Are You Truly Prepared for EDC?

Human beings are naturally lazy. Like most species in the animal kingdom, we look for easier ways to do anything. At the very least, we try to exert minimal effort to achieve desirable results. If we look at wild predators, we’ll see that they don’t work more than necessary to get food. Easier prey usually come first, leaving the hard ones as a last resort. After all, predators also need to conserve energy for defense.

Like these wild animals, we seek comfort following any strenuous activity, mental or physical. As rational beings, we can easily justify and rationalize going into moments of pleasurable respite when not really needed.

For those of us who listened to our parents when they said, “work hard now so that you can feel the breeze later,” we try to get a good education, which will hopefully lead to a good-paying job with benefits and a chance to save for retirement. Or, we join the military or law enforcement and serve our country honorably. Or, we decide to open a small business and labor intensely for years until we can finally settle into a life of, ahh … comfort.

Tragic Reality

But real life throws plenty of wrenches at us. Things don’t always work out. And that includes the “burden” of legally carrying a gun. There is nothing comfortable about carrying a gun. You just get used to it. You find comfort in the fact that you can protect yourself and your loved ones at the expense of putting up with some physical discomfort.

Mentally, you can’t completely relax when you have a gun on you, as you must always remain alert — even when you don’t feel like it. Does that sound comfortable to you? Eventually, this can take a toll on anyone who carries a gun for any length of time. It causes fatigue, which prompts us to look for ways to ease that fatigue. And hence, the never-ending search for a good holster begins.

Due to the very nature that it can’t be left unattended, a gun requires your constant attention, whether on your person or not, and you must come to grips with the fact that when you carry a gun you are personally bonded to it. Bad things can happen otherwise.

When I was stationed in Bolivia during my career as a federal agent, a Bolivian National police officer assigned to our task force was shot dead by a carjacker on a Sunday afternoon. According to eyewitness accounts, the officer was pulling into the gate of an offsite office when he saw a carjacking in progress in the house next door. The officer, driven by a strong sense of duty, partially opened his car door and announced “Policía!” But then, tragically, he immediately realized he was not carrying his gun on his person — instead, it rested inside a fanny pack in the back seat.

By the time the officer turned towards the back seat to retrieve his gun, the bad guy had closed the distance to the officer’s car and brutally shot the officer through the driver-side window. The carjacker fled the scene. Incidentally, I was competing in an IPSC match that day with my partner and other friends, when we got the call. My partner and I went to the hospital, where the officer died on the operating table.

Tools of the Trade

This incident had a way of occasionally creeping back into my memory in the years following. I remembered that many countries don’t offer the wide variety of compact options that we have here in the United States that make it much easier to carry.

You don’t see compacts like the Hellcat or the Hellcat Pro, which would make it a little easier to carry a gun on your person. Police agencies abroad do not always have access to good quality, yet affordable, holsters and belts for their personnel. But most notably, the guns that were normally available to them back in 2005 when this happened were all-steel, full-size guns in a wide assortment of double-action as well as single-action designs. These guns can be tough to carry concealed compared to something like the Hellcat.

So, how can we deal with these issues? First, understand that there is a time and place for everything, including fanny packs — just resist the temptation to part ways with it. Or find another mode of carrying on your person that you can tolerate.

The size and caliber of your gun is a very personal choice. I still carry a full-size gun today and have found that maintaining a certain degree of physical fitness goes a long way to carrying it effectively. Whatever you carry, though, make sure you can handle the physical rigors of carrying it every day. Basically, get off the couch and work out!

Stepping Up

With a little motivation and willpower, any regular exercise program that works your core, back, hands, arms, legs and glutes will help build a solid base to support most any handgun you may wish to carry, provided you use a good holster and belt. In all the years of physical training and attending diverse seminars, I have found a simple fitness tool that gives me everything I need to remain effective with a firearm: the kettlebell.

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I don’t need a gym membership; I work with it at home or even when traveling on road trips. High tempo kettlebell swings have exponentially improved my grip strength for controlling recoil; it works my cardio and my back. I only do it about three times a week.

But the kettlebell may not be the thing for you; whatever you decide to do, though, be sure that you enjoy it to the point you can be consistent with it. I also complement kettlebell workouts with bike riding, water exercises, yoga stretches and body weight exercises. This regimen has also saved me many a trip to the chiropractor.

But, just as important as the physical, don’t forget the mental aspects. Make sure you are trained and prepared to use your firearm if you are forced to defend yourself. Also, just as importantly, make sure you have the proper mindset. If faced with an unavoidable, deadly threat, are you prepared to defend yourself? If not, then the best gun and holster in the world won’t matter at all for you. Look at it this way, the moment you carry a gun, as a civilian, you are basically on civilian duty.

[Be sure to read Mike Mills’ article on fitness and shooting.]

Conclusion

I will never forget when that brave Bolivian officer’s young wife sat in my office, broken with grief, holding a one-year-old baby in her arms two days after the incident. That scene drove a stake through my heart.

Think about all this next time you decide to “casually” go about your business with a concealed firearm. To sum it up, make sure you are physically capable of carrying that gun, have a high-quality firearm and holster, and also have the proper defensive mindset.

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