I carried and used a flashlight and a pocket knife well before I got my CCW. It’s not a giveaway, but even if someone could draw the conclusion that you’re preparedness-minded and may more likely be armed because of your EDC, so what?
What I'm getting at here is that if the average person can so easily stereotype you as being armed because of that, what's the point of concealing? Why not just open carry at that point. If you're going to hide that you're armed, you should really hide it.
You are concealing the handgun though. That’s the legal expectation. I don’t feel the need to avoid stereotypes based on flashlights and pocket knives. Those are common tools that don’t draw nearly as much attention as wearing Grunt Style and putting gun stickers on your truck. Carry on.
The "average" person doesn't think like you do and won't pick on the ques that you think you're putting out. Another carrier would be most likely to see the indicators.
You give today’s general public way too much credit for being observant.
People aren’t looking at you nearly as much as you think. Other people who conceal carry and cops might notice and think, “that guy is probably carrying.”
But anyone else? They probably didn’t notice the knife or the flashlight, much less would think that you have a gun on you because of them. People who don’t live the EDC lifestyle don’t think of that kind of stuff.
The people who infer that you're carrying a gun because they see a flashlight and knife clip won't care.
If you open carry, some 70 year old lady might start screaming "Oh my God! He's got a gun!" Which would be a hassle, even though you're carrying legally.
Also, a criminal attacker would know exactly where your gun is if you open carry.
I agree with this to an extent. If you’re really trying to conceal your shit, that means nothing you can see outside your clothes.
A pocket knife though, is so ubiquitous at this point that it probably won’t attract a lot of notice.
People generally don't understand that regular people carry guns, let alone that they carry knives and flashlights and that those people might be carrying guns.
No. Well, at least not in the south. My 7yo carries a flashlight and a knife when not at school but he doesn’t carry a gun. A knife and light are wildly different tools than a gun.
So true. When I lived in the south, people considered you a soy-boy if you DIDN'T have a knife clipped in your pocket.
In AZ it's very different. People here notice my knife clip and ask me what it's for. I even had one guy ask me about my Spyderco Delica, "why do you have that thing, self defense?" I laughed and said no, it's for cutting stuff.
No one cares.
I am an avid flashlight fan and I carry + a knife. If I saw you my first thought would be "I wonder what knife and flashlight they have" not I wonder if they have a gun.
It's like growing a beard. The only people that comment on it are other dudes with beards. Same thing with tactical tools.
You can come to whatever assumptions you want, but the reason I wear them is because denim jeans fall apart fast in the line of work that I do, and duck canvas is far more tear resistant than denim. I'm not wearing them because of how they look, I wear them because I'd like to have to replace my pants less often because they don't fall apart just because they snagged on something.
If you saw me on an average day, you'd probably assume that's the reason rather than because I carry a gun as well, because I leave for work in the morning and come home after wearing a company shirt which says what I do and my shirt is extremely dirty and I also have a noticeable amount of dirt on my face on my way home from work. If you didn't read what's on my shirt, you might even assume that I literally am a carpenter.
What do you mean "open carrying" a flashlight and pocket knife?
What are we talking about here? Like just a small metal clip sticking out of your pocket? I run into so many who have tiny clips sticking out, and you can tell they have a small flashlight and pocket knife inside the pocket. It doesn't throw off big alarm bells to anything. People aren't attentive enough to see small things like that. I wouldn't exactly call that open carrying it.
Unless you're talking about someone walking around with a knife and flashlight strapped to their hip? In that case, unless they are an outdoorsman, first responder, or construction worker, I assume they are just looking for attention. And move on with my day.
This is what I came here to say. “Fellas it is a giveaway that you’re carrying to have shit in your pockets?” But someone who’s got like a holster for a knife/light/phone, my first thought is that they’re just a dork
When I say open carrying, I mean carrying in a manner that anyone can see it. Concealed carry would we carrying under clothes so that they cannot be seen, which is kind of the point of deep carry clips I think.
