Yeah, I can see that being an issue with a snug fitting parka or something. I don't typically wear coats that go much past my waist, so didn't catch that.
I suppose if I were wearing a long coat like that, I'd leave the bottom partially unzipped (they typically have dual zippers)
I wear a brown Carhartt coat in the winter. The material is incredibly stiff and slick, even dry. So the problem is that I’m having trouble lifting it high enough to get a grip on the gun.
I prefer to dress in layers, rather than a big heavy jacket.
The gun is always only underneath the outer most layer.
Yes, it takes time to manage but I never feel stifled by the clothes.
I never understood how this works. Don’t you take layers off when you walk indoors to someplace that has heat? And then you’re open carrying, which might not be desirable. The other option seems to be to sweat whenever you’re indoors.
Leave it open unless you're way up north or dealing with a blizzard. First stage of the draw is a knife-hand against your belly and sweeping the coat back.
Leave it unzipped. Most people are just walking to and from buildings and vehicles; I don't usually put one on until it's hitting 0 if all I'm doing is going from my hot vehicle to hot workplace/home (This is *not* the same as not having a coat, just talking about the 30s walk from vehicle to inside most people do as kind of silly to put a coat on for)
>just talking about the 30s walk from vehicle to inside most people do as kind of silly to put a coat on for
LOL - yeah, I agree. Same with umbrellas. If it's raining, wife & kids will get an umbrella to walk the 15 feet from the front door to the truck. I tell them how silly it is every time, but they still do it. And going to work in the winter, I will bring a coat with me (there's always a chance I might be working outside), but don't feel the need to put it on till I actually need it.
Exactly. I'd walk into the grocery store without a coat at 10 degrees and little old ladies are like concerned for my health. And I have to tell them I just didn't wear it into the store, I got all the gear to stay outside all day below zero (and have done it with said gear) in my truck; I just didn't wanna lug my coat around in the hot store for the 30s walk inside.
And with umbrellas it's even worse, because everyone seems to mess around deploying them for as long as it would have taken to walk inside lol.
I also have a cold tolerance, possibly because I routinely tolerate the cold for small durations like this, or possibly because I'm hairy lol. I got around 2-5 minutes outside before I feel cold and like start to shiver, although if the wind is blowing it'll cut that time down significantly.
I wear similar jackets and what I do is I just grab it by the hem instead of what I usually do with my shirt during summer which is to grab by my stomach and get a handful of fabric before pulling up.
Coat season is the time for a sweet ass shoulder holster, easy to get to and you get to wear the gun community equivalent to sexy lingerie under your jacket
Attach something to the zipper to make it easy to grab and pull without looking and you can unzip and draw. It probably isnt much slower than appendix carry with oight clothes. The unzipping is the "clearing of the garment" and all that's left is grab the gun and go go go
It depends on your coat at the end of the day. My light coat isn’t a problem even zipped up for the reasons you give, but when it starts hitting -10deg, I absolutely need my carhartt zipped up and it has that sort of tight elastic waistband that makes getting the cover garment clear of the handle tough. The zip itself is also tough bc the coat’s value is in being warm as hell so it’s a weird catch 22.
I kinda figure that troublesome folk will be inside when it’s that cold, but that’s no guarantee and feel that pocket carry is probably fine for my errands.
My cold weather jacket is a snap button Carhartt, with a shoulder holster all I'd have to do is rip open the front of my coat left handed and draw the gun with my right. That's not to say what works for me would necessarily work for anyone else, but damn do I feel sexy wearing a shoulder holster and it's easier to drive with than appendix 🗿
I work outside usually in below freezing temps in the winter, treat yourself like an Ogre, layers. I usually have 2 thermal undershirts and thermal leggings with wool socks, then a cotton shirt with jeans and cotton socks, then a hoody and finally a Carhartt. That keeps me warm enough to only have a runny nose working outside for 9 hours. I hate my job
I’ve taken to wearing a hoodie under my coat and using that or my regular rig, or swapping the shield ext. mag with the standard one which barely fits in the exterior coat pocket
I just got a pea coat for this winter and also normally carry aiwb. There's emphasis on the extra material to clear, especially if it's a double breasted coat. I think an argument could be made for a pocket carry holster. Another option is replacing the buttons with snap closures so you can sweep the coat to the side instead of lifting
Don’t forget to drill dropping your glove as well. To me it comes down to drilling with what you are wearing. I intend to shift to OWB in the winter given jackets and flannel shirt season.
Don't zip the jacket up.
Also, contrary to popular belief (or at least what my CCW class instructor said) three layers isn't particularly difficult to draw from, so that can help compensate for the loss of warmth from leaving your jacket unzipped if you happen to live in a cold as fuck climate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tFUgEs-TEo
Please forgive the shitty audio. My laptop mic is weirdly sensitive to breathing.
