Today’s pocket dump comes from J.C. Leonard who says “I get asked what my local out & about carry normally consist of. This is my local around town near town carry when I’m out of the house. Of course I may have an ink pen a note book and a couple little things extra on me but these are the essentials. Along with these items also I hate to say or use this term but I have a Go Bag. It has my medical and some other needs. If myself or my family is on the road or were going a little bit further away from home I also include an AR pistol and spare ammo of course and a bit of an upgraded go bag to accommodate all.”

His carry includes a SIG P938 and a CAT tourniquet. He carries the P938 in an AIWB holster from Lima Lincoln Concepts. How many of you guys carry AIWB? There seem to be two rather extreme groups of thought on that particular topic. So, to AIWB or not to AIWB, that is the question.

20 COMMENTS

  1. I never was able to find a comfortable position to carry AIWB. It’s always hitting my leg or something else when move. But then, I never really tried much. I usually carry IWB on my right hip and often print quite a bit. However I’m not too concerned about getting seen carrying. Open carry is entirely legal here, even without a license. I just cover it up enough that I don’t get bugged with annoying stares, remarks, questions, or harassed by the police and/or store managers.

    • What State do live in? Here in North Carolina, open carry without a license is also completely legal, but your gun has to be completely visible to everyone around you. You can’t even have a little bit of clothing covering it, or anything else like a carry bag, backpack, etc.

      If the Police see you have a firearm on you, but you have anything even partially hiding it, you better be able to show them a CCW permit. I saw a guy at Wal-Mart get jacked up not long ago. He was carrying on his hip, had a t-shirt on and an unbuttoned flannel shirt over the t-shirt. You could see his gun standing in front of him, but not from the back. He didn’t have a CCW permit. They cited him and confiscated his pistol.

      • I live in the Ohio and the carry laws are largely the same. I have a CHL license, but the only reason I got it was firstly, so I could drive a car while carrying, because in Ohio, it doesn’t matter if your gun is plainly visible, if you’re in a car, it’s legally considered concealed.

        That actually made it really painful for me when I was taking my concealed carry classes, and a guy obviously only half knew the law and stepped out of his car open carrying his pistol, then he actually walked into the airport where we were having the class. Both of those actions were illegal, but it was a small middle of nowhere airport and the instructors just told him to put his pistol back in the car until the shooting portion of the training.

        Anyway the other reason why I got a CHL license was to not get harassed in public. Ohio isn’t a gun grabbing Hellhole, but it’s not really the most gun friendly area either.

        • Geesh…it makes no sense to have an open carry law, but consider a firearm inside a car visible or not to be concealed. You gotta wonder about the people that come up with stuff like that. 😏

      • I think a lot of it is Democrats just shoving whatever gun control they can possibly fit into the laws. We used to have far worse laws. I guess back before I was even old enough to get a CHL, the law used to be that you could carry concealed out in public, but if you were going to get into a car, you would have to keep your gun plainly visible for the entire duration of your ride. Like, for example you could have it under your shirt when you’re walking around, then when you get in a car you would have to tuck your shirt up so it’s not covering your gun, then when you get out of the car again, you could cover your gun back up.

        Fortunately, largely due to work from organizations like Buckeye Firearms Association and some long lasting Republican governorship, the really stupid gun laws in Ohio are really being scaled back. We’ve had several small bills pass over the course of a couple of decades chipping away little by little at gun control that had been enacted in past decades.

  2. I often carry AWIB but only for brief periods. Basically, if I hear a bump in the night scenario. (Usually a second larger gun in addition to the pocket flamethrower I always carry.) It’s perfectly comfortable as long as I don’t bend over or sit down….

    If I’m planning ahead it’s OWB at 3oclock.

  3. I’ve been carrying AIWB for years. I either carry my Shield 2.0 .40S&W or my Beretta Nano 9mm in a Blackhawk TecGrip holster. It’s always been the most comfortable and quickest to deploy positions to CC for me. On the rare occasion that I carry one of my larger pistols, I either open carry on my right hip at the 4 o’clock position, or IWB at the same position with an Alien Gear holster. As for carrying AIWB…..no….I don’t worry about blowing my nads off. I’m careful and experienced.

    • I never saw much of a risk of blowing your junk off carrying AIWB. With a proper holster, the risk of it going off is pretty much 0.

      • Completely agree, but I hear and see people use that excuse to denigrate people who carry AIWB all the time.

        • The argument against appendix carry isn’t so much the risk of shooting yourself in the dick as it is having the gun pointing at your femoral artery; you aren’t any more likely to have an ND carrying appendix than other carry positions, but the chance of a deadly injury is higher if the worst should happen.

        • Actually the problem comes when you draw. It’s very difficult to draw without flagging the important body parts, and it’s literally impossible to do so if drawing when seated.

  4. Too much gut for me to comfortably appendix carry.
    I’m no expert, but the cant on that holster doesn’t look set up for AIWB.

  5. I pocket carry my 938 but go AIWB for just about everything else. The beavertail on the SIGs gets really uncomfortable really fast when you sit down.

  6. AIWB is the only way I carry… in fact, it is the only way I have been able to carry concealed with any success. I find it perfectly comfortable with the right holster and belt.

    https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/10/kat-ainsworth/the-new-generation-everyday-carry-pocket-dump-of-the-day/

    I have the Tau Development Group Striker Control Device on each of my carry Glocks. Having carried hammer-fired guns extensively in the past, I’ve ingrained the action of “thumbing” the gun as I reholster, so that I am immediately aware if anything gets caught up in the trigger guard and puts pressure on the trigger.

    Given proper gun handling techniques going to and from the holster, AIWB is as safe as any other mode of carry. (A holstered gun should be considered safe, regardless of where it points IMO.) For that reason, though, I do not necessarily consider AIWB the best choice for new shooters. It does require a level of discipline and awareness that they may not have yet.

  7. I carry my P938 IWB at the 3 o’clock position. It’s a really nice subcompact pistol. I am having more issues to find a good way to carry my tourniquet (also a CAT) if I am not wearing BDU pants.

  8. My LGS just added a 938 in the Spartan finish. I’m not saying I’m smitten with it or anything. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that every time I look at it, I hear the theme from Body Heat playing in the background.

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