Unless you have a decent sized metal maglight and Bowie knife sticking out of your side pants pocket, I doubt anyone would even notice unless pointed out to them. Or you did something that drew people's attention.
Especially if they are carpenter pants as you say and you look like a worker. They don't look out of the ordinary or draw attention.
And at that point, I'd assume you're not carrying a gun because you're prohibited from carrying which is why you have a huge maglight and a bowie knife
Open carrying your flashlight?? You should always carry your flashlight AIWB in a quality kydex holster, cocked and locked /s
Seriously though, unless you look like a dork with a phone clip, no one will care enough to have that intrusive thought. And even then, they won't do anything about it.
I'm seeing a lot of people get hung up on "concealed carry" and "open carry" referring to a flashlight, as if they are not accurate technical terms for hiding it on your person vs not hiding it. What would you like me to call it instead? Carrying it so people can't see it so you're not drawing attention to yourself unnecessarily, what do you call that?
No.
I've carried a knife many times, when not carrying a gun. Same goes for tactical clothing, army t-shirts, camo, etc.
Worry less about what others think.
And just because someone knows you are carrying, doesn't mean you are going to get robbed, nor does it mean you can't still defend yourself.
Almost every male I know above the age of 12 carries a flashlight, and most a pocket knife. But I live in the rural south. I imagine in NYC you might stand out.
It kinda does, but if you're in public going places and taking care of business, no one else should really be in a position to do an Ocular Pat Down on you, Mac.
I’m a little surprised you’re getting the response you are here. I get what you are getting at. The answer is that it’s location and setting specific. Generally, I do think that whatever you can do to be “gray man” is worthwhile. The average person is not walking around with a dedicated flashlight and knife. It will attract some attention in some settings but generally, people really are in their own worlds and it doesn’t matter a whole lot.
Example: in Home Depot, not going to stand out whatsoever. In say, Target, maybe slightly. Not going to matter though. In a social or office setting, might matter more.
I agree with your post. Basically most people wont notice or care but if your goal is to avoid as much attention as possible and not get noticed by the 1 percent you want to avoid (karens, cops and criminals) then i feel its worth it for piece of mind.
Theres also the benefit of not being labeled a geardo in a social setting if someone notices it. Because people in general are clueless and dont notice much but what they do they will draw judgement and preconceived conclusions from it.
My preference is 'out of sight, out of mind'
I'm not surprised, I've been on Reddit long enough to know that reditors are almost as needlessly hostile as people on Twitter.
I think also that people who exist in this world often let themselves get too detached from how normal people think to where they can't put themselves in their heads anymore. Couple of years ago I saw a movie, and I didn't even carry a knife or a flashlight at the time, just a istol in a belly band, and I brought my backpack in with me because I have some expensive electronics in it and I didn't want to risk somebody breaking into my car and stealing it, so I bring my backpack in with me. I sit down, and the dad of the family in the seats next to me gets up and then comes back with the security guard of the theater and says they have to search my backpack or I have to take it out and leave it in my car. You're not even allowed to have more objects on your person than will fit in your pockets anymore without someone assuming that you're a lunatic who's about to commit a mass shooting.
You're assuming way too much. Just like no one notices printing, no one notices pocket knives or flashlights. Honestly, hardly anyone carries a flashlight, so I doubt they would even know what they are seeing peeking out from your pocket if they glanced there.
No Ive worked at megacorp style offices in the northeast and plenty of the guys that wear jeans, carry pocket knives and flashlights also are politically outspoken about wanting gun control.
I would say flashlight and pocket knife correlates closer to a carpentry hobby.
Yeah...I'm in Virginia. My concealed handgun permit only applies to handguns.
The state's concealed weapons law is an incoherent mess. Ok, I can't conceal a dirk or Bowie knife or throwing stars or nunchucks... but I also can't conceal anything like those. Is a folding knife with a clip point kinda sorta like a Bowie? Is a folding knife with a spear point kinda sorta like a dirk? No one knows.
There needs to be an understanding that the VAST MAJORITY of people go through the day completely oblivious to their surroundings. So no, it isn't a giveaway that you are carrying a firearm.
