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- Contrary to popular belief,
carrying a gun is not supposed to be painful
and you are supposed to have a full range of motion.
Pain isn't normal,
and it's not something you have to just tough out
or learn how to live with.
There's actually a system
and a process for getting comfortable
with your concealed carry gun and holster.
By the end of this video,
you are going to understand the five foundation principles
of concealed carry comfort,
and how to identify
and troubleshoot any problems you might be having.
Nothing we talk about today
is specific to any holster or company,
and that's because comfort is a skill.
It's not a thing that you can buy
and, believe me, I've tried.
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Now, the bad news is all bodies are shaped differently,
so there's no one magic solution
for comfortable concealed carry.
What works for someone else might not work for you.
(holsters clattering)
But the good news is
that you can learn the basic comfort principles
and learn how to apply them to your holster and your body.
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I think it's important to be honest
and upfront about our expectations
because we all know that carrying a gun
is never going to be as comfortable
as not carrying a gun.
We're strapping a heavy piece of metal
and plastic to our body,
and that's not without a cost.
However, there's a difference between discomfort and pain.
Discomfort is something that's annoying or uneasy,
but the main difference is that it goes away
if you're not focusing on it.
Kind of like wearing a bra or breaking in new boots,
eventually your brain tunes it out
when you have other things to think about.
Pain is your body warning you
of actual or potential tissue damage,
and that's a big deal.
Pain doesn't go away when you're not focusing on it.
It either stays the same or it gets worse.
Don't ignore pain or just try to tough it out
because you could actually do real,
permanent damage to your body.
Now, both discomfort and pain
have a physical and a psychological component,
which means they are personal and subjective.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance,
and that matters because you can't just talk somebody
into ignoring their experience.
Telling people to "man up" or "just get over it"
doesn't really work
and it makes people give up on carrying.
Either they quit completely
or they switch to a carry method that is comfortable,
but it sucks by all other objective criteria.
Additionally, here's a little piece of insight
I picked up from my friend, Annette Evans,
over at On Her Own.
Sometimes, people feel uncomfortable,
but the source of the discomfort isn't actually physical.
They might not be fully confident
in their knowledge, or their skills, or their gear,
and that tends to magnify any comfort issues
and make them feel much more severe.
So if you're new to concealed carry
or if you're changing to a new carry position,
it's worth investing some time
into some good-quality training with a good instructor.
Troubleshooting comfort problems is a whole lot easier
when you're feeling capable and informed
just as a baseline.
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Anytime you buy a mass-produced product
that has to fit your body,
you should expect to have to adjust it and customize it
at least to some extent.
Think of it like fitting a prosthetic.
You've got a mechanical device that you're carrying
in really intimate contact with your body
for long periods of time.
The gun is similar.
It's a heavy chunk of metal and plastic
with flat sides and hard corners,
and your body is organic and curved.
So the interface between those things needs to be customized
to fit the unique human shapes underneath it,
just like a prosthetic transforms a mechanical object
into an extension of the human body.
On top of that,
comfort isn't the only thing that matters.
The holster also needs to do all the other things
that a holster needs to do,
like be safe, be secure, be accessible,
and make the gun conceal well and tuck into your body.
It can't just be comfortable with no other criteria.
As you start to experiment with these techniques,
you'll notice that you can't go too far
towards any one extreme
without making sacrifices in other areas.
Like, sure, you could surround your gun with padding
until you can't feel the hard edges at all
and it's comfortable, but you'll pay for that.
So you can see how getting comfortable concealment
is going to involve learning as much as you can,
determining what's most important to you,
and then finding the best compromise
between all of the competing factors.
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Speaking generally,
when you're trying to find
the most comfortable carry position,
you want to keep the gun in a spot
with enough surface area to support it,
away from your joints,
and in a place where you have full range of motion.
We call that finding your concealment boundaries,
and that means finding the correct ride height and centering
for your unique body shape.
If your gun's out of bounds, it'll cause problems.
It's pretty easy to find your boundaries
for carrying strong side,
but appendix carry, which is on the front of the body,
takes a little bit more work
because small differences matter more.
All carry positions have pros and cons,
and there's a lot more at stake than just comfort,
so it is a lot to think about.
But, the good news is
that the foundation principles of comfort
apply to all carry positions and all body types.
