CHL for dirt riding ?

How do you guys that CHL carry when riding off road ?

IWB doesn't work too well when geared up and Texas isn't open carry so I'm a little wary of OWB.

I've looked at the Kangaroo and other similar setups, but none seem to be ideal.

Suggestions ?

Full size auto in a waist pack with two spare magazines. Looks like a generic waist pack; not one of those tacticool waist packs.

This one.

I'm wearing it in most of my ride reports shots from the CDT.

Here ya go.

Another option is the Safepacker Concealment Holster from Wilderness Tactical Systems. It's not a fanny pack, but can be easily attached to a belt or pack strap, such as a Camelback strap. It was developed for mountain rescuers who needed a safe and accessible place for a weapon. It's tough and protects the weapon very well, better than most fanny packs would, even ones made for carry. I use mine on the waistbelt of a daypack when hiking.

www.thewilderness.com

I ride hare scrambles and enduro so I visit the ground often, and occasionally nail a tree.

One of my concerns it trying to avoid landing on the gun and breaking a rib (or worse) and still having the gun accessible without adding any bulk to my already bulky protective gear.

I ride with a pressure suit or chest protector, full pads, knee braces etc, so I like the idea of a pack. I'm wondering if a pack would be able to be secured enough to not be all over the place when going uphill or over a jump.

I have carried a concealed weapon since 1977 and rode motorcycle well before that. I NEVER carry on my person while operating a motorcycle. I will secure it on the bike and move it to my person when I get off. I usually used a small "fanny pack" one so small most would think it was too small to carry the 5 shot S&W or later the baby Glock.

My reasoning is this. If I hit pavement I do not want to land on the gun. I even will not have a cell phone on my belt or any bulky items in my pockets for that same reason. Also if I hit hard, my concern is not only landing on the gun, but losing it during the tumble. I have seen MANY holsters fail over the year and do not trust them to survive a crash.

The gun may not be as accessible, but with one hand on the clutch and the other on the brake or throttle... unless you have a third arm... nothing can happen until you unbusy your hands. So for quick access a tank bag might be the solution.

Back story as to why nothing "lumpy". I used to (late 1970s) carry my "stuff" in a back pack. I had a medium sized am/fm radio I took to work with me. A car turning into a driveway suddenly stopped in the street while turning into the driveway for no apparent reason. I barely clipped the bumper and did a 1 1/2 gainer off the bike onto the pavement, landing smack dab on the radio! My injury would have been minor if I had not landed on my "stuff" in the back pack! I learned the hard way!!!!

Motorcycle officers are often bruised or broken from landing on duty belt equipment.

Just something to think about.

And... remember the three rules of motorcycling!

1. Never rude beyond your skill level

2. Everybody falls down

3. EVERYBODY FALLS DOWN!

DasRonin said:

1. Never rude beyond your skill level

Click to expand...

Carrying a weapon helps increase your rude skill level, right?

gocatgo said:

Another option is the Safepacker Concealment Holster from Wilderness Tactical Systems. It's not a fanny pack, but can be easily attached to a belt or pack strap, such as a Camelback strap. It was developed for mountain rescuers who needed a safe and accessible place for a weapon. It's tough and protects the weapon very well, better than most fanny packs would, even ones made for carry. I use mine on the waistbelt of a daypack when hiking.

www.thewilderness.com

Click to expand...

I have several of these and like them, but I don't use them for carry on my person. I do use them for carry in the car or when going somewhere. They only hold one extra clip. I keep the guns in them all the time while they are in the house, in the night stand, etc,...

My concern for carrying while riding is also about landing on the gun. I've had a few get offs where I hit pretty darn hard and landing on something like a gun would have been nasty. I have also had pockets emptied all over the road from sliding and tumbling. So even if I did carry, I would want to make darn sure the gun was VERY secure! If I used a tank bag, I think that would be where I'd put it while riding and then transfer it to my person when off the bike.