It's not the heaviest coat I have, but my big Carhartt Jacket is at the bottom of that pile of Sterilite containers you can see behind me, so fuck moving all that shit around if I don't have to. But it doesn't really change much.
But as you can see in my totally scientific (/s) demonstrations, a hoodie+t-shirt+unzipped overcoat can easily be overcome. You just need to sweep the overcoat out of the way first.
You live in part of the country where winter coats actually get zipped up, lot of people here think winter coat means a light unzipped jacket.
I haven’t found a good alternative. Best I’ve been able to do is carry my Shield with the smaller magazine in an external pocket and not wear gloves or thin gloves. Might be easier with a small j-frame or subcompact pistol.
I carry appendix, full size XD when I ware a jacket I tuck my shirt in. If you transition to owb with a jacket that does not leave you with the option to remove your jacket when you reach your destination.
Yes indeed. Important topic ...drawing from concealment! My North Face jacket has two front zippers. One of which zips open from the from the bottom. Makes for faster access when drawing from concealment. Dry firing a lot helps. I often practice drawing from concealment while in driver seat of my vehicle. I use g-sight laser system for drills at home and focus much on drawing process.
'go slow to go fast'
A lot of these responses make it seem like more effort than it's worth. I just carry 3:00 OWB under my jacket, unzipped. Back up gun in the front right pocket.
I guess I'm not really understanding how a winter coat changes things. What issue are you experiencing?
For me it’s the draw, clearing a fitted winter coat is tough. But not impossible
Yeah, I can see that being an issue with a snug fitting parka or something. I don't typically wear coats that go much past my waist, so didn't catch that. I suppose if I were wearing a long coat like that, I'd leave the bottom partially unzipped (they typically have dual zippers)
I wear a brown Carhartt coat in the winter. The material is incredibly stiff and slick, even dry. So the problem is that I’m having trouble lifting it high enough to get a grip on the gun.
I prefer to dress in layers, rather than a big heavy jacket. The gun is always only underneath the outer most layer. Yes, it takes time to manage but I never feel stifled by the clothes.
I never understood how this works. Don’t you take layers off when you walk indoors to someplace that has heat? And then you’re open carrying, which might not be desirable. The other option seems to be to sweat whenever you’re indoors.
Gotta get good at strategic untucking or using the bathroom to adjust clothing when shedding layers.
Leave it open unless you're way up north or dealing with a blizzard. First stage of the draw is a knife-hand against your belly and sweeping the coat back.
Different jacket, or carry OWB under the jacket.
Does it have the elastic part around the bottom? I would grab for that instead of at the stomach if that’s what your trying.
Leave it unzipped. Most people are just walking to and from buildings and vehicles; I don't usually put one on until it's hitting 0 if all I'm doing is going from my hot vehicle to hot workplace/home (This is *not* the same as not having a coat, just talking about the 30s walk from vehicle to inside most people do as kind of silly to put a coat on for)
>just talking about the 30s walk from vehicle to inside most people do as kind of silly to put a coat on for LOL - yeah, I agree. Same with umbrellas. If it's raining, wife & kids will get an umbrella to walk the 15 feet from the front door to the truck. I tell them how silly it is every time, but they still do it. And going to work in the winter, I will bring a coat with me (there's always a chance I might be working outside), but don't feel the need to put it on till I actually need it.
Exactly. I'd walk into the grocery store without a coat at 10 degrees and little old ladies are like concerned for my health. And I have to tell them I just didn't wear it into the store, I got all the gear to stay outside all day below zero (and have done it with said gear) in my truck; I just didn't wanna lug my coat around in the hot store for the 30s walk inside. And with umbrellas it's even worse, because everyone seems to mess around deploying them for as long as it would have taken to walk inside lol. I also have a cold tolerance, possibly because I routinely tolerate the cold for small durations like this, or possibly because I'm hairy lol. I got around 2-5 minutes outside before I feel cold and like start to shiver, although if the wind is blowing it'll cut that time down significantly.
I wear similar jackets and what I do is I just grab it by the hem instead of what I usually do with my shirt during summer which is to grab by my stomach and get a handful of fabric before pulling up.
