Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
As you surely know I’ve been experimenting with appendix carry for a few months now, and I’ve been pretty happy with this method of carry, as it seems to excel in most situations.
This past weekend I found out that there’s one situation where appendix carry doesn’t excel…
I was driving back to NC after visiting family in Northern Michigan, and after several hours on the road I needed to make a pit stop at a rest area outside of Flint, MI. (Too much McDonald’s coffee I reckon…)
You see, when you unbutton your pants, there really isnt anything to keep the holster holding onto them, and as I was finishing up my business, I’m not exactly sure what happened, but the entire holster, pistol, and all fell out of my pants and landed right on the floor in the middle the stall.
I froze for a second. The sound of the pistol and holster hitting the tile floor in the empty restroom was one of the loudest noises I’ve ever heard. After being dazed for a couple seconds, I picked it up, buttoned up, and got out of there.
The remainder of my 15hr drive, all I could think about was how stupid I was. I’ve never dropped a loaded firearm before, and I take great pride in being extremely safe with firearms.
I think the lesson here, is to really think about your method of carry and consider how it will impact the different activities that you partake in. I’d honestly never thought about what to do with the pistol when carrying appendix while using the restroom.
Now I have a plan:
I was carrying the pistol in my new G-Code INCOG holster, and the nice thing about this model is the clips, which in the future will allow me to move the holster back to my hip before making another pit stop. I like to keep the holster on my pants, and my pistol in the holster when using the restroom because I’ve heard too many horror stories about people forgetting, and leaving their pistol sitting on a toilet tank, or the TP dispenser. No thanks.
So that’s my story. If it was too much information, sorry. I felt the need to share.
As long as we’re over-sharing…
When I have a gun on my belt, I never undo the belt all the way. Let it out a notch or two to get the pants down, and then hold it up by spreading your knees to keep tension on the belt. Learned after almost doing something similar myself.
I second what Ben says about not undoing your belt. But me being a girl I really struggle with this. If I’m in a rush I thankfully carry a purse and can hang my purse on the door and I can put the gun in my purse while I’m using the bathroom. If I’m not in a hurry though, I carefully just loosen the belt and like Ben says spread your knees, I also try to keep a hand on the gun so that it does not fall out of the holster.
You have experienced one of my biggest fears.
I suppose you could say you dropped more than a deuce. 😉
I carry appendix o/c and tend to just pull my holster with firearm inside and set it on the toilet paper holder or toilet. Or if its empty in the restroom the top of the urinal or sink of private restroom. I have thought of this issue before and dont want exactly that to happen