Reston + Chantilly OC

Hey guys (and gals),

OC'd for the first time today in Reston and then Chantilly. Gotta say, I was nervous as #$%^ lol. Went in the 7-11 and a police officer was in there. He looked at me, the gun and then me and I thought my heart was gonna stop. The only thing he said was "Do you like the XD?" and I started breathing and said "Very much." Then he left.

Awesome.

Gonna start doing this every day now that I didn't get shot or arrested (though I know it's legal). :lol:

Stanley said:

Hey guys (and gals),

OC'd for the first time today in Reston and then Chantilly. Gotta say, I was nervous as #$%^ lol. Went in the 7-11 and a police officer was in there. He looked at me, the gun and then me and I thought my heart was gonna stop. The only thing he said was "Do you like the XD?" and I started breathing and said "Very much." Then he left.

Awesome.

Gonna start doing this every day now that I didn't get shot or arrested (though I know it's legal). :lol:

Click to expand...

yeah open carry is not so bad. the only thing that ever makes me nervous is not having a holster with a thumb strap or a full flap holster. Other than that I really don't pay attention to anything around me. Now keep in mind their are some lunies out there so if you see someone acting weird around you I recommend to just move away from the weirdos. I had an incident at 7-11 where a guy while I was in line starting putting his head close to my holster while I was turned around. I mean within 2 feet while I was on the phone. Needless to say I turned around and asked him what the hell he was doing so close to me and I just left. Again just pay attention to your surrounding and you're fine with a good retention holster.

opencarrypalmtrees said:

yeah open carry is not so bad. the only thing that ever makes me nervous is not having a holster with a thumb strap or a full flap holster. Other than that I really don't pay attention to anything around me. Now keep in mind their are some lunies out there so if you see someone acting weird around you I recommend to just move away from the weirdos. I had an incident at 7-11 where a guy while I was in line starting putting his head close to my holster while I was turned around. I mean within 2 feet while I was on the phone. Needless to say I turned around and asked him what the hell he was doing so close to me and I just left. Again just pay attention to your surrounding and you're fine with a good retention holster.

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You shouldn't leave the HOUSE OCing unless you have a good retention holster! I'm rather fond of the SERPA CQC, but to each their own. Blackhawk has lots of different SERPAs for sale and many other manufacturers make good retention holsters that won't break the bank.

Here's the catch: You better PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE your draw a hundred times a day/night until it becomes second nature. Don't even THINK about using one unless you know how it works in the dark, up-side down or after you've been spin around 5 times blindfolded like you're playing "Duck-Duck-Goose". It SHOULD be common sense, but I feel duty-bound to remind you:
NEVER practice with a loaded firearm. Unload it, check it 3 times (or as well as you need to to ensure it IS unloaded) and then proceed with your daily/nightly practice. Practice drawing from all possible positions and with different kinds of clothing. Practice drawing from the seated position in your car. Don't do this where others can see you or you will most certainly be getting a friendly visit from folks whose pistols are certainly loaded and are also very familiar with drawing their pistols. You don't want to practice with them. They won't have theirs unloaded and they want to continue the "practice session" to completion: handcuffs, lots of questions, asking you to watch your head as you sit uncomfortably in the back seat of their car with the puke-proof seats, floor and plexiglas... You get the picture. Practice somewhere in private.

Just my $.02 worth

Stanley said:

he said was "Do you like the XD?" and I started breathing and said "Very much."

Click to expand...

Cool.. why don't you post the AUDIO of that encounter?
:dude:

ed said:

Cool.. why don't you post the AUDIO of that encounter?
:dude:

Click to expand...

+1.

I'm carrying my Christmas Present everywhere I go now... The Olympus VN-8100PC works GREAT! If it doesn't "hear" anything going on, it goes in standby and doesn't waste any "tape" (memory). If "nothing to write home about" happens, I take it out and erase the last 1+ hour of memory so I have plenty left for when stuff does happen. It has multiple "folders" so I can use a different one for each place I go or a different day of the week. I've been just WAITING for someone to say something "record-worthy" so I can post it. I should have kept the interaction with the librarian a few weeks ago, but the quality wasn't that great. I've learned to keep it outside my shirt, but inside the neoprene case that came with it. It hangs suspended around my neck from a DogTag chain ($1 or less on base). it just looks like an MP3 or something the kids wear around their necks. Doubt anyone suspects they're being recorded. Not that they can do anything about it anyway... in VA. Marylandistan is another story. Jail-time for that!
Yep... this is certainly OC-related! :-D

opencarrypalmtrees said:

yeah open carry is not so bad. the only thing that ever makes me nervous is not having a holster with a thumb strap or a full flap holster. Other than that I really don't pay attention to anything around me. Now keep in mind their are some lunies out there so if you see someone acting weird around you I recommend to just move away from the weirdos. I had an incident at 7-11 where a guy while I was in line starting putting his head close to my holster while I was turned around. I mean within 2 feet while I was on the phone. Needless to say I turned around and asked him what the hell he was doing so close to me and I just left. Again just pay attention to your surrounding and you're fine with a good retention holster.

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I know, I Know, it was a typo, but I laughed until I hurt while visualizing that. :lol:..

Thanks for the tips!

I ordered a recorder yesterday, based on the suggestions of people here but don't have it yet so I have no audio.

My holster is a Galco holster, not sure what exact model, but it has a clip that requires pushing it in with your index finger to pull out the gun. Will definitely make sure I start recording stuff though.

Congrats on getting out there. I was nervous my first few times.


