Good Tips for Off Body Concealed Carry Methods

Pistols are the best choice for personal defense (outside of a combat zone) because they are worn, not borne. This means, you always have them not just with you but on you. However, there are circumstances where you simply are not able to have a pistol on your body. While 99% of the time I wear a full-size pistol on my hip and dress around it, at least once a year, I have to costume myself like an adult—this means a button-down shirt and necktie over slacks. This usually happens in what I’ll call a “non-permissive environment,” where concealed carry is against the rules but not against the law. So, I opt for what is called “off-body carry,” where you have the firearm with you, but not actually on your body. This means the gun is in a bag, backpack, briefcase, or purse. Someone once asked me why I didn’t just pocket carry in that environment, and I responded, “Because I am not willing to relegate myself to a pistol so small it fits inside my pocket.” I daily carry a full-size gun and a spare mag on my waistline (for the last six months that’s been a Gen 5 Glock 17), and my daily carry gun is what I put inside my backpack if I have to off-body carry. However, there are a few things, some of them having to do with safety, you need to be thinking about if you are sticking your gun in a bag, backpack, briefcase or purse. Most of these are common sense…but also assume I’ve made a few mistakes over the years, and learned from them, and am passing on that knowledge.

First, and this is a no-brainer, treat that container holding the gun like it’s full of cash. Women sling their purses cross-body, not over one shoulder, so they’re harder to snatch. Purses and backpacks are stolen all the time. Try not to set it down, and don’t ever walk away from it if you do set it down. Loop a strap around your leg, put it between your feet, do something so you physically can’t walk away from it accidentally. As a CCW carrier you have a responsibility. Here’s a tip—sticking a gun in a bag or backpack plastered with gun company patches and stickers is a great way to advertise there’s something juicy inside worth stealing. If you’re trying to be covert and subtle, neutral and bland commercial containers are a better choice than something tactical and Multi-Cam. The late Col. Jeff Cooper once wrote that if you couldn’t get a loaded gun in your hand in five seconds you were unarmed, and I think that’s a great metric for off-body carry. If you’re going to have a gun with you for self-defense, it is best to carry it in such a way that you can get to it without undue delay or hassle. And—do I need to say this?—practice pulling it out, so there is a minimum of fumbling if and when you have to do it for real.

Seemingly, everyone who makes a “tactical” backpack does so with a dedicated slot/pocket meant for a handgun, some of them with 
Velcro-equipped holsters you can position to your liking, and that’s great. Even if the bag you’re using doesn’t have a purpose-built pocket for a gun, you should relegate a pocket/pouch solely for a pistol. There are a lot of good reasons to do this. If the gun is always in the same place in your bag/backpack/briefcase/purse, you never have to remember where it is, search for it, or worry that it has shifted around. Also, if you have a dedicated pocket for your gun, that’s all it should ever be—a pocket for your gun. Don’t put anything else in it, whether or not the gun is there. When you want to grab a gun, you don’t want to grab something else. And more importantly, you don’t want anything else bouncing around in there with the gun, getting wedged inside the triggerguard. And on that note— even if the handgun is in a small pocket/pouch not much bigger than the gun, it’s always better to have that gun in a holster that covers and protects the trigger guard. This is to prevent anything from getting wedged inside the trigger guard and making the gun go bang while you’re walking down the sidewalk—especially important these days, when most pistols are striker-fired designs with no manual safety levers. With off-body carry, that bag might get jostled as you move through your life, and you can’t count on any manual safeties not getting knocked off. I generally dislike and argue against empty-chamber carry if the gun is on you, but it is not a terrible choice if the gun is being carried off-body, where your presentation is already going to be slower.

If the gun’s not in a holster, having it in a pouch/pocket that keeps it consistently positioned is what you want. Not just so it is quicker and easier to blindly reach in and draw that pistol, but because the last thing you want is to unzip that pocket and reach in only to see/feel that loaded gun pointed right at you because it flipped while you were walking around. You also don’t want it pointing at your spine/vital organs as you’re walking around, so choose your carry position inside the bag wisely. Generally, I simply take my belt holster off and stick it—with the gun inside it—into whatever bag/backpack I’m using. That means whenever I’m away from the event and can put the gun back on, I’ve got my holster of choice ready to go. 

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