The title of my book is “Beyond Weapons,” indicating my book isn’t about how to use weapons. The subtitle of my book is “A Guide to Holistic Self-Defense.” What this subtitle means is “How to put yourself in a position to be successful.” You want to be in a position to be successful in dealing with ordinary civilians, law enforcement, and criminals. Ideally, you don’t want criminals even to be aware that you exist, and in all honesty, the same can be said about law enforcement officers – you should be off their radar. When it comes to your interactions with ordinary civilians, the goal is to have rich and rewarding experiences, rather than problematic encounters that can escalate into criminal behavior (e.g., domestic violence, road rage, neighbor disputes, and so on). The title and subtitle of my book represent an exploration of how to position yourself to effectively avoid violence.
In this post, I aim to discuss off-body carry and demonstrate how people often overlook the importance of interacting with law enforcement officers. Often, off-body carry situations are used in hot and humid weather. The attire someone wears in this weather doesn’t lend well to on-body carry of a firearm. Given these conditions, many people choose an off-body way to conceal their firearm, which in many cases is a fanny pack.
Now is a good time to introduce one of Olsen’s Laws (my apologies for the liberties taken!). Here is an Olsen’s Law for Ordinary Civilians: You will have more interactions with law enforcement officers than you’ll be a victim of a violent crime. If you give it a moment’s thought, you’ll realize this is a true statement.
Here is the problem. Many reviews of fanny pack concealment will tell you what they store in their fanny pack. It turns out to be their gun, their ID, their phone, and so on. Now, imagine for a moment, you have, say, a boating accident. You are a bit shook up. You are not sure who is at fault. A law enforcement officer arrives and asks to see your ID. You mistakenly unzip the wrong compartment of your fanny pack because you are a bit dazed from the accident. The first thing the law enforcement officer sees is the handle of a gun. Do you know where this leads?
Imagine buying a concealed carry holster with a pocket for your wallet. Is that a good decision? Do you want to reach for your ID in the same motion as you pull a firearm? Probably not! By keeping your firearm and your ID in your fanny pack, you are effectively doing the same thing. You don’t want to be interacting with a law enforcement officer, reach for your ID, and suddenly be dead. Put yourself in a position to be successful. Consider the more common scenarios and how your gun will affect those situations. Make the appropriate trade-offs.
Recognize that self-defense is all about trade-offs. There is no one solution for all scenarios.