Some of the techniques are going to require adaptation,
so take this information
and use your common sense to apply it to your body
and your chosen carry position.
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To determine my comfort boundaries,
I use my unloaded gun in the holster
and move the whole thing around.
Since your legs move up when you sit or bend,
start in the seated position to find your boundaries.
Notice how the further out towards my hip joint I go,
the higher the gun needs to be to avoid interference.
By simply testing out different movements
and paying attention to where my body hinges,
I can figure out where the boundaries are
for my individual shape and anatomy.
You can see that if the gun is too low,
it hits your legs or other relevant anatomy.
So moving it up is the obvious fix.
If you feel like your gun is too high
and it's catching you underneath your ribs,
there's actually technique tip for that.
Tighten your abs as you bend,
allowing the gun to float ahead of the ribs
instead of hanging up underneath.
If your gun hangs up under your soft tissue,
also known as the tactical muffin top,
then usually the answer is to move it higher.
Then, you can add a wedge to help with concealment
and fill in any gap between the gun and the body.
We've got a whole video series on concealment wedges,
and it's awesome,
so definitely be sure to check that out.
It's got everything there
from learning what shape and size wedge you need
to how to make your own.
Two things to keep in mind.
One, you only have a finite space
inside your concealment boundary.
The size of your boundary matters
and the size of the gun matters.
It's relative.
So if you're a tiny person carrying a huge gun,
you're a lot more likely
to run into range of motion issues and comfort problems.
Check out the Concealment Percentages video
by Armed and Styled.
It's got some great information
on figuring out what gun size
will be easy for you to conceal
versus what gun size will be a little bit harder
and make you have to work a little more.
And the second thing is that your ideal ride height
may or may not correspond with the belt line of your pants.
So you might need to consider changing
to higher or lower rise pants or using a carry system
that doesn't attach to your clothing.
That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself,
but I will say the most common error people make
is carrying too low.
Plan on taking some time
to experiment with your own concealment boundaries
and make sure to watch the Concealment Mechanics video
so you can see examples of how to find your sweet spot
on a whole bunch of different body types.
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Whenever you're having discomfort,
you always want to treat the root cause first,
and then address any remaining issues.
That way, you're not making unnecessary compromises
and sacrificing things you don't need to sacrifice.
The general rule is to focus on ergonomics first
before adding padding or softness.
"Ergonomic" means that it interfaces correctly with your body.
"Softness" is just the window dressing on top.
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Pressure points are areas of concentrated pressure,
and they're probably the most common source
of pain or discomfort.
The potential for harm
depends on the amount of force applied,
the time it's applied,
and the surface area and shape of the object applying force.
Pressure points can cause pain, bruising,
skin damage, and even pressure ulcers over time.
For concealed carry inside the waistband,
one of the most common pressure points people encounter
is the muzzle of the gun digging into their pelvis
and creating a painful hotspot.
This is especially likely
if you're carrying with a smaller gun
with less mass below the belt.
See the Keel Principle video.
Another source is putting a flat gun
on a sharply curved body part
where the gun only has a small amount of surface area
to contact.
You can also get pressure points
from areas on the holster that end abruptly
or that don't interface well with your body.
So for example,
the gun touching your thigh when you're seated
isn't normally a big deal if the muzzle is rounded.
But, if the weight of the gun
is resting on a narrow band of material,
that smaller surface can create a pressure point
that becomes painful over time.
Choosing something with a rounded muzzle can help,
but you can also just move the gun higher
as we discussed in the Carry Position section.
The neat thing about pressure points
is that eliminating them
usually means making the gun lay flat against the body,
which not only makes it more comfortable,
it also happens to give us better concealment.
So you can kill two birds with one stone
by getting the gun into your sweet spot
and adjusting it to lie flat.
If you watched our Basic Concealment Mechanics series,
you already know how to do that.
If not, well...
Quick heads up.
One of the most common pressure point mistakes I see
is when people use stiff belts
for inside the waistband carry.
If your belt is too stiff,
it will bridge instead of conforming to your body.
Check out our video about that.
Another thing to consider is that your body moves.
So, you may not have a problem when you're standing,
but you may run into issues
when the holster encounters your body when you bend
or when you sit for long periods of time.
If that's the case, go back to the Concealment Boundary step
and see if you can find a better spot on your body
that's further away from your joints.
