Last week, I went into the gas station to pick up some orange juice and a stick of gum. While I was waiting in line to check out, there was a gentleman in front of me who was exercising his right to open carry. I think it’s awesome when people want to exercise their right to carry in public spaces but this gentleman had a Hi-Point C9 in an Uncle Mike’s holster strapped on a leather belt.

Houston, Texas-based Comp-Tac Victory Gear had already been producing a variety of holster types, as well as other gun-related gear, for many years before they were purchased by HSGI in 2017. Since this merger, they have continued to expand their product lines and offer continually growing holster support for new handguns as the market’s demand directs. With Smith & Wesson’s pistol product lines experiencing ongoing growth, the need for new S&W-compatible holsters never seems to cease. After last year’s release of the M&P9 Shield EZ, as well as its upgraded Performance Center version, yet another new holster need was born. Comp-Tac got to work on it, and now with the following August 2020 press release, they have announced that five of their holster models will now include fit options for the M&P9 Shield EZ.

This release is the first of a series of upcoming collaborations between PHLster and AXL Advanced, where they aim to solve a number of problems with existing magazine carriers. According to the release, the Ascent pouches bring new materials, technology, and capability to concealed carry.

Last week, I wrote about various PDWs and there were a number of people asking about the Vertx bag I had in the background. I also had people ask about other types of carry bags that work well with carrying concealed for pistols and larger weapons as well. There are endless options for carrying and off-body carry. I can already hear the disdain from some of you, but its ok if people carry in different ways than you, trust me it’ll be ok. I’ll go through three different bags I’ve used but these are typically the three most popular styles of bags for concealed carriers. Let’s dive into three different carry bag options.

GLOCK first announced the new G43X/G48 Slimline Series about a year and a half ago to an enthusiastic crowd. Looking for a everyday carry gun that was more trim than the G26 but had better ergonomics (and has a larger mag capacity) than the pocket-size G43, the new GLOCK Slimline models were hot commodities. Switching from two-tone to black later in 2019, eager American customers watched as European shooters teased an accessory rail on the slimlines for small lights and lasers.

The year 2020 is already commonly regarded as one of the worst years in global memory, but there’s some potentially good news coming from the Czech Republic. In recent years, the Czech Republic have been making efforts to strengthen Czech gun rights, and this year’s goal is to beef up the Bill of Rights, and the laws that correspond with it. TFB has been blessed with a global readership, and as such, we’ve also been fortunate to have a reader from the Czech Republic, Ondřej Tůma, who has agreed to help shed some light on the “Czech 2nd Amendment”.  Ondřej provided a brief history of how they’ve come to this current battle:

Carrying a concealed firearm is fairly basic in the grand scheme of things. Essentially you carry a firearm on your body and go amongst your day. It’s an extremely simple concept but the definition is slowly changing with newer generations looking for other ways of carrying firearms. Having a small but capable weapon in a bag or vehicle can be a huge advantage in certain situations. It’s becoming more common amongst younger concealed carriers and with that is a growing market of discreet carry bags and accessories to help people carry what they consider important. Over the last four or five years, I have tried carrying larger PDW style firearms for the sake of science and throughout my time testing, I have noticed a few trends among people just starting out to carry a firearm. Let’s dive into some of the good and bad of carrying PDW style weapons.

In this installment of TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesdays, we’ll take a look at an extremely light and concealable revolver. The Smith & Wesson Military & Police, or M&P 340 is a five-shot, snub nose, “hammerless” revolver chambered in .357 Magnum that is very much designed as an all-season self defense gun. Before you start looking for the internal lock on the M&P 340, you won’t find one because S&W has omitted the oft debated internal lock on this line of concealed carry wheelguns.

Wright-Patterson Airforce Base will soon allow concealed carry permit holders from Ohio and states with reciprocity to request approval for the transport of personal firearms to and from the installation. Privately Owned Firearms will be allowed inside one’s vehicle while on base but they have to be unloaded.

When we have to carry for a long period of time, it’s sometimes fairly difficult to be comfortable after 8-10 hours of constant carrying. After a few hours of driving, it can sometimes cause discomfort or hot spots on your body. When this happens, oftentimes people will immediately jump to the type of pants you’re wearing or blame it on the holster after thinking of it. Both of these are possible to cause issues with sitting comfortably or wearing it all day, but the vast majority is not due to a Kydex or leather holster. The real culprit is typically the belt you’re carrying with, and it’s not always the easiest piece of gear to identify as an issue but let’s dive into the good and bad of carry belts.

