How do you people carry all that stuff?

Cargo pants or shorts by Duluth Traders or 5.11. Duluth makes several colors and as a retiree I seldom have to “dress up.” Even with my police volunteering I wear BDU shorts or trousers that will accommodate a pocket hoster, tourniquet, clot bandage, z pac bandage, folding medical scissors on belt, bill fold, coins, flashlight, spare mag, various blades, phone and sundries. In winter I wear suspenders, but as an old fat guy, it goes with the ensemble. Like you, I keep these items at the same positions to reduce a “freeze” when the startle flinch kicks in…

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Time to bring back the Fanny pack! It was good enough for Danny Trejo in Bad Ass, so it should be good enough for me!

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  1. Conceal Carry Pistol-Either appendix IWB or 4:00 o’clock IWB,OWB.
  2. Extra Mag in a IWB C&G kydex Mag Holder on left side
  3. USCCA Kershaw Emerson in my right front pants pocket
  4. USCCA Tactical Flashlight in right front jacket pocket
  5. USCCA Tactical Pen In left front Jacket pocket
  6. Trayvax wallet in my left front pants pocket
  7. Retired Badge and ID card holder in rear left pants pocket
  8. Covid face mask in my rear right pants pocket
  9. Car keys and IPhone in my lower right Jacket pocket.
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I put all my gear in my Tommygunpack, that includes:

  1. 1911 45acp.
  2. 3 magazines…
  3. 1 flashlight.
  4. 1 first aid kit.
  5. 1 pen.
  6. 1 note pad.
  7. 1 mutitool with kniveknives.
  8. 2 straps.

This is what I carry and work for me, the first aid kit has worked in many non altercation situations as well as my mutitool, so you see it’s better to have than wish you had it.:us_outlying_islands::sunglasses::+1:

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EDC - Strong Side IWB Appendix
Key - Strong Front Pocket
Spare Mag - Weak Side IWB Appendix
Wallet - Weak Front Pocket
Phone - Weak Rear Pocket

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I like to think of it in terms of levels of EDC. It varies with what clothes I’m wearing (mostly), where I’m going, how long I’ll be out, how far from home I’ll be, etc.

The very minimum I will carry is

  • CCW in appendix
  • folding knife or multi-tool in front right pocket
  • small flashlight in front right coin pocket
  • phone in rear right pocket (or dedicated phone pocket in some pants, cargo pocket in other pants)
  • wallet in rear left pocket
  • keys in front left pocket

2020 made me change a little in that now I almost always have at least 1 spare mag and pepper spray. I have made it a point whenever I shop for pants/shorts to make sure they have those “extra” pockets. Vertx, 5.11, Viktos all have a set of “hip pockets” (not sure what else to call them) that will easily take a magazine, pepper spray, larger flashlight. These let me either spread out more the minimal stuff I’m carrying (more comfort) or add more stuff overall. If I’m wearing one of those pants, spare mag goes in hip pocket and pepper spray get clipped to front left pocket next to keys.

Many times I will have a fanny waist pack (@Gary263 I agree!) which gives room to carry more stuff but its not “in my pockets”. Trauma kit, spare mags, food, other odds and ends that sometimes come in handy. If I have my commuter backpack, well thats just full of goodies. I tell people I know and trust if I ever go down in a disaster to loot my body for survival items.

Here is a pic I posted in another thread. Olight’s Baton series is near perfect IMO for an EDC light, although in winter I will carry one of their larger 18650 powered lights instead.

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I’m pretty much in line with everybody else, though my knife is fixed blade.

Similar but slightly different topic. I’m working on staging a quick attach battle belt in a new safe on order. 2 rifle mags, 2 pistol mags, and a holstered pistol. It’ll sit above my rifle so it’s grab and go. Am I the only crazy one here?

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Hardly. :rofl:

image

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Also check out. Bump in the night belt, do you have one?

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Nice. Ill read through that thread. I’m mostly ready with it, just need my safe to get here because I don’t have room for that now. The belt is a “quick response” belt it can either be grab and go or I can attach it to an inner belt.

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I simply don’t carry that much stuff. I have…but not so much these days. Fewer choices = fewer decisions = quicker reactions

A look at the facts and stats as well as random individual incidents (ASP on YT, Tom Givens stats, etc) tells me that a backup gun or spare magazine is extremely unlikely to be needed (in the context of a private citizen carrying concealed). I can’t even really find an example of it. If anybody has one, please share, I’m sure it’s out there. So I just carry the one gun

Another look at facts and stats will show that assaults/attacks which do not reach the level of lethal force far outnumber those that do, so I believe a tool applicable to a non-lethal-force situation is important. To me, more important than a spare mag or BUG, so I carry pepper spray (POM currently, its size is just-right and I like flip tops)

I also rank first aid above a spare mag/BUG. We carry firearms and other tools in case of a deadly force incident, and there are also motor vehicle accidents and just “life happens” injuries, so I try to carry an Israeli Bandage or Emergency Trauma Dressing at minimum but optimally the smallest TCCC approved TQ (SOFT-T currently).

