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Carrying In The Car...Short Article....Worth The Time....

rcawdor57

Campaign Veteran
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
1,643
Location
Wisconsin, USA
http://www.americanrifleman.org/art...ontent=CarCarry-text&utm_campaign=NewFrontier

Snip: "We are a society that spends a lot of time in our cars. We know that bad things can happen to us while driving, such as carjacking and the like. However, most of us really don't spend much time considering how we will access and deploy our defensive handguns from inside the vehicle."


I'm going to go ahead and install a holster in my vehicles for my primary carry gun or maybe I will install a holster in my vehicles for a secondary gun and keep my primary on my person?

Thoughts?!?
 

RR_Broccoli

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
170
Location
WI
I have a cheap Blackhawk holster mounted inside the center console. With the snap closed, that will effectively keep it in place during normal driving or an accident.

If I need to, I can put my carry pistol in it and just wear the holster I had empty, or take the holster off as well.

Doing that also keeps the "ok, where did I put my pistol?" issue when returning to the car from a prohibited location to a minimum.

At some point, I intend to get a "car gun", a cheap .45 or an old .38 and just leave it there all the time.
 

Trip20

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
526
Location
Wausau Area
I'm in the process of designing a solution for my vehicle. I'll be molding a matching kydex, which should blend in nicely with the interior plastics of my vehicle. This will be for a secondary firearm as I want to leave my carry piece on my person. One of the wonderful things about our newly recognized freedom is not having to do "the dance" and I'll be damned if I'm going to being doing the dance again to move my carry pistol to a storage device integrated in my door panel or console.
 

JJC

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
283
Location
La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
For myself, I have a car safe to leave my weapon in when I'm away from the vehicle. If I have a cheap weapon or an nice weapon, I still want to keep it out of the hands of someone that breaks a window and then finds my weapon in the vehicle. My carry of choice is at the 5 o'clock position (IWB or OWB), which with the center console in my vehicle makes it difficult to reach when driving. I find that the space between the seat and console makes fitting a old leather holster I have a good place to carry my defensive weapon. Since I usually drive with the arm resting on the console anyway, my piece is at my finger tips where it should be. My feeling is one needs to have their weapon within 10 to 15 inches of the hand when driving. Mounting under the steering column or the underside of the dash was just too great of a reach for my satisfaction. JMHO.

Everybodys comfort level is going to be a personal thing.

JJC
 

WOD

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
224
Location
Onalaska WA
I use an Uncle Mikes Kydex, and I am a right hand draw, but I wear the holster on my left side. I am comfortable drawing it while wearing it on the right side, but I knew immediately, when I sat down in a chair, that I would have draw issues. So I removed the holster and tried it on my left side, basically covering up my left hand jeans pocket, this is where I holster all the time now. I have an office chair at the computer, and it has arms similar in height to most automobile door arm rests. So, while sitting in the chair, I practice drew, keeping the gun within the arm rests vertical plane, (simulating a car interior) and leaning my body towards the right, or center console, while leaning right I also twisted my upper body to keep a squared fire position, with my elbows bent. My keyboard tray is about the same distance away as my steering wheel, and with the cross draw position, the right lean & twist, I was able to easily draw, with no obstacles hindering the raising of my weapon to clear the door frame height. I did this several times at my desk here, and remembered the steps. I went out to my car a couple days later and retried the movements, and the seatbelt was not an issue at all. Since I don't have to remove the seatbelt to draw, it will save me precious time. If the bad guy shoots me first, he'll have to undo the seatbelt to pull my body out of the car, taking time and extra effort. In other words, a carjacker is going to have to work to get my car. Plus, the gun never leaves my control while in the vehicle. Good find on the article though, it brings up important things to consider, when riding, driving, and even when purchasing a car.

On a side note, I like the fact that my weapon is hidden somewhat from the back. In the cross draw position, I can defend my front easier than I can my rear, if someone makes a grab for it. Plus, I can access my wallet without tripping over the holster/weapon, and I don't look like I'm attempting to draw, since I've carried my wallet in my right rear pocket all my life.
 

Packfanatic

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Messages
177
Location
North of Madison
+1000

I use an Uncle Mikes Kydex, and I am a right hand draw, but I wear the holster on my left side. I am comfortable drawing it while wearing it on the right side, but I knew immediately, when I sat down in a chair, that I would have draw issues. So I removed the holster and tried it on my left side, basically covering up my left hand jeans pocket, this is where I holster all the time now. I have an office chair at the computer, and it has arms similar in height to most automobile door arm rests. So, while sitting in the chair, I practice drew, keeping the gun within the arm rests vertical plane, (simulating a car interior) and leaning my body towards the right, or center console, while leaning right I also twisted my upper body to keep a squared fire position, with my elbows bent. My keyboard tray is about the same distance away as my steering wheel, and with the cross draw position, the right lean & twist, I was able to easily draw, with no obstacles hindering the raising of my weapon to clear the door frame height. I did this several times at my desk here, and remembered the steps. I went out to my car a couple days later and retried the movements, and the seatbelt was not an issue at all. Since I don't have to remove the seatbelt to draw, it will save me precious time. If the bad guy shoots me first, he'll have to undo the seatbelt to pull my body out of the car, taking time and extra effort. In other words, a carjacker is going to have to work to get my car. Plus, the gun never leaves my control while in the vehicle. Good find on the article though, it brings up important things to consider, when riding, driving, and even when purchasing a car.

On a side note, I like the fact that my weapon is hidden somewhat from the back. In the cross draw position, I can defend my front easier than I can my rear, if someone makes a grab for it. Plus, I can access my wallet without tripping over the holster/weapon, and I don't look like I'm attempting to draw, since I've carried my wallet in my right rear pocket all my life.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Holster on left side can defend left and right doors !!
 

theoicarry

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
178
Location
baraboo, wisconsin
I push am able to push my holster a little forward while in my car seat which appears to work fine for access. However, after reading these posts I may review these options and just see how long it really takes me to respond with my weapon. If it takes 6 seconds or so then I may need to change my ways.
Thanks
 

Bushmaster

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
13
Location
Elroy
I keep it on my right hip. I can adjust it for easy access once the seatbelt is on. I really don't want to remove it because if I need to flee the car in a hurry I don't want to have to stop and grab anything, just go.
 
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