Thoughts on BUG location for civilians who carry AIWB

[sharps54]

Back to BUG location for a moment, do those with experience (from training or real life) feel a gun in the pocket is less of a liability when going hands on?

I have zero experience here but I would assume that if an opponent is aware you have a weapon you are more likely to have to protect it. If you are rolling around with someone my understanding is that they will quickly be aware of any weapons on your belt line. So if you carry your primary at 3:00 and your BUG at 8:00 and you end up on the ground you have two weapons to protect.

Is a pocket gun less likely to be a problem? More likely to slip out while you are "rolling"? I assume I'll find out at ECQC but I'm interested in reading what everyone thinks. I could see where an ankle gun would be more secure only because those holsters tend to have more retention than pocket holsters. Of course this may be an argument for something like the Alabama kydex pocket holster where you have to use your thumb to push the gun out of the holster...

[Hi-Point Aficionado]

Dumping a gun out of a pocket is, on average, a concern. Just using ~a holster~ in ~a pair of pants~ is a recipe for the ass-puckering clunk.

But, as with belt carry, gear selection can make all the difference. Using a good pocket holster provides a little retention to the gun. Kydex obviously can do its thing. Leather can drag on the gun to help retain it and/or form a bit into the ejection port. Synthetic pocket holsters are usually pretty slick but can also form into the trigger guard or ejection port for adequate retention. The DeSantis Nemesis having done the latter on every mousegun I've seen/used.

Having pants that leave the pocket accessible to a reliable draw is handy and the pocket can also sometimes be angled to help retain the gun from just flopping out. Put a bit more thought into your pants.

Once you have the trousers chosen, picking a quality holster cut to fit it is the best bet. Rounded vs. flat bottomed, hook/tab/flap on the holster cut to engage that pocket, and breaking in leather or synthetic to get the mild retention started. I dislike kydex pocket holsters for the way they chew up my pants a bit faster than leather but use one in my cycling jersey. The bottom is flat and wide with the thumb tab tweaked to best try catching the elastic hem of the pocket on a draw and a generous hook to snag should that fail. While that holster won't even work in many of my pants, it is made for the one use to be as secure in my jersey as I can make it. Also chose hot pink as an easy to spot un-natural color so I can find it if it were to skitter off the shoulder of the road in a wipeout. My softshell ski pants have zippered pockets so retention is perfectly positive there.

Anyway, a reasonably thought out pocket rig in a pocket that works for your body and lifestyle isn't any more likely to get dumped than a belt gun in an open top.

[Cecil Burch]

Back to BUG location for a moment, do those with experience (from training or real life) feel a gun in the pocket is less of a liability when going hands on?

I have zero experience here but I would assume that if an opponent is aware you have a weapon you are more likely to have to protect it. If you are rolling around with someone my understanding is that they will quickly be aware of any weapons on your belt line. So if you carry your primary at 3:00 and your BUG at 8:00 and you end up on the ground you have two weapons to protect.

Is a pocket gun less likely to be a problem? More likely to slip out while you are "rolling"? I assume I'll find out at ECQC but I'm interested in reading what everyone thinks. I could see where an ankle gun would be more secure only because those holsters tend to have more retention than pocket holsters. Of course this may be an argument for something like the Alabama kydex pocket holster where you have to use your thumb to push the gun out of the holster...

It is irrelevant where you carry in an entanglement. There is no place that is better than others. With a gun carried forward of the hips, it MAY be that the bad guy is quicker to realize you are armed. This is offset because it is easier to protect him from getting it because it is positioned for your arms and elbows to defend more strongly than behind the hip.

Protecting your weapon is something you have to do whether he knows you have it or not. ASSuming he does not know you have one is a bad mistake that can cost you big. It has zero to do with gear/hardware, and everything to do with software (skill set). Regardless of whether a weapon is in play or not, you need to always do the same things - control your opponent's arms, and move into a superior controlling position. One of the reasons for BJJ success on the ground is those two things are at the heart of every tactic and technique in BJJ, regardless of "street vs sport" and regardless of whether weapons or strikes are a possibility or not.

Any carry that makes it harder for a bad guy to get off of you is by defacto also makes it harder for you to access.

As for a gun slipping out of the pocket? Not likely, unless you are foolish enough to just shove a gun in your pocket without some kind of holster. I have never had a pistol slip out when fighting on the ground. And I have done a metric ton of that against some of the best BJJ black belts around, as well as guys who are highly experienced in fighting in a weapon based environment (WBE).

Ankle guns suck in any kind of entanglement. Period. Trying to get a gun out of there when you are wrapped up with another person(s), may be the definition of futility.