Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Is there anything wrong with pocket carry?

Like a lot of you I've got a CCW permit, but I only carry occasionally. I've thought about an ankle holster, but using that front right pocket in my jeans seems like a pretty darn handy place for my little J frame. It is a hammer model, so I suppose that it could snag, but it seems to me that a confrontation out on the mean streets wouldn't be a fast draw situation anyway. Having it along anywhere beats not having it with it home in the drawer.

I've pocket carried since 1972. It has advantages and disadvantages. There is a limit to the size of handgun you can carry in a pocket. A J-Frame or similar revolver is about perfect. These days I routinely carry a S&W Shield 9mm in my pocket, but I'm a big guy and maybe my pockets are bigger than those in skinny jeans. The pocket carry method works best with a pocket holster, both to conceal the outline of the gun, cover the trigger to prevent an unintended discharge and also to orient the pistol for better access.

Some guns make me squeamish about carrying them in a pocket, such as pretty much any single action pistol, and any "safe action" semiauto such as a Glock or Shield UNLESS you use a good pocket holster. Also, you should NEVER carry anything else in the pocket (keys, coins, etc) because they could interfere with the trigger and make for an unsafe situation. So you lose the use of one pocket for any other purpose.

The gun will collect lint and other debris after awhile and should be checked on a regular basis and cleaned and lubricated when needed.

Pocket carry makes for a difficult draw when seated and is not as fast when standing as some other methods, but you can have your hand on the weapon in the pocket if you are in a tight spot and hopefully nobody will be suspicious or offended. I always carry the weapon in my strong side front pocket.

I like pocket carry because for me it is comfortable and can be done with almost any mode of dress. It doesn't require an outer garment or even a shirt at all in hot weather. I often carry a Glock 19 in a belt holster when wearing a jacket, but the Shield is still in my pocket as a second gun when I do.

Yeah, like you suggest, having delayed access to a pocket firearm is worlds better than not having access to one. Likewise, having a gun in your glove compartment (even if you're twenty yards or more away from it), is worlds better than not having such access. That said, having a handgun ready on your belt for a quick deployment is worlds better than having it in your pocket or glove compartment, especially when you consider all the security cam footage we have of successful self-defense with a concealed handgun, where a split second made the difference between a successful self-defense with a concealed handgun and a failed effort, leading to the death of the victim.

No way I'd carry in the pocket unless I had no other choice.

PS In my early years of concealed carry, back in the 1980s, and a little into the 1990s, I carried in the pocket about as often as on the belt. The more I thought about how I'd more likely than not need to deploy it in self-defense, however, the less I liked the idea of pocket carry.

Pocket carry is all I do with my PF-9. The pistol rides in a sleave holster. Very convenient.

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There is no substitution for situational awareness. The forum mall Ninjas will pipe in about how you should be carrying 3 pistols,10 magazines, and a gnarly-looking tactical knife 24x7. But I think that having a firearm in your pocket beats forum-fantasies.

If you are aware, you wont have an issue with digging a gun out of your pocket while heading for cover.

I pocket carry a S&W 637 in a DeSantis pocket holster. My draw uses my thumb as a guard coming out. I haven’t gotten snagged yet, but I still wonder if I should have got a 642 instead.

I like a 442 in a Mika's pocket holster. I have a round-bottomed holster for front pocket carry and a square bottomed one for cargo shorts.

I pocket carry my lcr all the time. I think the most important thing besides shooting a snub revolver is practicing drawing it from your pocket holster.

I pocket carry all the time...got a couple of small frame autos and snubby revolvers that work just fine in the back pocket of my jeans. I have also been known to have a small gun in the chest pocket of my bib overalls.

Back pocket carry beats front pocket carry, since it's an easier fast draw. I used to carry my Colt .380 Government back in the 1990s that way sometimes.

i'd have opted for a 642/442, because when it counts, a snag could be a real problem. but i guess with practice, you might be ok.

Nothing wrong with pocket carry, just don't hav keys in the same pocket.

I have a 1971 Chiefs Special .38 2" snubby J frame that is a perfect pocket carry. Occasionally I use it, but primarily as a back up.

Nope.





Dave

I always carry a Ruger LCP .380 as my BUG in my right front pocket. I've also carried various S&W J-Frane snubbys in 38 sp. over the last 20 years. And I prefer to keep them in some type of soft pocket holster to keep the lint out of the guns action & barrel.

Several years ago, in Dallas, in the middle of the night, in a bad part of town, I was gassing up my truck as I was about to run out, when two baboons approached me suddenly. As I turned to face them, I stuck my hand in my right front pocket, a move they seemed to immediately recognize, and scuttled off in to the dark like a couple of big cockroaches. 😎

I had the same exact thing happen to me, except I was walking a lonely place in a large wooded park. One gnarly looking guy sees me from a couple of hundred yards distant and makes a b-line for me. When he got about twenty yards away, I squared towards him, put my hand in my front pants pocket, and gripped my NAA Mini Revolver. Just like you said, he knew exactly what I did, and I never even took it from my pocket. Just seeing me put my hand in my pocket completely changed his mind on whatever his plans were. He waved, turned around, and started walking the opposite way.

I did get one of those Galco PH158 pocket holsters and it does help hide the J frame profile, but so what if I print a little without it as I'm still legal and the gun is concealed. I take it you guys are not big fans of ankle holsters. Honestly if someone is holding me at gun or knife point, there is nothing in my wallet that is worth getting in a gun fight for. When we go south for the winter, I carry my credit cards, driver's licence and a few larger bills in a separate credit card pouch, not in my wallet. Like dla wrote, situational awareness to avoid a situation in the first place beats all the defensive firepower a guy could carry. All courage aside, I really don't want to shoot someone if for no other reason than the legal ramifications. Four years ago we had a home invasion and that is as close as I ever want to come.

I pocket carry an LCP all of the time. Front pocket in a Nemesis holster. Like others have said, never put anything else in that pocket.

The only downside I've found is that it's not easy to draw if you are setting down, like in a car.

Well told gentlemen.
That pocket reach zig-zag can be rather dramatic.
Sometimes the purps really do try try to feel you out face-to-face. Damn psychos!

I own one holster and never use it. Always in a coat or pant/short pocket.

I pocket carry routinely. I ALWAYS use a pocket holster, most often an El Paso Saddlery Pocket-Max. The same holster I use with my Colt Detective Special also works with my S&W M36, Walther PP or Ruger LCP, so that if dressing up for a semi-formal occasion and I want to minimize the gun printing, the Ruger LCP "Church Gun" can be carried easily in the same holster that the DS goes into for EDC into dangerous environs like the Food Lion when they are having a meat manager's special on rib-eyes...