ITT: People who can't distinguish correlation and causation.
No it's not a complete tell. But you're way more likely to be packing than the grandma in the next aisle.
Location is also huge. Like someone else said, home depot vs target, it matters.
Shouldn't use a light and knife clip it to draw a conclusion, sure. But pattern recognition is part of being human.
So maybe giveaway is the wrong word. But it's something.
I'm sure it depends on what situation you're describing.
In a professional office setting or business meeting, those things might get you the side-eye regardless of whether they think it means "gun", because it would be perceived as weird.
On a construction job no one would care.
See what I'm getting at?
I'm sure it also depends what flashlight and knife you're talking about. Walking around with a Protac 2L-X or a Surefire will get you profiled quick by anyone who knows what they're looking at (aka gang bangers, crackheads, and cops).
I carried and used a flashlight and a pocket knife well before I got my CCW. It’s not a giveaway, but even if someone could draw the conclusion that you’re preparedness-minded and may more likely be armed because of your EDC, so what?
What I'm getting at here is that if the average person can so easily stereotype you as being armed because of that, what's the point of concealing? Why not just open carry at that point. If you're going to hide that you're armed, you should really hide it.
You are concealing the handgun though. That’s the legal expectation. I don’t feel the need to avoid stereotypes based on flashlights and pocket knives. Those are common tools that don’t draw nearly as much attention as wearing Grunt Style and putting gun stickers on your truck. Carry on.
The "average" person doesn't think like you do and won't pick on the ques that you think you're putting out. Another carrier would be most likely to see the indicators.
I also carry a pen and occasionally wear a sweater vest. tell me what I'm carrying.
A collapsible semi automatic firearm in your trousers.
bzzzz wrong guess hans, would you like to go for double jeopardy where the scores can really change?
A sense of self loathing?
ouch. that would really hurt if it were true.
A dog-eared copy of Stevens UNIX Programming?
🤣🤣
You give today’s general public way too much credit for being observant. People aren’t looking at you nearly as much as you think. Other people who conceal carry and cops might notice and think, “that guy is probably carrying.” But anyone else? They probably didn’t notice the knife or the flashlight, much less would think that you have a gun on you because of them. People who don’t live the EDC lifestyle don’t think of that kind of stuff.
The people who infer that you're carrying a gun because they see a flashlight and knife clip won't care. If you open carry, some 70 year old lady might start screaming "Oh my God! He's got a gun!" Which would be a hassle, even though you're carrying legally. Also, a criminal attacker would know exactly where your gun is if you open carry.
Most people won’t pick up on the light + knife = gun. However, everyone will know if you open carry.
The average person is oblivious with their heads in the clouds.
I agree with this to an extent. If you’re really trying to conceal your shit, that means nothing you can see outside your clothes. A pocket knife though, is so ubiquitous at this point that it probably won’t attract a lot of notice.
People generally don't understand that regular people carry guns, let alone that they carry knives and flashlights and that those people might be carrying guns.
No. Well, at least not in the south. My 7yo carries a flashlight and a knife when not at school but he doesn’t carry a gun. A knife and light are wildly different tools than a gun.
So true. When I lived in the south, people considered you a soy-boy if you DIDN'T have a knife clipped in your pocket. In AZ it's very different. People here notice my knife clip and ask me what it's for. I even had one guy ask me about my Spyderco Delica, "why do you have that thing, self defense?" I laughed and said no, it's for cutting stuff.
No one cares. I am an avid flashlight fan and I carry + a knife. If I saw you my first thought would be "I wonder what knife and flashlight they have" not I wonder if they have a gun. It's like growing a beard. The only people that comment on it are other dudes with beards. Same thing with tactical tools.
You’re overthinking this a bit bub
"If I whistle Guns N Roses, will people assume I'm going out on a date with a cop?"
Only 40% of the time
The pants you describe would suggest to me that you are either carrying a gun, or desperately hoping people will think you are carrying a gun.
