How often do you carry in the open?

Due to weather, work constraints, etc. my best guess is that I OC only about a third of the time.

It depends were I'm going to if I OC or CC. Store I OC. Church I CC.

Depends on the weather, as others have said i live on the wet side, so if it is cold or raining i have a jacket on. otherwise i OC so i say 50% of the year i am OC. Of course in the summer it is 99-100% of the time. :banana:

gogodawgs said:

Actually only about 50% of the days are 'rainy' and Seattle gets less annual rain than Houston, TX. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762183.html

I carry about 95% of the time in the open, rain or shine.

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It may not rain all the time but there are definitely a lot of those "clear" days that are just too cold to go without a coat. If the coat covers my firearm, so be it.

If I lived in Arizona or somewhere where the average daily temp was over 50 degrees, I'd be leaving the coat home.

I spend the winter months OCing a shotgun with my handgun CC. I OC all the time but most of that is not around people. I guess I should have put 100% but due to human interactions on the low side I put 60%. hope this shows my dedication, that is what you are looking for is people just as dedicated. I hope I get okayed?

skidmark said:

You have been here for 4,475 posts and ask a question like that?

This is some sort of fraternity initiation stunt, right?

Or is there something driving your interest in how often folks frequenting an OC forum bother to carry concealed?

stay safe.

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There are always those wanting to know, and assign a level of support to an individual’s level of involvement, even in the most voluntary, non-membership types of causes.

I do not consider outerwear (heavy coats/rain gear) as CC only, even though it is concealed, if the intent is to remove the coat once inside. I ain't gunna strap on da gat outside of my winter coat.....not gunna make me self look any sillier than what nature has done to me already.

Lately I've been carrying concealed more often than I would like. Since I still don't have webbed feet after living in Arizona for the last 4-5 years, I wear jackets that cover my firearm a lot. I carry openly during warm weather at parks and when I am out and about running errands. I can't keep it in my truck even while I am at work. And considering the cost of gas, I don't go out if I don't have to. Or I walk, in which case it depends on what I am wearing. So by and large, I carry openly about 50% of the time give or take.

I probably should have put in for less, being that I spend more time at work carrying concealed than I do carrying openly, which is my preferred method when on my own time being out and about.

jbone said:

There are always those wanting to know, and assign a level of support to an individual’s level of involvement, even in the most voluntary, non-membership types of causes.

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gogodawgs said:

No, I must be an idiot. Yet the question still stands.

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Nope....either I am just curious or an idiot as I stated before.

well now we have a 50/50 chance!

hmmmmm.

good question as simple as it is it's kind a hard one to answer. I CC more in the winter due to weather but make a effort to OC in the summer. Of course sometimes my day to day activities do not allow me to OC such as work meetings or certain outings where weapons are not allowed. So really what it comes down to is even though I carry with me most all of the time I really only open carry on my days off witch is only 1-2 days per week. Then there are the days I leave the house open carrying with my shirt un-tucked but tucked behind my gun. A few hours latter I realize my shirt has worked it self free and has now covered my gun and I have no idea how long it has been that way. So when we do the math it is hard to tell you how often I truly open carry but it is not as often as I would like it to be

I am 100% OC, the few rare times I CC wouldn't even make 1% of the time, I am with MSGLagae, I clean my weapon if it gets wet. The reality is even though we are wet we rarely get that wet and if it is raining that hard, we aren't in it.

Even in winter jacket goes behind my grip, I really resisted getting my CPL, the only real reason was the car carry issue, and the ability to pick up one of my kids at school on my motorcycle. I Don't like State granting the right to carry.

fire suppressor said:

but make a effort to OC

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I don't make an "effort" one way or another. I just go about my day and whichever manner happens, happens.

Just out of curiosity, for those that wear a coat during foul weather, what's the purpose of exposing the weapon? To make it more prominent? To call attention to it? Is the area you're carrying in that hazardous that you feel you need a tactical advantage?

Just curious.

n

amlevin said:

I don't make an "effort" one way or another. I just go about my day and whichever manner happens, happens.

Just out of curiosity, for those that wear a coat during foul weather, what's the purpose of exposing the weapon? To make it more prominent? To call attention to it? Is the area you're carrying in that hazardous that you feel you need a tactical advantage?

Just curious.

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Back before I broke down and got my CPL (after over 25 years of unlicensed carry), I wore a holster that attached to my belt in such a manner there was a distint opening between the top of the holster ad where the belt attachment was. I wore a Carhartt Detroit jacket, it was warn, yet short enough to lay flat in that gap in the holster...the pistol and holster were no more promenent than if you had a tucked in shirt.

I have never carried to push limits, I just carry for my own protection...and that Carhartt Detroit jacket,,,and that particular holster fit my style of carry perfectly. Never been hasseled with that combo, even though I now have several jackets I wear, not just the Carhartt...It get's a lot colder up here in the Highlands at over 3000' then it did in Skagit Co.

Hmm...we need a new category.

"None now that I have been relocated to California."

Beautiful weather for it too!

I open carry... as much as possible. If it's place I "need" to conceal (mall, movie theater, etc), I generally avoid going there in the first place as much as possible. Just got back from Arizona where I legally HAD to conceal any time we went to dinner at a decent restaurant. That was PIA. Don't need extra layers in 105 degrees. And I think the "shoot me first" vest got more looks than the OC elsewhere.

My OC is largely weather dependent. I take alot of care to ensure my gun is healthy, and yes, i know a little rain wont hurt it. Alas, if I had a stainless Vaquero, or 1911, i would OC more. OC is 100% my proffered method of carry as it is much more comfortable and stylish. I have a Stainless GP100, but am short a good holster for it, and my wife has claimed it as hers, so it stays home with her most of the time. On nice weekend days I love to go old school, rain, i cover it to whatever degree is needed, doesn't go in to fed buildings, and if asked to leave we do so without purchase. What and how i carry sometimes it depends on my mood too

amlevin said:

I don't make an "effort" one way or another. I just go about my day and whichever manner happens, happens.

Just out of curiosity, for those that wear a coat during foul weather, what's the purpose of exposing the weapon? To make it more prominent? To call attention to it? Is the area you're carrying in that hazardous that you feel you need a tactical advantage?

Just curious.

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Even if those were the reasons who cares?

But you left out several other possible reasons, like Sterile carry (hinted in my previous post, about not liking the government issuing the right to carry), exercising the 1st amendment right in expressing your personal stance on guns, and habit of method of carry, if you did need to use it and you are not used to concealing than you might be delayed a bit in retrieving your weapon.

Why do cops have their weapons exposed in foul weather even with heavy jackets on? They don't spend most their time in "hazardous" areas.

Hey guys, at the end of the day we are all carrying, right? So what does it really matter? The only folks that I have a problem with are the ******** that use it as a means to get the LEOs to over react so they can sue for money. Those guys are the ones that lost the Cali folks their rights. With the exception of those vermin, any way you want to carry is better than not. I carry for both reasons, defense and politics/awareness. Most(about 80ish%) of the time I open carry. But I don't always OC on dates, and I can't carry at all on Base. I think the important thing is this, carry the way that makes you comfortable. If you just carry for defense, great! But please don't go bad mouthing those of use that work hard to support and expand our(including your own) rights. If you carry for politics/awareness, great! But again, don't bad mouth someone else just because they choose to be more private than you. We are all on the same team. Almost like a family. In my family, we might squabble a bit here and there, but God help you if you mess with any of us. That's how I see us here. We can debate on here, but let's make sure that we don't let it bleed into the public. That's when we give the enemy ammunition.