Winter Carry vs. Summer Carry

In Northern Colorado a popular weather joke is that we have two seasons: Summer & Winter. It’s certainly not entirely true but when your first snow often comes the first or second week of October while the leaves are still up and it was 80 degrees the week before you start to consider the possibility.

This setup, plus hoodie, pullover fleece, softshell jacket = INVISIBLE.

Anyway last year I published a couple of posts about the best SUMMER concealed carry options and it dawned on me last night that I haven’t posted any winter concealed carry thoughts. There are a couple of reasons why I feel the Winter vs. Summer carry is a necessary consideration:

  1. More clothes = More concealment options. If you’re into cover garments in the summer time you’re asking to get made. When fall and winter hit with their cooler temps it means more clothes. Which leads to my next point…
  2. BIGGER guns. Because I don’t care to conceal a full sized pistol in the summer, the clothing options during winter time afford me an opportunity to carry a larger pistol more comfortably. If you’ve got the sack to carry a full sized pistol year round then more power to you. I’m not that person.
  3. More “Firepower.” This explanation is twofold: more rounds, and BIGGER rounds. Because I can carry a larger handgun the capacity immediately goes up. It also means that I advance past my 9mm CW9 and bump up to the .40 S&W and .45 ACP options. I can carry OWB (outside the waistband) more often and conceal easily with a cool weather outer garment. PERHAPS an even bigger point to this, is EVERYONE ELSE is wearing heavier clothes, which means more consideration of ammo/penetration through layers of clothes.
  4. Weight of larger guns is less noticeable. This may be a negligible point, but hear me out. In the summer when I’m wearing lighter and cooler clothes, a heavier gun just stands out, no matter how good the belt is. When my clothes are already heavier in the winter, the gun with more rounds just sort of blends into the mix.

The Louisville Leather IWB with my Glock 23 was my all time favorite winter carry rig.

This list is essentially just a primary for discussion and in no way comprehensive. There are obviously a lot of considerations that come in to carrying a different gun based on the seasons. This means appropriate training and familiarization with each weapon prior to carrying for that season. Do you wear gloves in the winter? Can you shoot your carry gun with gloved hands? Do you carry all guns in the same position or carry differently based on the season?

I carried most of the summer AIWB and will carry most of the winter on my strong side hip via my Armordillo Concealment holster for my Glock 22.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? AM I MAKING SOMETHING OF NOTHING? AM I FORGETTING SOMETHING? DO YOU CHANGE UP YOUR CARRY ROUTINE DEPENDING ON THE SEASONS?

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