And that’s the end of my kind-of must-have list, besides the usual cell phone and wallet of course.

I do almost always carry a pocket knife, but I don’t consider it a defensive tool, for me. I don’t have any professional training in using a knife, for me anywhere I can carry a knife I can carry a gun, and both are lethal force so for lethal force it’s gun all the way. And the knife requires being within arms reach, pepper spray and gun do not. I carry a knife because I like knives and I always end up finding a box to open.

And a flashlight. Flashlight tech as made lightspeed progress the last 10-20 years so these are many more options now than there used to be. I have a little one (still hundreds of lumens) on my keychain and usually have a more ‘tactical’ type light in my pocket.

Gun on the belt. Pepper spray and flashlight support side front pocket. Keys and pocket knife strong side front pocket. Phone support side cargo pocket. Wallet and TQ strong side cargo pocket.

All of my pants and short have cargo pockets. Doesnt’ have to be tactical pants, even Duluth Trading Company work pants have cargo pockets. I do love VERTX pants and shorts though, and also Kuhl shorts.

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Nice Challenge Coin.

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“shoot-me-first” vests
LMAO

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I’m pretty minimalistic on my on person EDC.

  1. Glock 19 either in a Crossbreed belly band (deep concealment) or super tuck deluxe. Both holsters in the 4 o’clock position.

  2. Bert’s Bees lip balm and smallest Swiss Army knife in right front pocket. The SAK does 90% of what I need it to do and I have full size scissors in my desk and better knife in my bag.

  3. Back right pocket has minimalist wallet and bandana.

  4. Back left pocket has handkerchief and old card with gorilla tape wrapped around it. If conditions warrant, Olight M1X goes in that pocket. (Thus the hanky rather than a bandana-size matters.) But I don’t carry a light all the time.

  5. Left front pocket has Sabre red pepper spray.

I have what I call an EDC bag. It goes to office with me, car when we are out and about, etc. it has IFAK and lots of extras.

Hanky, bandana and duct tape will improvise a lot of medical stuff and take up less space.

Phone and watch are on me at all times.

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I carry a Sig with spring guide laser (in a kydex holster) and extra mag in an opaque heavy plastic Walmart checkout bag. Before you judge, it’s not a quick draw, but doesn’t draw attention or suspicion as I walk through town. I’ve carried for over 30 year in virtually every kind of rig, and like my current choice- situational awareness is much more important than being forced to quick draw, as I walk down dark ally after midnight from work. I do set it up for easy “grab” before I walk out, and putting my hand into my bag to “rummage around” doesn’t look suspcicious if I’m near a threat. I carry my USCCA phone number/ card everywhere.

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If wearing particular tactical pants, not 511, so help me God I can carry enough misc items to be comfy I’d easily survive 90 days…
I do not wear anything that looks tactical, exception of a USCCA tee, and 1 that was a gift says on front: "Before Leaving House: Wallet. Keys. Gun. Knife. etc…"BUT I only wear those 2 to the range. Otherwise strive to be gray…

To the original question, for the average concealed carry person, I’d think we’ve determined what our acceptable EDC loadout is, and we’ve integrated them into our wardrobe. U R absolutely right about same place every time, at least for moi. Wallet always left rear, given I’m in the continental USA, keys right front, etc.

That said, I caught a sale on Bulldog Tactical mag carriers, they just arrived. Was using 1 from other place.
Consider, if things are so bad you need that mag, u will need it quick. Carrying I’m a pocket, unless said pocket is there for a mag, is not,IMO, a very good idea. Too slow vs. belt.

Take care.

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Its all muscle memory. I dont wear a shoot me vest though lol. As I carry try to look avg as possible. But heading to the range I’m 511 gear and such

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This:

The cousin who gifted me this tee had an item removed, I simply don’t recall which.

Ya gotta know, I used to carry two 5" 1911’s with a total of 50 rds ready to go…in addition to the two knives, a flashlight, etc…which reminds me, a small 511 light with tailswitch is a good EDC item. Bad ppl get very uncomfortable when u take their dark away…but it was a weapon my cousin had removed, not a flashlight…who knows hardware it was!

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That pretty much covers it :us:

That’s my EDC I put it all on the same way, every day. Every single time. It weighs 16 pounds and I’m just used to it by now.

However, I dress around my EDC. So it isn’t visible.

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