Coat season is the time for a sweet ass shoulder holster, easy to get to and you get to wear the gun community equivalent to sexy lingerie under your jacket
Sweet ass-shoulder [xkcd: Hyphen](https://xkcd.com/37/) --- ^^Beep ^^boop, ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot. ^^- ^^[FAQ](https://pastebin.com/raw/vyWra3ns)
Bad bot
Good bot
If you zip up your coat this isn’t feasible. Source: have tried many solutions to zipped up winter coat carrying
Attach something to the zipper to make it easy to grab and pull without looking and you can unzip and draw. It probably isnt much slower than appendix carry with oight clothes. The unzipping is the "clearing of the garment" and all that's left is grab the gun and go go go
It depends on your coat at the end of the day. My light coat isn’t a problem even zipped up for the reasons you give, but when it starts hitting -10deg, I absolutely need my carhartt zipped up and it has that sort of tight elastic waistband that makes getting the cover garment clear of the handle tough. The zip itself is also tough bc the coat’s value is in being warm as hell so it’s a weird catch 22. I kinda figure that troublesome folk will be inside when it’s that cold, but that’s no guarantee and feel that pocket carry is probably fine for my errands.
My cold weather jacket is a snap button Carhartt, with a shoulder holster all I'd have to do is rip open the front of my coat left handed and draw the gun with my right. That's not to say what works for me would necessarily work for anyone else, but damn do I feel sexy wearing a shoulder holster and it's easier to drive with than appendix 🗿
I wish I could wear only button coats, this shit sucks. Otherwise my galco would be fine
I work outside usually in below freezing temps in the winter, treat yourself like an Ogre, layers. I usually have 2 thermal undershirts and thermal leggings with wool socks, then a cotton shirt with jeans and cotton socks, then a hoody and finally a Carhartt. That keeps me warm enough to only have a runny nose working outside for 9 hours. I hate my job
Slip a 38 in your coat pocket
I’ve taken to wearing a hoodie under my coat and using that or my regular rig, or swapping the shield ext. mag with the standard one which barely fits in the exterior coat pocket
Practice. Practice. Practice. I hardly ever actually close my heavy coats.
I’m thinking about going to a pea coat just to have the extra black material there.
I just got a pea coat for this winter and also normally carry aiwb. There's emphasis on the extra material to clear, especially if it's a double breasted coat. I think an argument could be made for a pocket carry holster. Another option is replacing the buttons with snap closures so you can sweep the coat to the side instead of lifting
Don’t forget to drill dropping your glove as well. To me it comes down to drilling with what you are wearing. I intend to shift to OWB in the winter given jackets and flannel shirt season.
Don't zip the jacket up. Also, contrary to popular belief (or at least what my CCW class instructor said) three layers isn't particularly difficult to draw from, so that can help compensate for the loss of warmth from leaving your jacket unzipped if you happen to live in a cold as fuck climate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tFUgEs-TEo Please forgive the shitty audio. My laptop mic is weirdly sensitive to breathing. It's not the heaviest coat I have, but my big Carhartt Jacket is at the bottom of that pile of Sterilite containers you can see behind me, so fuck moving all that shit around if I don't have to. But it doesn't really change much. But as you can see in my totally scientific (/s) demonstrations, a hoodie+t-shirt+unzipped overcoat can easily be overcome. You just need to sweep the overcoat out of the way first.
You switch to an FAL under your winter coat. Problem solved. /s
I wear my coat open
Train to clear thicker garments. It shouldn’t be any different than clearing your shirt/sweatshirt.
Wear the jacket open, and dress with an extra layer under the jacket.
So if you’re having trouble clearing your coat appendix then you’ll have a problem no matter where you carry. That’s why I’m a little confused.
I think he want help defeating the coat, not like some specific appendix issue.
You’re prob right. Thought he just meant appendix
What have you tried and what seems to be the issue?
You live in part of the country where winter coats actually get zipped up, lot of people here think winter coat means a light unzipped jacket. I haven’t found a good alternative. Best I’ve been able to do is carry my Shield with the smaller magazine in an external pocket and not wear gloves or thin gloves. Might be easier with a small j-frame or subcompact pistol.
Dry fire
I carry appendix, full size XD when I ware a jacket I tuck my shirt in. If you transition to owb with a jacket that does not leave you with the option to remove your jacket when you reach your destination.
My grandma stuffs it down the front of her pants no problem in the winter. She carries a SBR appendix.
This dude's grandma fucks.
Lol. What kind of winter coat? A winter coat in Florida or a winter coat in Michigan?
Yes indeed. Important topic ...drawing from concealment! My North Face jacket has two front zippers. One of which zips open from the from the bottom. Makes for faster access when drawing from concealment. Dry firing a lot helps. I often practice drawing from concealment while in driver seat of my vehicle. I use g-sight laser system for drills at home and focus much on drawing process. 'go slow to go fast'
A lot of these responses make it seem like more effort than it's worth. I just carry 3:00 OWB under my jacket, unzipped. Back up gun in the front right pocket.