Dry Fire for Summer Carry

It's heating up out there, in more ways than one. Summer is no time to let down your guard. During the warmer months, I prefer cargo shorts and t-shirts for casual wear. (I actually prefer cargo pants all year, fashion be darned.) During these thin cover garment months my holster and gun is harder to conceal, and ends up against my bare, and often sweaty, skin. To overcome that, I'll occasionally carry a compact gun in a Sticky Holster in the front cargo pant pocket. Instead of a magazine pouch on my belt, I use a SnagMag carrier for the extra magazine.

Drawing from the pant leg pocket holster is slower and less convenient than my regular IWB holster setups, so some of my dry fire time is spent drawing from the Sticky Holster. In the unlikely event I need to get the gun out, I neither want to think about where it is, nor fumble the draw.

Retrieving the extra magazine from the SnagMag in my pocket is also a different motion than grabbing a mag from the belt. I use the SnagMag frequently but I still practice. This spare mag carrier is easy and quick to draw from, but it's needs to be practiced so the motion is second nature.

The down side of dry fire practice with both of these products is the time to "reset" between draws. Both the holster and the mag carrier must be removed from their respective pockets in order to be reloaded and then repositioned.

Dry fire practice manipulating the gun is so often seen as merely a competition shooter's practice routine, especially for those of us without regular access to a range where drawing from a holster is permitted. Regular live fire with your EDC gun is critical, and dry fire practice is just as important. When you change your carry position, be sure to practice getting to the gun quickly and safely.

Stay safe. Stay alert. Stay armed.