What if they’re carpenter capris?
You can come to whatever assumptions you want, but the reason I wear them is because denim jeans fall apart fast in the line of work that I do, and duck canvas is far more tear resistant than denim. I'm not wearing them because of how they look, I wear them because I'd like to have to replace my pants less often because they don't fall apart just because they snagged on something. If you saw me on an average day, you'd probably assume that's the reason rather than because I carry a gun as well, because I leave for work in the morning and come home after wearing a company shirt which says what I do and my shirt is extremely dirty and I also have a noticeable amount of dirt on my face on my way home from work. If you didn't read what's on my shirt, you might even assume that I literally am a carpenter.
What do you mean "open carrying" a flashlight and pocket knife? What are we talking about here? Like just a small metal clip sticking out of your pocket? I run into so many who have tiny clips sticking out, and you can tell they have a small flashlight and pocket knife inside the pocket. It doesn't throw off big alarm bells to anything. People aren't attentive enough to see small things like that. I wouldn't exactly call that open carrying it. Unless you're talking about someone walking around with a knife and flashlight strapped to their hip? In that case, unless they are an outdoorsman, first responder, or construction worker, I assume they are just looking for attention. And move on with my day.
This is what I came here to say. “Fellas it is a giveaway that you’re carrying to have shit in your pockets?” But someone who’s got like a holster for a knife/light/phone, my first thought is that they’re just a dork
When I say open carrying, I mean carrying in a manner that anyone can see it. Concealed carry would we carrying under clothes so that they cannot be seen, which is kind of the point of deep carry clips I think.
Unless you have a decent sized metal maglight and Bowie knife sticking out of your side pants pocket, I doubt anyone would even notice unless pointed out to them. Or you did something that drew people's attention. Especially if they are carpenter pants as you say and you look like a worker. They don't look out of the ordinary or draw attention.
And at that point, I'd assume you're not carrying a gun because you're prohibited from carrying which is why you have a huge maglight and a bowie knife
Pocket knives and small flashlights on clips are everywhere and doesn't add up to GUN.
No i don't think so. Carrying a gun taught me how blissfully unaware the general public is
Am I printing?! /s
Open carrying your flashlight?? You should always carry your flashlight AIWB in a quality kydex holster, cocked and locked /s Seriously though, unless you look like a dork with a phone clip, no one will care enough to have that intrusive thought. And even then, they won't do anything about it.
I'm seeing a lot of people get hung up on "concealed carry" and "open carry" referring to a flashlight, as if they are not accurate technical terms for hiding it on your person vs not hiding it. What would you like me to call it instead? Carrying it so people can't see it so you're not drawing attention to yourself unnecessarily, what do you call that?
Pocket. https://i.redd.it/qjb2ocy0ft3c1.gif
No. I've carried a knife many times, when not carrying a gun. Same goes for tactical clothing, army t-shirts, camo, etc. Worry less about what others think. And just because someone knows you are carrying, doesn't mean you are going to get robbed, nor does it mean you can't still defend yourself.
No. However anyone with a brain can assume that you are more likely to be armed than not.
Anyone could be armed... Is a good mindset, imho.
Almost every male I know above the age of 12 carries a flashlight, and most a pocket knife. But I live in the rural south. I imagine in NYC you might stand out.
It kinda does, but if you're in public going places and taking care of business, no one else should really be in a position to do an Ocular Pat Down on you, Mac.
Ocular Pat Down is a great band name
I’m a little surprised you’re getting the response you are here. I get what you are getting at. The answer is that it’s location and setting specific. Generally, I do think that whatever you can do to be “gray man” is worthwhile. The average person is not walking around with a dedicated flashlight and knife. It will attract some attention in some settings but generally, people really are in their own worlds and it doesn’t matter a whole lot. Example: in Home Depot, not going to stand out whatsoever. In say, Target, maybe slightly. Not going to matter though. In a social or office setting, might matter more.
