ways to carry in a car.

[ElBori01]

Hey guys......I want to know how you guys carry in your car. I carry SOB but when I'm going in my car I usually put my gun in my side door pocket. But I was thinking " if you're wearing your seat belt, it doesn't matter if you're carrying IWB or OWB or any other type, you can't reach your gun easely". If you get in the situation that some punk in the road want to mess with you and start chasing you, driving side by side and then try to take you out of the road or even a lunatic that pick on you and point a gun at you. I think that your move is take off your seat belt and draw, but, if that punk, crazy, see you drawing your gun and insted ram you out of the road.You could die in crash by not wearing your seat belt,because you try to save it by unholster your gun....I just bring the example to know the better way to carry in a car, I read, that a lot of people are having troubles with punks in the streets and I want to be well prepared when a situation like that ( given the circunstances),I need to draw my gun to protect me or my entire family.

[Pa. Patriot]

Same holster(s) I use out of the car...

When I carry IWB I carry in a M. Sparks VMII.
Never had a problem accessing w/seatbelt. I drive all day most days with that holster w/Gock 23.
OWB I use sparks or more recently a BH CQB (for open carry)

No problems w/them either.

I never like SOB carry. Find a holster that allows you comfort at 3-o'clock (IWB or OWB) and you'll probably be fine for driving too.


On woods days (hunting, etc) I carry a 4" 44mag in a Bianchi 111(crossdraw) Usually open. Works perfect in the truck.

[MarcS]

Strongside IWB. On long road trips i'll also carry my G26 in a galco ankle rig. Very easy to access while seated.

Consider this: If you're going to be shooting, it's because you're unable to drive away, in which case you should be getting out of the bullet-magnet we call a car.

[Charlie B]

I carry 1 between my seat and console in the truck, and on trips my .38 cross draw also.

[MarcS]

off body carry in the car is just a bad idea. In a crash, the gun is very likely to not be where you left it. If you get ripped out of your car, you won't have your gun with you.

As for the original poster's scenario: shoot or drive. Do both and you'll do neither well.

[Steve in PA]

I agree with what MarcS said.........off body carry is a bad idea for any number of reasons.

I'll either be carrying OWB or on my ankle. If I can drive 8+ hours a day wearing a full duty belt I can sure drive longer than that wearing a gun in either of those places.

As for all of your scenarios, pull off the road or let the person pass. Keep your doors locked.

[ar15jules]

I will go along with what Steve said. I carry OWB. We all have chairs, stools, etc...at our ranges. Most pistol lanes have a "bar" type table. When the range is empty, situate a chair parallel to the "bar". Practice clearing your shirt, jacket whatever, and use the bar to simulate a window and fire some down range at the targets. I hate ankle holsters for a PRIMARY firearm because mastering a draw from an ankle holster is difficult for me, but I could see the use while on a long drive. The gun would be more readily accessable when in the seated position. As for carrying off the body....did you ever see what happens to loose articles in a vehicle in a crash???? Bad things happen, I would not want my firearm flying all over the place, or worse yet, out of the vehicle.
Jules

[Rule10b5]

A bit of a caveat: my car came with Recaro racing seats from the factory. I'm about 140 lbs., and 5'9" -- and they're a ridiculously tight and unrelenting fit even when I'm not wearing a gun. Wearing a gun in the seat is a lot like slapping your hip with a ball peen hammer -- not fun. I've come away with bruises many times from simply sitting down too quickly while wearing a gun (though my wife says that if I'd stop cornering like such an asshole, I wouldn't bruise so bad).

Anyway, if the drive is anything more than about 15 minutes or so, I unholster, put the gun in another holster, and then put that holster in the driver side door pocket. The pocket is deep enough that if I'm in a crash, the gun isn't going to go flying, and it's in a holster, anyway, so I don't worry about it going off. And, quite frankly, if the crash is bad enough to move the gun out of the pocket, I'm unlikely to be in any condition to use it.

Also, if I'm getting out of my car to deal with a threat that needs a gun, the gun is going to be unholstered, anyway, so what do I care?

Finally, unless I'm in bumper-to-bumper traffic I don't envision much need to get to my gun in a hurry. I'm driving a 3000 lbs. machine that'll do 160+ m.p.h., and 0-60 in the mid 4 second range -- and I know how to drive it. If I have room to move, 99.99% of cars and drivers aren't going to get anywhere near me if I don't want them to.

And, besides, my car is a much, much more lethal weapon than any of my guns. This holds true for every car on the road, and too many people forget it -- if someone is trying to kill you, leave if you can, or run the bastard over if you can't.

That said, one of the only times I've actually had to draw a gun was while seated, in my car, in a drive through line with no where to go. Go figure.

Anyway, if I'm driving my wife's car (a WRX) which has relatively normal seats, I just leave it in the holster -- it's comfy, easy to get to, and it saves me the trouble of doing the unholster/holster dance.

[Zef_66]

I used to put my gun in the map pocket behind the pass seat. It was probably as accessible as one in an ankle holster. But the more I thought about it and tried, it wasn't easy drawing it. So recently I have been using my Fobus paddle holster to carry OWB when driving. It is pretty comfortable and drawing is pretty easy with a little forward cant.

[PAhunter]

I have found that on long drives, being right handed, going with the "cross draw" technique works the best. More comfortable and quicker from a seated position. I carry a full size 1911 in a Galco CCP212. This OWB is adjustable for strongside as well as cross draw.