We can all probably agree the last few months have been interesting, to say the least. Whether its constant mask requirements or the pockets of civil unrest. Between everything going on, it makes 2020 a year like no other and with all the instability comes a new wave of people carrying a concealed firearm. I have gotten a ton of questions about various topics from carrying in civil unrest to the rules on carrying with a mask. There are a ton of questions and I don’t have the answers for all of them, but there are a few great things to consider when looking at carrying in a pandemic.

Holster maker N8 Tactical began as a two-man experiment in 2009, with the “N8” being a riff on the two founders both being named Nate. Having been dissatisfied with other options on the market at the time, friends Nate Beard and Nate Johnson decided to come together to see if they could build a better mousetrap – in this case, the “mousetrap” being a concealed carry holster. The focus was comfort; Beard and Johnson set out to develop an option for concealed carry that prevented corners and edges from jabbing them in the side or stomach all day. For this purpose, most of their products feature a large backing panel (think Crossbreed, which is owned by the same parent company) made of leather, suede, and neoprene that sits between you and your gun. However, N8 has announced a divergence from this pattern in a July 30th press release. Meet the KO-1, their first all-Kydex IWB holster.

Every week, I talk about various topics and ways to improve your skills and be a benefit to society every day. One thing I haven’t done is take an in-depth look at my daily carry items and explain why I chose them over other choices. I’ve spent years going through different guns and gear figuring out what works best for me, so hopefully, it will give some of you a different perspective and motivate you to look at your own carry loadouts. I carry a few different firearms throughout the year but decided to focus on my top 3 carry loadouts I use the most often. Let’s take a look at my most common concealed carry setups.

Texas-based Rival Arms has made their name primarily as a Glock shop. While they do offer a handful of products for other firearms, like barrels for some Smith & Wesson handguns and a Ruger 10/22 chassis, the majority of their offerings to date have been Glock parts like custom slides, barrels, full upgrade kits, and more. However, this seems to be changing. Given the proliferation of SIG Sauer’s P320 series and the concealed-carry triumphs that are their P365 and P365XL handguns, it makes sense that shops like Rival Arms would expand their product lines to include these models. With a July 27th press release, Rival Arms has announced just that, and they will soon offer a menu of new SIG upgrades.

Unfortunately, a common complaint among female shooters is that women’s fashion is just not well-suited to concealed carry. For most men, concealment usually tends to be relatively easy. Whether we’re just in casual jeans and t-shirts, business attire with collared shirts tucked in, even with full suit-and-tie events, it’s not too often that we’ll find difficulty including a quality belt that’s employed to properly support a quality IWB holster. The Arizona-based holster-smiths at Galco Gunleather are no strangers to tackling unusual or unconventional carry solutions. Among their standard holsters and other products, some of their offerings include pistol-ready day planners and tablet cases. Looking to provide the ladies with some tailor-made solutions, Galco makes a line of concealed carry-focused purses, and they discuss these options in the following July 23rd press release.

When it comes to picking a self-defense round, the age-old debate of 9mm vs 45 ACP instantly comes to mind. I’m almost certain there are a few guys already rushing down to the comments section defending their carry round. I’m sure you’re probably wondering where this is going so I’ll give you some background on how this article came into existence. Earlier in the week, I was checking out a local gun shop, keeping my 6ft distance, and managed to hear an older man tell a young woman she needs to carry a 22 LR pistol for self defense. The guys behind the gun counter as well as myself all immediately had a confused look at his caliber choice as an adequate round.

SIG Sauer introduced the P365 SAS back in 2019, coupling their super popular compact 9mm with their SIG Anti-Snag FT Bullseye sight. SIG have now used the same technology on the 9mm P938 SAS, SIG say the new “P938 SAS Micro-Compact has undergone a radical dehorning process resulting in an ultra smooth, snag free profile that’s ideal for concealed carry.”

Galco Gun Leather is offering some new innovative concealed carry options that allow you to avoid the summer sweats and stay protected at the same time. Open Carry isn’t exactly always a viable option for daily activities. Galco’s “hidden open carry” options include holsters that look like everyday personal accessories.

For the majority of shooters, most get the idea of regular maintenance when it comes to your carry gun and even ammunition. One thing that is often forgotten is the idea of maintaining your holster whether it’s Kydex or leather. It’s easy to skip over or forget entirely the importance of caring for the one thing that keeps your firearm attached to your body. Whether it’s a Kydex holster or a hand-stitched leather, it’s important to care for your gear to keep everything in the best shape possible. Let’s dive into some things to keep your holsters in top fighting shape.

