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longtooth wrote:Everyone knows I cover w/ a vest almost exclusively except the extreeme heat of the summer. Still do then when I can get away w/ a t-shirt like in the pic.


A week ago I was fitted w/ hearing aids. (Posted that praise here)
While there, I was in a vest & armed OWB, Kimber Pro. I talked to them about mowing & the noise & dirt there.
Also about my shooting.
2 Technitions & one of them for sure was NOT a gun person, no knowledge of what we talked about except noise.
When asked about how much or how often I shot, I thought about this idea of vests, fanny pacs, Hiwaiian shirts,....screaming gun.
Huuuummmmm. Think I will see if I can get asked if I have one on. (First time I have ever done this.)
I just told them what I did. Range officer, train folks in hand gun safety, marksmanship, personal defense. Stopped short of carry gear & how to conceal.

Never an eye raised, questioning look, nothing.
Folks vests, FannyPacs, & H-shirts only scream gun to those that know I carry.

four rules.
1 - Quality gear
2 - Put it on
3 - Cover it up
4 - LEAVE IT ALONE
No one will ever know.

Vests, fanny packs, and the like also scream "gun" to the bad guys. Being able to recognize these is a survival skill for those folks. I don't see this as a bad thing, especially with the price and scarcity of ammunition these days.

Several years ago when I lived in Florida, I was leaving the supermarket dressed in nylon shorts and a tank top with my wife when I felt a "targeting stare" from behind me. I turned to see a disheveled guy covered in prison tattoos in a beat up van parked in the lot about 30 feet away. His hard gaze was fixed on us, and as I turned his eyes went right to my fanny pack which held my Glock 23 and spare mags.

I locked eyes with him, and he stared back with just the hint of a smile that said, "Yeah, I was thinking about it, but I see you're armed and probably a cop. Next time you won't be so lucky." My return look said, "Think carefully. If you're dumb enough to try, you'll never get the chance to do that again." (It's amazing the conversations you can have without saying a word.) We got into our car and left without incident. That's what I call a happy ending, and a success story for the crime prevention effects of fanny pack carry.

I've seen sleeveless denim shirts for sale in lots of places. But they're all the frayed look sleeves cut off style. Those seem to be marketed to biker types. I like the hemmed armhole treatment you've done.

Excaliber wrote: I locked eyes with him, and he stared back with just the hint of a smile that said, "Yeah, I was thinking about it, but I see you're armed and probably a cop. Next time you won't be so lucky." My return look said, "Think carefully. If you're dumb enough to try, you'll never get the chance to do that again." (It's amazing the conversations you can have without saying a word.) We got into our car and left without incident. That's what I call a happy ending, and a success story for the crime prevention effects of fanny pack carry.

reminds me of that scene in Paul Blart Mall Cop: “you’re going to pull up left hip forward, placing your right hand on your away hip thusly, giving the illusion that you have a gun.”

I can see that the illusion that you have a gun, whether you do or do not, can be a valuable deterrent for a certain class of criminal.

My first day to carry, 1/1/96, I strapped on my new Galco fanny pack, inserted my Colt LW Officers Model .45 ACP and went to my neigborhood Albertsons. The Dallas Marxist News had a major, above the fold story about implementation of the new law. It was liberally filled with quotes from Black politians predicting "Blood in the streets" and "A return to the old west". I made about 4 aisles when a yahoo looked at me, pointed and yelled "Are you packin'". I let go of the cart, walked out of the store, went home, took off my fanny pack, never to be worn again. Hence my name.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:[My response, "You mistakenly think I care what you know or don't know." Chas.

roberts wrote:

longtooth wrote:Never an eye raised, questioning look, nothing.
Folks vests, FannyPacs, & H-shirts only scream gun to those that know I carry.

If you want to raise eyes you need a tactical corset. http://tacticalcorsets.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am so getting my gf one of those for her birthday. Hehe.

mr.72 wrote:

Excaliber wrote: I locked eyes with him, and he stared back with just the hint of a smile that said, "Yeah, I was thinking about it, but I see you're armed and probably a cop. Next time you won't be so lucky." My return look said, "Think carefully. If you're dumb enough to try, you'll never get the chance to do that again." (It's amazing the conversations you can have without saying a word.) We got into our car and left without incident. That's what I call a happy ending, and a success story for the crime prevention effects of fanny pack carry.

reminds me of that scene in Paul Blart Mall Cop: “you’re going to pull up left hip forward, placing your right hand on your away hip thusly, giving the illusion that you have a gun.”

I can see that the illusion that you have a gun, whether you do or do not, can be a valuable deterrent for a certain class of criminal.

