OrigamiAK's phenomenal article on AIWB in USPSA

[Cookie Monster]

I'm impressed by the journey and the work and the commitment. I am blown away that you used to carry 3 guns, 3 magazines, and 3 knives. I started to carry a reload recently and I'm like "Man, that pocket is heavy."

AIWB that sword is pretty cool as well. I'd been interested in your journey with the knife carry as well. I used to IWB a 4" fixed blade but dropped down to a Leatherman Skelatool which I am thinking might not be the best (duh).

Thanks for all the knowledge sharing.

Cookie Monster

[jetfire]

I'm impressed by the journey and the work and the commitment. I am blown away that you used to carry 3 guns, 3 magazines, and 3 knives. I started to carry a reload recently and I'm like "Man, that pocket is heavy."

AIWB that sword is pretty cool as well. I'd been interested in your journey with the knife carry as well. I used to IWB a 4" fixed blade but dropped down to a Leatherman Skelatool which I am thinking might not be the best (duh).

Thanks for all the knowledge sharing.

Cookie Monster

I was also blown away by how much kit Origami used to carry. I remember looking at it and thinking "jeez that must weigh a ton, who'd want to lug that around all day?"

[JeffJ]

Seriously. I know the whole internet thing of he's paranoid, I'm prepared, and you're a sheep - but really, wow, I mean - damn that's a lot of s**t.

[Mr_White]

Very true, that was a lot of gear. There is a winding path of influences and factors that explain it.

I am an Original Tim. A major portion of my initial development was being steeped in what is now pretty common, tactical/defensive doctrine, from a local school that is directly down the lineage from Thunder Ranch. One is none, two is one, three is even better, etc. Backup guns were gently recommended when a person showed a keen interest in training on an ongoing basis and beyond the basic level.

Over the last fourteen or so years, TPI has been the dominant force in my intellectual development as a self-defense guy. The issue of In Fight Weapons Access was at the fore in my mind for a long time. That led to a desire to put a fixed-blade knife on my support side, and to otherwise put weapons on the left, right, high, and low areas of my person. The net effect was that if I was conscious and had one arm free, I could get a weapon in hand almost without regard to positional considerations.

The knife laws in Oregon, coupled with a longstanding fear of other people's lack of understanding of those laws, made me somewhat uncomfortable with that fixed blade even though it should be quite legal. One day it occurred to me that I had an actual license to carry a pistol (or however many pistols) and that no matter what an officer personally thought of the second or third pistol, they would not be arresting me for carrying it, whereas they conceivably could arrest me for a knife they found scary and then I would have to argue about it in court. So I put another pistol on the support side instead of a fixed-blade knife.

My views on some of that have changed and I am now more at peace with the knife legalities situation. BTW, that is a Bud Nealy Aikuchi with 5" blade that I am carrying now, passed down from an instructor and friend who's passed away. It's not a sword, lol. While I think it was a perfectly worthwhile exploration to carry that much gear, figure out how to make it work for me, work out all the equipment issues, train up my support side skills, work on IFWA issues, etc., I don't think the answer to IFWA concerns is to litter myself with weapons.

Rather than concentrating on placement of numerous weapons enabling me to reach a weapon from any position, I now think IFWA concerns are better dealt with through positional dominance and hand control, along with weapon placement that balances my ease of access against the other guy's ease of access. Lots of guns and knives can be great, but are also easier for everyone to access, not just me. There is a balance to be struck and I think I am significantly more balanced on that point with my current rig.

Basically, what you see in that mondo rig is just a physical expression of my enthusiasm at being involved in the defensive tactical training world. That was just me being 'into it' and exploring as I was inclined to do. I did actually practice with all that gear. Not practice like now, but I did practice with it.

In any case, one day my sciatic nerve got pretty aggravated and I started trying to get AIWB to work. You know the rest.