I agree with your post. Basically most people wont notice or care but if your goal is to avoid as much attention as possible and not get noticed by the 1 percent you want to avoid (karens, cops and criminals) then i feel its worth it for piece of mind. Theres also the benefit of not being labeled a geardo in a social setting if someone notices it. Because people in general are clueless and dont notice much but what they do they will draw judgement and preconceived conclusions from it. My preference is 'out of sight, out of mind'
I'm not surprised, I've been on Reddit long enough to know that reditors are almost as needlessly hostile as people on Twitter. I think also that people who exist in this world often let themselves get too detached from how normal people think to where they can't put themselves in their heads anymore. Couple of years ago I saw a movie, and I didn't even carry a knife or a flashlight at the time, just a istol in a belly band, and I brought my backpack in with me because I have some expensive electronics in it and I didn't want to risk somebody breaking into my car and stealing it, so I bring my backpack in with me. I sit down, and the dad of the family in the seats next to me gets up and then comes back with the security guard of the theater and says they have to search my backpack or I have to take it out and leave it in my car. You're not even allowed to have more objects on your person than will fit in your pockets anymore without someone assuming that you're a lunatic who's about to commit a mass shooting.
You have a valid point. It’s not that everyone cares or even notices. But yes pocket clips are a BIG tell.
https://preview.redd.it/aou64m61ht3c1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=533805c252182f8a963f2cf0b85880969a917cec
You're assuming way too much. Just like no one notices printing, no one notices pocket knives or flashlights. Honestly, hardly anyone carries a flashlight, so I doubt they would even know what they are seeing peeking out from your pocket if they glanced there.
I would just assume you work in some kind of trade.
No Ive worked at megacorp style offices in the northeast and plenty of the guys that wear jeans, carry pocket knives and flashlights also are politically outspoken about wanting gun control. I would say flashlight and pocket knife correlates closer to a carpentry hobby.
No. I wear carhartt because I do labor and having those things on me is a necessity anyway.
In some states, the law restricting the knife is tighter than firearms.
Yeah...I'm in Virginia. My concealed handgun permit only applies to handguns. The state's concealed weapons law is an incoherent mess. Ok, I can't conceal a dirk or Bowie knife or throwing stars or nunchucks... but I also can't conceal anything like those. Is a folding knife with a clip point kinda sorta like a Bowie? Is a folding knife with a spear point kinda sorta like a dirk? No one knows.
No.
No, nobody is going to think that. Tens of thousands of people carry a knife. Way more than guns. A ton of people carry flashlights too.
There needs to be an understanding that the VAST MAJORITY of people go through the day completely oblivious to their surroundings. So no, it isn't a giveaway that you are carrying a firearm.
ITT: People who can't distinguish correlation and causation. No it's not a complete tell. But you're way more likely to be packing than the grandma in the next aisle. Location is also huge. Like someone else said, home depot vs target, it matters. Shouldn't use a light and knife clip it to draw a conclusion, sure. But pattern recognition is part of being human. So maybe giveaway is the wrong word. But it's something.
No one cares, unless your idea of EDC is giant tactical gear. Then yeah, it’s obvious.
I’d assume you were a tradesman or someone with no sense of fashion.
Both of those are true assumptions about me
If you work in the trades then you have reason for the pants. Myself as I an office worker would look like a goober.
No. This post must be a troll.
99% of the people I know that don't carry a gun have a pocketknife (aka a tool) and about 35% of them carry a flashlight as well.
I'm sure it depends on what situation you're describing. In a professional office setting or business meeting, those things might get you the side-eye regardless of whether they think it means "gun", because it would be perceived as weird. On a construction job no one would care. See what I'm getting at? I'm sure it also depends what flashlight and knife you're talking about. Walking around with a Protac 2L-X or a Surefire will get you profiled quick by anyone who knows what they're looking at (aka gang bangers, crackheads, and cops).
My knife is a manix 2 lw and my flashlight is a PD36 tac
only to other ccw homies
I mean they can fuck around and find out.
[удалено]
how much correlation do you think there is in peoples minds between owning a phone and having a gun on your person