Most gun owners, particularly concealed carriers and those who employ firearms as part of their profession, have had to consider the possibility of defensive firearms use. We’ve thought about what might theoretically happen in various scenarios – a home invasion, a parking lot mugging, maybe a carjacking – and how we would react. There is an entire cottage industry on the subject, with a plethora of related books, websites, videos, and training classes. But for all the time, money, and energy we spend preparing to defend ourselves from violence, what about the post-event fallout?

Firearms usage and medical preparedness go hand in hand. Whether you’re enjoying a casual range day, hunting, shooting competitively, or carrying a concealed handgun in your everyday life, unfortunately mishaps can and do happen from time to time. Many shooting organizations and competitive bodies are increasingly encouraging or requiring their members and participants to include some form of trauma medical kit in their gear lists. Plenty of quality defensive shooting instructors are championing the practice of including medical gear in your EDC as well.  Galco Gunleather has shared a carry method that you may find useful. Meet the Galco Ankle Trauma Medical Kit, available now. The release reads:

In past articles, I’ve talked about how important it is to do various drills or even jump in a competition to help better your skills. I still think that’s important but what about initial accuracy? Whether it’s working on your “cold start” or just doing low round count practicing, it’s incredibly important for a person who carries a concealed firearm on a daily basis. We often talk about various ways to improve shooting as a whole but after thinking a while, I realized it’s important to give information to better hone your skills as a shooter. Let’s break down and take a look at some of the best drills and concepts for people training accuracy for carrying concealed.

Night sights are often one of the first modifications that shooters make to their handguns – and in many cases, the only change they may choose. There is a vast array of different makes/models to choose from, and it isn’t uncommon for someone who has a plethora of pistols to use the same version of aftermarket sights on each one. XS Sights is a popular choice, commonly touted for high visibility in either low-light or bright conditions. With a July 2nd press release, XS has introduced even more versions of two of their popular lines of night sights. The release reads:

Let’s face it, during the summer months, carrying a gun can get a little hot and uncomfortable at times. Naturally during this, the body will sweat and your gun may have sweat on it after a long day of carrying it concealed. It’s not a big deal if it only happens once in a while, but if the handgun isn’t cleaned regularly, it can start to erode the finish off and develop surface rust. There are a few different ways to combat surface rust depending on maintenance and holster type. Let’s dive into the different ways of protecting your gun against surface rust.

The Indiana House recently voted 64-17 for Bill HB 1284 which helped expand Indiana’s stand-your-ground laws. Inside that bill was also legislation that removed all fees associated with the cost of Indiana Carry Licenses as well as removing court costs for justified use of force in certain circumstances. The Indiana Senate approved the bill by 37-7 and carried vehement support by the governor.

All over the internet, there are articles where people talk about what’s best to have on your body when concealing a firearm. It’s not uncommon to talk about various lights, knives, medical supplies and spare magazines. Having different items on you is a great way to be prepared for daily life, but it’s really easy to start carrying way too much where it starts to become unrealistic for daily use. Its a natural cycle to figure out what you need on a daily basis but since there’s a ton of new gun owners and people who are conceal carrying, I figured I’d break it down for the newbies. Let’s dive into figuring out what’s the issue with carrying too much on your body.

Springfield, Missouri-based CrossBreed have announced that holsters from across their range are now compatible with the new Taurus G3c which launched at the beginning of the week. CrossBreed have worked with Taurus to ensure their holsters fit the new Taurus compact 9mm pistol. The G3c compatible range includes inside the waistband, belly bands and outside the waistband options.

During January’s pre-SHOT Show frenzy, TFB reported on several new ammo options that would be coming out over the course of 2020. At SHOT, TFBTV went a little more in depth with Speer about their new additions. Now in a June 18th press release, Idaho-based ammo manufacturer Speer has announced that their Gold Dot G2 Carry Gun ammunition, specifically optimized for compact handguns, is heading to market. Your current options are 9mm, .40, and .45 +P. The release reads as follows.

In the past few years, there have been a number of great little concealed carry options hitting the market. Whether it’s the Glock 43X, 19X or Springfield Armory  Hellcat, there are plenty of new options available. Recently, SIG announced their red dot equipped X-Series called the RXP. The new RXP pistol has a few different changes from the previous versions of the XCompacts and they may be small changes but make a big difference in everyday use. Let’s dive into the new SIG RXP XCompact and what it has to offer.

There’s no denying, society and current events have been a little more unpredictable and crazy than they typically are in a given year. Between COVID shutting down the country for the last few months and recent unrest in major cities, it’s easy to get into a defensive mindset when traveling. Recently, I took a trip from my home state of Michigan to Tampa for some much needed vacation and family time. One of the biggest concerns was what to pack in terms of carry guns and gear.