Recently, my area was hit with abnormally cold temperatures. While there are colder places, it’s been bitterly cold with sub-zero temperatures and wind chills into the -20°F range. I’m no fan of the cold and tend to layer and bundle up accordingly. Despite looking like Randy from A Christmas Story, I’ve carried a firearm daily. Cold weather CCW is definitely a different kind of concealed carry. Nevertheless, it’s a relatively easy task to accomplish as long as you implement special considerations unique to cold weather CCW.
Cold Weather CCW Issues
CCW, or concealed weapon carry, is a nuanced skill developed over many years of trial and error. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. For example, body type, disabilities or injuries, occupation, lifestyle, attire, and locale are among the many factors affecting how — and what — you concealed carry. Naturally, climate falls into that mix, and as much as the summer months present their own challenges, so does cold weather CCW.
Access
During the summer, concealed carry is a simple proposition. I normally carry IWB (inside-the-waistband) in either a strong-side or appendix position. My personal favorite is a button-down shirt worn over a T-shirt. While this attire allows easy access, I’m consciously aware the exterior garment could potentially expose my firearm if I bend or twist or the wind kicks up. Conversely, this is far from the issue during winter months. Layers are the essence of cold weather survival. However, digging through multiple layers to access your firearm is less than ideal.
For colder months, I regularly wear base layers. Personally, I can’t stand the cold; something my wife will probably never understand about me. Nonetheless, layering is an advantage for ease of concealment. For colder months, I transition to OWB (outside-the-waistband) carry. This setup allows me to adjust where the firearm is located among layers upon layers of clothing. In colder temps, the large outer jacket covers the firearm while a sweater is worn between the gun and me. Should I need to shed an outer layer, the sweater is suitable to cover the firearm and becomes the outer garment with a shirt between the gun and me. This method requires some conscious practice and trial and error. Not all clothing is suitable for these methods AND you must practice accessing the firearm from each of these garments. A smooth draw is not learned during a violent, life-threatening encounter.
Pocket Carry
Not all garments are conducive to winter CCW. Instead of changing the wardrobe, change how — and where — the firearm is carried. For many, pocket carry is a convenient and comfortable means of deep concealment. However, pocket carry is also a fantastic option for those colder months.
While pocket carry is convenient, there are some limitations. For example, not all guns fit in a pocket. Smaller firearms are more conducive to this but require practice to draw efficiently and comfortably. Furthermore, in the interest of not becoming the next YouTube sensation, carry in a proper pocket holster that adequately covers the trigger guard. No one cares if the gun has a safety. The safety is only as effective as its user and environment. One snag or bump from anything in, or out, of the pocket and you have a negligent discharge waiting to happen.
Finally, retention is important. If you remove the jacket, where does it go? Is the firearm still secure? Can you still draw it while preventing unauthorized access by children and miscreants? Pocket carry is a great cold-weather CCW option, but requires conscious planning and forethought before being put into practice.
You Can’t Grip What You Can’t Feel
In preparation for a recent article, I haphazardly decided to shoot several qualifications in single-digit temperatures. So, as not to negatively impact trigger control, I didn’t wear gloves. While I accomplished my goal, it wasn’t without some misery. The only saving grace was the hand warmers in my jacket pockets to warm my fingers between strings of fire.
The aforementioned example illuminates an important point: you can’t grip or accurately shoot a firearm if you can’t feel your hands. While some argue fine motor skills are inconsequential in a gunfight, I beg to differ. In exceedingly cold temperatures, it’s easy to lose tactile sensation (e.g. feeling) in fingers exposed for even brief periods. As a result, a finger can go to an unintended location and create an undesired “bang”. Furthermore, weapon manipulation — including malfunction clearing and magazine changes — becomes exceptionally difficult. So, how can you counteract these effects?
First, purchase quality cold weather gloves that suit your needs. Next, practice with them through dry fire. While your family may give you some odd looks for wearing winter gloves indoors, it’s worth the price of some familial shaming to know how to operate a firearm effectively with heavy winter gloves. Furthermore, disposable or battery-powered hand warmers kept in coat pockets go a long way to keeping hands warm. In my opinion, while often seen as a winter survival tool from the elements, these items act as a self-defense survival tool ensuring your hands aren’t numbingly inoperable at the most inopportune of moments.
Dangers of Cold Weather CCW
The elements can kill. However, cold weather concealed carry presents its own dangers. Earlier, I discussed the importance of practicing with gloves to know how to operate your firearm with a heavy barrier between polymer, steel, and you.
For anyone educated on firearms carry, we know firearm holstering is a deliberate process. The speed draw is an important part of concealed carry skills but I’ve never heard a reputable instructor emphasize a speed holster. The reasoning behind this line of thinking is garments and debris can enter the holster and interfere with re-holstering the firearm. At best, the gun won’t go into the holster. At worst, a negligent discharge occurs. With the addition of multiple layers of semi-loose fabric between your fingers and the firearm, the same hazard arises. While your fingers may clear the moving parts of a firearm, the glove may not. Shooting with thick gloves requires alert attentiveness to where the gloves, not just your fingers, are positioned so as not to catch on (or in) a hammer, safety, or ejection port; thus inducing a malfunction.
Another critical consideration with winter CCW is ensuring your firearm performs in colder temperatures. While snow isn’t going to rust your firearm, its liquid counterpart will. Furthermore, salt is a common part of ice prevention and can further degrade a firearm’s readiness. Proper lubrication and maintenance during the winter months is as critical as maintaining a firearm exposed to perspiration during the summer. While on the topic of lubrication, it’s important to know how a firearm oil holds up to freezing temperatures. By no means do you have to test every oil in freezing weather to determine its efficacy. However, it’s worth reading the label and researching the reviews and specifications of your chosen gun lubricant to ensure it performs.
Avoidance is Key
I hate cold weather. There was a time it didn’t bother me but, with the small fortune in metal hardware in my body, I guess it was inevitable. Nonetheless, as many of us have, we’ve learned to minimize and manage our exposure and suffering to the weather around us. We can’t live under perpetually sunny skies and warm weather.
Avoidance is the greatest prevention of a negative outcome with cold weather CCW. After all, the name of the game with personal defense is to recognize and avoid confrontation before it occurs. The same holds true during freezing temperatures. When traveling, prepare for the vehicle breakdown, not the trip, and bring proper attire. Preparation is important but, again, avoidance is the goal. If temperatures are bitterly cold, the trip you don’t take — or put off for another day — may do more than help you avoid a violent confrontation.