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Stanley said:

Hey guys (and gals),

OC'd for the first time today in Reston and then Chantilly. Gotta say, I was nervous as #$%^ lol. Went in the 7-11 and a police officer was in there. He looked at me, the gun and then me and I thought my heart was gonna stop. The only thing he said was "Do you like the XD?" and I started breathing and said "Very much." Then he left.
Awesome.
Gonna start doing this every day now that I didn't get shot or arrested (though I know it's legal). :lol:

Click to expand...

Just as it is a BIG step to start to CC, it is also a VERY BIG step to OC. But the bigggest adjustment that I had to learn while OC was how VERY FEW people noticed. Of course, as you pointed out, the ones who DO notice are the ones who count: LEO's, JBT's, other OC's, and the ocassional observant sheep and soccer-mom. It is not at all a big deal unless someone else makes it one. Be ready with stock answers to the standard questions, learn how to deal with LEO/JBT, and be ready to walk away from idiots (a clown who turned out to be a visitor from NY started to perster me with idiot-type questions of a rapidly worsening nature until I just left the area; I thought later that I should have given him the response from "The Virginian": "You are in great need of adult supervision." But giving such a well-earned response to this type of Liberal anti-gun harassment is like peeing in your pants while wearing a dark suit: it gives you a warm feeling, but nobody notices).

Be a good representative for OC, and welcome!

ed said:

Cool.. why don't you post the AUDIO of that encounter?
:dude:

Click to expand...

Ed,

I finally got around to getting a recorder.

Questions:
How often do you need to put in new batteries?
It looks from the instructions that I will have to reset the date and time every time that I put in new batteries; is that something (i.e., resetting) that you do?
I am still playing with it to get the settings right; I am sure other questions will pop up.

Oh, yeah: when do you plan to do road-side garbage patrol?

nemo said:

Ed,

I finally got around to getting a recorder.

Questions:
How often do you need to put in new batteries?
It looks from the instructions that I will have to reset the date and time every time that I put in new batteries; is that something (i.e., resetting) that you do?
I am still playing with it to get the settings right; I am sure other questions will pop up.

Oh, yeah: when do you plan to do road-side garbage patrol?

Click to expand...

If I'm pretty quick in replacing the batteries, the same date/time comes back up when I put in the new batteries IF I don't run them all the way down. As soon as mine warns me "battery low", it shuts itself down. I turned it back on to see "how low" and it sstill had power. I think its a "defense mechanism" to save your info before "crashing". My batteries last a week or 2, depending on how much I use it. I don't leave it on all the time, I turn it on when I get out of the car. I also "clear" the memory every couple hours if nothing happens so I can have more space in the event something "big" happens.

I got my recorder yesterday as well. Not soon enough to record a lady saying she felt safe wth people OC'ing while I was in Starbucks. I have it now though so hopefully I can catch some interactions.

Wasn't nearly as nervous as the first day but I'm hoping it gets better.

I noticed above someone saying CC was a big step and OC was a very big step. LOL I messed up.

My CC class isn't until next weekend. Maybe I jumped in the deep end a bit quick lol.

I blame OCDO... You guys got me excited.

Stanley said:

I blame OCDO... You guys got me excited.

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:lol: Don't worry - they do that. It's perfectly normal.

Thought I'd say hello and it's nice to see another person is nervous while carrying I thought it was just me

As far as a recorder I have rechargeable batteries that I could run it all day and just swap out with the charged pair for next day.

I was at a 7-11 in the Reston area a few months ago. I got out of my vehicle and 2 wannabe Gangstas were outside. One says to the other "that cracker has a gun". I looked at them and replied "Crazy Cracker with a gun". They stayed outside until I left.

Got to be careful there are going to be a lot of armed people in that area this weeked.

Seriously I am hoping that hooters has extra staff cooking. I always pick up wings for the wife and I after the gun show.

Uber_Olafsun said:

Got to be careful there are going to be a lot of armed people in that area this weeked.

Seriously I am hoping that hooters has extra staff cooking. I always pick up wings for the wife and I after the gun show.

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Yeah, it's gonna be packed. Going have to get up really to snag range time. It's my first gun show as well. I've driven past it over the years but now I actually have a reason to go in.

casullshooter said:

I was at a 7-11 in the Reston area a few months ago. I got out of my vehicle and 2 wannabe Gangstas were outside. One says to the other "that cracker has a gun". I looked at them and replied "Crazy Cracker with a gun". They stayed outside until I left.

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LOLOL!!!

Stanley said:

Yeah, it's gonna be packed. Going have to get up really to snag range time. It's my first gun show as well. I've driven past it over the years but now I actually have a reason to go in.

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I never even try to get range time on gun show weekend, or the weekend after. Luckily, my days are free, so I can go first thing in the morning - usually not bad, even right after a show.

I'm going on Sunday, meeting up with a bunch of gals from the Shooting Divas. If you see a short blonde lady in a green polo shirt and big straw hat (and a 1911 on her hip), come on over and say 'hello'. :dude:

Good to hear of your good experience Stanley! I OCed for more than a year before I decided I wanted the option to carry concealed so don't think anything of not deciding to CC first. Frankly I'm glad I had the experience of OCing first as it helped me put to bed a lot of the BS I heard from folks who only ever concealed, since OCing never caused any significant issue for me (this was in Arizona at the time). By the way, I used rechargeable batteries for a while, but they either didn't hold charge or they became a pain to try to keep recharged. I switched to one time use batteries when I discovered that Lowe's had AAA size batteries available by the hundred for about $20. The batteries are packaged in rows of 10 so they were easy to store in the car or wherever and had decent life to them. If you don't want to bother with the rechargeables, consider these as an inexpensive option.