Whyveear said:
It's probably already been mentioned in this thread but If you do anything other than stand straight up, it will be obvious that you're packing.
I don't agree with that, and I just did a little 30 second song and dance in front of a mirror. If I'm wearing a vest or jacket, no. If it's a small pistol, no. If it's a full frame job like a Browning Hi-Power and nothing other than a light shirt and I decide to do some toe-touching exercises, yes.
My take on that is it depends on the size of the firearm and how you dress. And no matter how you carry, if you choose concealed carry over open carry, you have to dress with how you're carrying in mind.
Your shirt can get hung up on it and you would never know.
My shirt can get hung up on my IWB tuckable and I'll never know. I can't see the small of my back, but then again I don't run around lifting my right arm, twisting my torso, and peering under my armpit at where I carry at 4 o'clock, either. I think the issue is practice, no matter how you choose to carry.
Also bad for weapon retention if it ever comes down to that.
I think I'd prefer an assailant to have to get right through me or completely spin me around, rather than just reach down to my waist while we were grappling if the issue were strictly retention. From behind, a waist carry presents a more natural grasp for a snatch than a SOB flat against your back. That said, if I was truly concerned about retention, I'd have a holster with at the very least a thumbbreak snap rather than nothing at all - no matter how I carried.
Uncomfortable to sit with one, and your gun will stick out if you sit on an open backed chair like in a restaurant for example.
I carried SOB for a while, and didn't have any problem whatsoever with comfort - or at least, no more than with IWB and seat belts, etc.
What kind of a holster were you carrying SOB with that you found to be uncomfortable? Did you try different holsters after the first didn't work?
I gave up on SOB because shoulder injuries have come back to haunt me and I simply can't easily reach back with my arms any more in the manner required by a SOB carry. So it was a comfort issue, but different reasons.
Others also warn about potential injury to your back should you ever fall backwards on your pistol, but that alone isn't really a factor for me.
Yes, I've heard that, but I put that one right up there with "if you carry a gun, it will only be taken from you and used against you.
Personal injury? Sure it happens, but some people have their firearms taken from them and used against them as well. Unless I am wrong, the probability of either happening is pretty remote at best.
As a ski patroller, I ski with a patrol vest that has a back pocket for gear in what amounts to "SOB" - I carry my 'biners, ATC, and tightly wound self rescue rope back there. All of us do. Lots of skiiers ski with fanny packs holding water bottles, booze, cell phones, etc. All kinds of hard objects in there. I do occassionally fall, as all skiers do. When skiers fall, they fall one hell of a lot faster than somebody footborn walking or even running. And if they're in moguls at the time, more often than not they get launched and come down from a lot higher than someone falling on the street. Then you have road cyclists with water bottles tucked behind them - they fall once in a while as well. We do med support to some bike races, and treat those who go down.
I have never treated or heard of an injury where a skier or cyclist received a back injury from falling on small objects carried in the small of their back. I have no doubt it happens on rare occasions, but if I was worried about all the rare "what ifs", I'd never carry a firearm in the first place.
And if not SOB, where is safer? Crossdraw or strong side? UH OH. Now we have hard objects next to our spleen and liver - what happens if we fall on those? We rupture our spleen or liver and possibly bleed to death? How about a broken lower rib and a punctured lung.
SOB is not necessarily a bad idea. Like every other carry method, it has its' pros and cons. But everyone is different in body shape, how they dress, what they carry, etc. All people can really do is try it for themselves and see how it works out for them personally. Most will probably find something other than SOB preferable, but it is a valid option.
