there still too left over from last year on Clearance
http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X3.aspx?De ... cmAMS_C=D3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Drewthetexan]

It has been my experience that even people who know you are carrying can't tell you are carrying. Do all your fidgeting before you go out. I do. I make sure I'm good and satisfied that I'm good to go before I hit the street - it's part of my routine: wallet - check, keys - check, phone - check, gun in place & properly secured and concealed - check. Then once I'm out the door I don't worry about it.

I did the whole panic thing, imagining that my pistol was somehow glowing bright neon green with large red cartoon arrows pointing to it the first time I went to Love Field and walked by a bunch of LEOs. Of course nothing happened. I actually had walked across the skybridge from the parking garage (not posted that I can recall), out the front doors, inspected the invalid gunbuster signs, and walked back in. That alone pretty much cured me of all anxiety while carrying.

[JAguirre]

Teamless,

First, I am in no, way, fashion, nor form an expert on CC. Ive only been doing it for a month, but I have found that cinching my belt (5.11 Leather Ranger) and getting the holster exactly where I want it before leaving home is the best way to keep from having to adjust while out. It may be a little more comfortable and tempting to go with a more loose size on your belt, but if you suck it in and cinch up an extra hole, the holster will not move. If I remember correctly, you are using a Mini-Tuck? CB makes great holsters, and I use the Supertuck everday, and I have found that tightening up the belt a little more keeps the holster from moving-even getting in and out of the truck and walking around. Another thing, as mentioned before, dark shirts with patterns or print will break up the outline of the pistol. I also found that it is a trial and error process..you may find that some shirts are not conducive to optimal concealment. Just my $.02...hope this helps.

[RPB]

Another tip on holsters which "move around"
Velcro
Either the Velcro clips and velcro sewn in the belt (which I use)
or sticky back velcro on standard metal clips and wear the standard clips under instead of over the belt, with velcro in the belt
I actually use Comptac kydex reinforced belt with Velcro sewn in and Comp-Tac Velcro clips, and comptac velcro clips, but crossbreed has something almost as good.