Off-Body Carry

Most people know that I’m not an advocate for off-body carry. While I acknowledge there is a place for it, I have seen many people violate the general firearms rules because of their carry system. I’m not immune to that either. In fact, one of the few times where I did something stupid with a gun was when I had it in a fanny pack.

The problem with off-body carry is the attitude of the user dictates its effectiveness. If the user does not have a realistic approach about their defensive posture, their response won’t be realistic either.

Some advantages

In a February 2006 article, I listed the 12 Rules for off-duty conduct. One of the rules was to carry the most effective firearm the wardrobe would allow. Whenever I am asked about this, I always emphasize this doesn’t mean “effective caliber.” It means the balance of effectiveness, accuracy, and utility.

One reason to use off-body carry is when one’s clothing is incompatible with the correct tool. Civilian CCW carriers will not understand this, but law enforcement officers may have specific off-duty policies. There are formal “on-call” arrangements for officers who could potentially be mustered for a callout. I have known others who operate in a continuous state of vigilance — they carry their duty gun everywhere. If I’m wearing a bag, the front compartment has an IFAK and magazines.

Off-body carry is a reasonable option for road trips. It’s better to have the gun in a bag, rather than have it press against one’s side and have it dig at the bucket seats.

Off-body carry means the officer in gym shorts can carry a caliber of confidence and still maintain a semblance of normality while prowling the beach. In some cases, it also means carrying more ammo than they would normally tote around OWB or IWB.

One of the strongest arguments in favor of off-body carry is the comfort and ability to move around without causing further “prints.” Anyone who has young kids would be familiar with their tugging of clothes, impromptu wrestling, and other things that could alert someone of the presence of a firearm. Placing it in a bag that would fully camouflage the gun is a good practice.

This also raises another consideration. Curious or inadvertent hands can come in contact with a zipper pull. Part of your training with your off-body system is consistent placement and positioning to prevent accidental exposure. It could also include training your small children that purses and packs are “hands-off.”

Another excellent reason to off-body carry is when the gun is not the primary life-saving tool in this situation. I know that sounds silly coming from someone who advocates carrying 24/7, but not every law enforcement officer writes tickets and takes traffic reports. For some, much of the mission is search and rescue. If the most likely deployment is a trauma pack, it only makes sense to keep the gun well-protected and low-key. For someone who does rescue ops, the fanny pack is not a bad idea.

In some of the latest developments of off-body carry systems, manufacturers have included armor options. This is actually the reason I went from dismissing off-body carry entirely to advocating for it under certain circumstances.

I have been eyeing the Vertx products for a while and started looking into their Daily Carry Series. When I found that Premier Body Armor was making custom Threat Level IIIA inserts for them, I was sold. These products are ideal for going from off-duty to emergency intervention. The Premier Body Armor panels are lightweight, discreet, and flexible.

The option of body armor panels in the off-body carry system changes the optimal style of carry. We’ll get to that in just a little bit.

Some disadvantages

Considering the advantages of off-body carry, the disadvantages are rather discouraging. The draw speed is significantly slower. Some carry styles are a dead giveaway. Some off-body carry systems are visual leashes.

A visual leash works like this: I carry a backpack around with me often, and occasionally I set it down. If I’m with someone else, I don’t mind setting the backpack down while I step up to a counter to order my food, as long as someone I trust is nearby. If I were to demonstrate I’m unwilling to set down my backpack, even people with the poorest observation skills will recognize that there is something about the backpack.

Let’s add to this equation. If you carry off-body, remove your pack and try drawing your gun without wearing it. A waistpack must be worn for a smooth presentation. In the next installment of this article, we will talk about some of the drills.

One time I was at a training with several other officers from local agencies. We all sat down at a nearby cafe for our lunch break. The server walked over to our table to take our order and stated casually, “You guys are all cops.” I asked her how she knew, and she told me that everyone except me was wearing a fanny pack. She told me that she thought I was “just out of the military and probably a cop now.” I commented that everyone wears fanny packs (waist packs, etc.), to which she replied that it had to do with the way we wore them.

It’s true. Most of us set our waist packs in a cross-draw configuration, whereas people who don’t carry guns in those packs often center them on the waist. I’m definitely a waist-pack observer, and I’ve noticed that gun toters will rest their non-firing hand on their pack habitually. If a gun is carried in a backpack, it is only slung on the non-firing shoulder. Most “tactical” waist packs are “tactical” colors, usually black.

My purpose in pointing this out is not to modify the behavior but to file down some of the sharp corners of the carry system so that it is a little less obvious.

In order to help you with your off-body carry choices, I have compiled some rules. However, before we look at the rules, you should know that off-body carry is never my first choice. I have several subcaliber handguns in .32 and .380. I carry them in my pocket when I am not carrying a 9mm or .40, and I can present and engage with them with great efficiency. If I am wearing running shorts, the gun may be lightweight, but my critical response is not. At seven yards from the pocket, I can generally shoot a failure drill under five seconds. That is, three shots, with the third shot in the face. My Beretta Tomcat is one of my favorite companions, and I can engage a target out to 25 yards, even while moving.

The Rules of Off-Body Carry

Rule 1: Your martial arts should be competent

I went to a training session on off-body carry led by Lina Miculek, a shooter for whom I have a lot of respect. We were using the Vertx Everyday Fanny Pack 2.1 with a Mantis TitanX in a molded holster insert. Lena told us that the standard for drawing and delivering accurate fire from the waist is 2.5 seconds. We practiced this with the TitanX. The standard for crossbody carry is 3 seconds.

This should tell you something. First of all, it was not hard to achieve with the TitanX dry fire trainer. Achieving this standard with live fire is a whole different thing. Let me ask you this: how many officers actually train live fire from a fanny pack?

When it comes to fighting in the crucible, a lot can happen in 2.5 seconds. My recommendation is that officers who carry a fanny pack need to adhere to the same standards I set for any other holster: 500 draws. The other part of this has to be what happens between threat recognition and presentation of the firearm. If you are going to carry a fanny pack, you must be able to deliver an effective intermediate strike and incorporate movement in the draw. 2.5 seconds is much too long at bad-breath distance.

I learned a hard lesson in my short session with Lena. I “covered” my hand (pointed my muzzle in the direction of my own body part) a couple of times while drawing. The laser output of the TitanX can be set to stay on, and the laser does not lie. It lit up my left hand. Lena used me as the bad example, and I deserved it. Yup, that was me.

I strongly recommend the TitanX for training with your carry system if their gun matches your gun. Whatever the training tool, this is a critical skill, and it must be instinctive.

This is Part I of a two-part article. Part II includes the rules of off-body carry and training techniques: officer.com/55377841