The last thing you can do is add pads
to bridge or soften the pressure points.
That works, but you may lose some concealment
since the pad tends to act like a snow shoe
and resist the concealment mechanics.
General best practice
is to resolve any concealment mechanics
or sweet spot issues first,
and then add the minimum amount of padding necessary.
Just enough to get the job done.
Here's a quick tip.
Adhesive Velcro loop actually works really well for this
because it gives you an ultra thin
but cushy layer of padding.
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Friction is the next most common source
of concealed carry comfort problems.
For the purposes of this discussion,
we're going to define friction as excessive movement of the gun
relative to the surface of the skin.
So the gun is rubbing or sliding.
To solve friction issues at the root,
first, try to minimize the movement of the gun.
You can do that by repositioning the gun
in a lower movement area of the body.
If you're carrying low and your gun gets nudged up
every time you move your leg,
try carrying a little higher so there's less interference.
You can also secure the gun better
with a more stable belt or holster system.
If you can't get the gun to be perfectly still,
then the next step is to add an undergarment or a liner
to protect your skin.
That can be as simple as an undershirt
or high-wasted underwear,
or it could be a liner applied to the holster itself,
such as moleskin.
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Skin shear is the movement of the top layers of the skin
relative to the bottom layers of the skin.
So imagine going down a metal slide in shorts.
As the skin is pulled,
it strains and damages the underlying layers
and the connections in between.
Skin shear can be caused by just the holster itself,
where it encounters your skin and sticks,
but it's especially likely
if you're using a holster with silicone or sticky material.
If you do a lot of running, be especially watchful of this
because repetitive bouncing
can add up to a skin shear injury over time.
Like friction, the first key to solving skin shear
is to minimize the movement of the gun.
So get it on a lower movement area of your body if you can,
keep it away from your joints,
and make sure it's as secure and stable as possible.
You might want to experiment
with stretchy versus non-stretchy belts and carry systems
to see which works best for your body
because that can actually vary
depending on how much soft tissue jiggle you get
when moving.
You can also add a low-friction undergarment or liner,
such as compression shorts or rash guard.
Another thing that can work
if you're having problems with skin shear
is using a lubricant, like Body Glide,
that helps the gun slide over the skin
rather than sticking to it.
The last thing that can help
is reducing the weight of the gun,
which helps to reduce the amount of force
that's transferred by bouncing and other movements.
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Placing a solid object against the body
prevents heat loss and moisture evaporation.
When your skin is chronically damp and hot,
it actually weakens,
which makes all of the above injuries more likely to happen
and more severe if they do happen.
It can also contribute to infection and irritation.
Skin microclimate refers to the conditions
at your skin's surface.
While we can't completely eliminate
the inherent issues involved
in carrying a gun against your body all day,
there are a few things we can do
to manage those conditions as best we can.
Hygiene and moisture management are really important.
Use washable holster and wedge materials,
and make sure to clean them regularly.
If you're using pads or wedges, grab a couple of extras
so you can switch them out periodically when they get wet.
You can also use breathable
or wicking liners and undergarments.
Materials with natural or synthetic antimicrobial properties
can also help;
something like sheepskin or antimicrobial fabrics.
If you're having problems with your skin health,
you might want to consider
minimizing the amount of time you spend carrying
when it's feasible to do that.
So this is going to depend on your lifestyle
and your risk assessment,
and it requires weighing the pros and cons of each choice.
So for example, you might decide
to use a pocket holster around the house
instead of carrying inside your waistband.
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The last thing we're going to cover is imbalance.
That's when you have too much weight
or leverage on one area of the body.
Imagine carrying a heavy gun on your ankle
and running a marathon.
That's imbalance.
Imbalance can cause pain immediately or over time.
It can cause posture or gait changes,
and it can actually make you lose mobility
or worsen any chronic issues you might be having.
One way to solve imbalance is to move the gun closer
to the center of the body if possible.
You can also reduce the weight of the gun
and minimize the amount of time you spend carrying it.
It's a good idea to ask a professional
about exercise or physical therapy,
especially if you think imbalance
may cause problems for you down the line.
Prevention is going to be the best solution,
and you can stop these issues before they even occur.
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- Contrary to popular belief, carrying a gun...
Carrying a gun is not supposed to be painful,
and you are supposed...
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