I know we've had a few similar posts here over the years about dealing with injuries, but I wanted to start another conversation about dealing with injuries that will come along and make your carefully developed EDC package becomes totally irrelevant & offer myself up as a training dummy for being prepared to adapt and overcome best as we can.
2 weeks ago I was involved in a fairly major auto accident that left me about the length of my peak reaction time from leaving this mortal coil. I was T boned in the front wheel by a car moving about 65mph. Along with totalling my beloved mint Hemi Magnum, my head & shoulder were driven into the door post, leaving with the usual familypack of bruises, owies, whiplash and a separated left shoulder. Having been thru this particular rodeo before (2ea previously on the left side, once on the right), I knew I was screwed as soon as I took the hit. For you medical types, its a pretty profound type 3 with 10mm of separation. I have an outstanding surgeon picked out and a great chiropractor who's been treating the hell out of me with a cold laser in the mean time.
I didn't have to ride in the ambulance with a gun due to extenuating circumstances - my wife was riding in the car with me at the time and was only one week out of serious intestinal surgery. THANK GOD she wasn't hurt in the accident beyond a few bruises, but I refused to go anywhere before I knew she was home safe & was certain she wasn't injured. I also learned it doesn't hurt when the friend who comes to pick you up from the accident scene is the ex Chief of Police . Got the wife to the house and off to the ER we went, passing off my holstered guns to his care enroute (not a confortable accomplishment).
So after all that background poop, now how do I go about protecting myself in this one-armed condition? I'm slung up with a padded sling with a chest strap to immobilize my left arm pretty much around the clock. Even with loose fitting button shirts (my usual fashion code) this chest strap makes anything strapped to my waist or appendix look like I'm trying to conceal a Claymore mine under a wife beater! Working inside my shop, I open carry, but I really think that would be a double stupid idea for a one-armed man to do in public. After experiment & cogitation, I realize my concealment options are limited to right front pocket, ankle or fanny pack. None of these are great, but they all beat the heck out of one-armed & un-armed!
Next decision to make was what gun? Given my level of disability, with which weapons could I safely handle the manual of arms? And which one could I shoot the best one-handed? I'm blessed to own more than a couple guns & holsters, so at least I had choices to work with.
I believe I could likely shoot my Browning HP the best one handed, due to trigger & recoil control issues, and normally I could stick it in one of Steve Camp's old holsters for good luck! Great idea, but I found that for at least the 1st week, I can't even chamber check an auto with my left hand, plus I'd be stuck with trying carry a condition 1 BHP in a fanny pack - no ankle or pocket carry for that one!
So I knew in the short run, I was limited to a wheelgun, as the manual of arms was much more friendly to my handicap. Of the useable carry options, front pocket seemed most effective & discrete under the greatest number of circumstances, so a 5 shooter it is. My usual, well proven bug, a 38 LCR became my primary. Kept it loaded with the usual wadcutters & added a set of bigger grips to maintain the best possible recoil control in a 1 handed situation. I struggled with the thought of bothering to carry a reload, because I knew the chance of effectively manipulating a slow strip in my condition was damn iffy. I went ahead & found somehere to hide a 5Star loader, figuring that my left hand could handle hanging onto the gun while the right hand loaded it.
I'll leave it there for now to see if there's any interest/experiences in the topic of how to effectively arm & defend oneself with only one usable arm.