It's more perception than illusion, which may be what you meant.

If your manner of dress would conceal a combat pistol, your posture is good, you're physically fit, and you appear confident and unafraid when you and a potential attacker lock eyes, there's a real good chance he'll err on the side of caution. Good victims don't look like that.

Being able to recognize a predator when you're expecting a sheep is a survival skill for a bandit because a single mistake can be the end of the road for him.

Excaliber wrote:Being able to recognize a predator when you're expecting a sheep is a survival skill for a bandit because a single mistake can be the end of the road for him.

Except we're not predators, we're protectors (even if many of us limit ourselves to protecting our selves and our families). The bandit is the predator; don't know about others, but I'm a sheepdog (your many posts reveal yourself to be a sheepdog, too).

longtooth wrote:All my denim vests start out as the Denim "welders shirts." Remove the sleeves at the shoulder seam, square it up using the high point of the contour on the sides, and put a hem in it. Starched & ironed no one knows it is a modified shirt & I am asked pretty regular where I get them. Academy.

Does not take a tailor to do it. Just someone w/ a sewing machine & a little experience. I can actually do it myself. Mom does it in about a fourth of the time though.

Showed the picture to my wife last night. We agreed that I have a few long-sleeved shirts that could stand up to the transformation. Thanks for the info, LT.

roberts wrote:

longtooth wrote:Never an eye raised, questioning look, nothing.
Folks vests, FannyPacs, & H-shirts only scream gun to those that know I carry.

If you want to raise eyes you need a tactical corset. http://tacticalcorsets.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These are so going to be popular in the gothic/industrial scene.



I had a guy come up to me today at work, plop down a picture of an AR-15 reciever with a strange looking barrel and no stock on my desk and tell me I looked like someone who knows about guns and asked me what it was. I was a bit unnerved, since I'm apparently giving off gun vibes, but then remembered that there is a sign at the front door with a pistol and "We don't dial 911" written on it.

I have a good idea about why he asked, but then it could also be that those "in the know" can pick each other out, especially when we have "tells" - like vests and fanny packs.

I must admit that I am probably a little too worried about being "made" by someone. But more specifically by an anti. I haven't had any incidents yet, knock knock. And don't think I could pull off something like what Charles did talking to those LEO's. I'd say the wrong thing and tick them off somehow.

C-dub wrote:

I must admit that I am probably a little too worried about being "made" by someone.

To paraphrase Excaliber's post above: "look like you know what you're doing and that you mean business...and, do it with confidence." Should someone think they have "made" you, they'll also think that you know what you're doing and that you mean business. No harm, no foul.

Oldgringo wrote:

C-dub wrote:

I must admit that I am probably a little too worried about being "made" by someone.

To paraphrase Excaliber's post above: "look like you know what you're doing and that you mean business...and, do it with confidence." Should someone think they have "made" you, they'll also think that you know what you're doing and that you mean business. No harm, no foul.

LarryH wrote:

Excaliber wrote:Being able to recognize a predator when you're expecting a sheep is a survival skill for a bandit because a single mistake can be the end of the road for him.

Except we're not predators, we're protectors (even if many of us limit ourselves to protecting our selves and our families). The bandit is the predator; don't know about others, but I'm a sheepdog (your many posts reveal yourself to be a sheepdog, too).

You have picked up on an interesting point, so let me expand on why I chose my words as I did.

A sheepdog is indeed the protector of his family or his flock, and differs from the wolf in that, although he possesses speed, strength and dangerous weapons which could be used for predation, he chooses not to prey on the helpless.

That being said, in order to be effective against wolves, he needs to act with the mindset of a lion during a fight and be more cunning, fierce, daring and tenacious than his enemies or both he and his protectees will be killed.

The reality is that when two predators meet in serious combat, one eats and the other gets eaten. In these situations, I have found it useful to visualize myself as the coiled predator in the moments preceding an actual attack, and unleashing full fury during the actual fight if things go that far.

It's a mindset that I find helpful when being sized up by bad guys because most will sense it, recognize a dangerous difference from the expected "good victim" fear vibes, and find someplace else to be. It becomes even more essential if they choose to engage because the guy who doesn't visualize the win beforehand will almost always end up as food.

Masters of oriental martial arts often speak of winning the fight before the first move, and Jeff Cooper discussed the elements of the combat mindset in his Principles of Personal Defense. I think we're all are talking about different aspects of the same concepts, and to my way of thinking, they are applicable to any life threatening encounter.

Interesting words you speak, Excaliber. Thank you. Keep on posting!