Scott, I agree the Safepacker is cumbersome for carrying on your person. I find it works when being very active while hiking since I can attach it to the pack strap. I think if I HAD to land on a weapon the Safepacker would allow the least damage to me and the weapon, though. IWB or high rise OWB under a shirt seems best, but I'm using a fanny pack more this summer.
I have used the Kangaroo and like it for a j frame or Baby Glock, but I can imagine that riding off road with it for any length of time would start to chafe in tender areas!

Must be some wicked special sections on that Hare Scramble to
need to be packing heat, or is it to make sure the timekeepers keep you on
The proper minute. Real pissy armadillos in your area?

Just kidding of course but I was having this conversation today with a coworker who also rides and has a CHL. I just see no need while riding especially off road to carry a gun if I can't ride away from the trouble odds are I will not have time to pull and aim a weapon with any degree of accuracy while riding. If I do manage to pull one I would assume before I could aim it the offending vehicle would have just run me over, I know if someone on a bike pulls a gun on me in traffic the investigating officer will be pulling my dodge off of him to question him.



Before you assume I am anti gun I am not I like them, own a few and was looking to purchase another in the next week or so from a customer that manufacturers handguns. I just don't feel the need to arm myself every time I leave the house.
I travel across the state for a living seeing factories so I imagine my travel time is rather high compared to a lot of people. I average 4000 miles per month of travel around the state and most MFG facilities I travel to are in parts of town most people who don't specifically need to be will not go and I never feel threatened.

If I was to carry on the bike it would be packed away in luggage to have as evening protection of myself or the bike in a strange motel parking lot if I was forced to stay somewhere I did not feel comfortable

I carry on the bike. ON the FJR it's in a tank bag on the DR350 it goes in my tail bag as I don't have a tank bag on that.

I'm not too worried about the armadillos... I think even I am faster than they are (sometimes).

I don't anticipate any problems when racing, but, to race, you have to practice. We practice often, which means riding some of the same terrain (or similar) when we might be the only one(s) riding there on any given day.

What brought this to mind is a friend of mine was riding offroad up in Oklahoma last fall. Like most of the folks I've met that ride, if you see someone broke down in the middle of nowhere, you try to stop and see if everyone is OK and if you might have a spare they need to get going again.

My friend rolled up on a couple of guys sitting on the ground next to a clapped out quad and stopped to see if he could lend a hand. One of them produced a knife, and they rode off, one on the quad, the other on his bike and left him stranded out in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not too keen on the idea of letting a couple of bad apples be the cause of my not trying to help someone who needs it if I can, so, the CHL question came to mind.

caster said:

I'm not too worried about the armadillos... I think even I am faster than they are (sometimes).

I don't anticipate any problems when racing, but, to race, you have to practice. We practice often, which means riding some of the same terrain (or similar) when we might be the only one(s) riding there on any given day.

What brought this to mind is a friend of mine was riding offroad up in Oklahoma last fall. Like most of the folks I've met that ride, if you see someone broke down in the middle of nowhere, you try to stop and see if everyone is OK and if you might have a spare they need to get going again.

My friend rolled up on a couple of guys sitting on the ground next to a clapped out quad and stopped to see if he could lend a hand. One of them produced a knife, and they rode off, one on the quad, the other on his bike and left him
stranded out in the middle of nowhere.




I'm not too keen on the idea of letting a couple of bad apples be the cause of
my not trying to help someone who needs it if I can, so, the CHL question
came to mind.

Click to expand...

After that I can completely understand the concern, kind of puts it back to needing to have it on your person as if it was packed on the bike good chance the get your bike and weapon.

Did he ever get any of his gear back or bike??
The closest I have come to a gun battle,On my KLR I had a rancher pull a
deer rifle on me on a dirt county road, I had just pulled my baby Glock
off my side and stuck it in the tank bag,,,He was upset because of the large ruts in the road, (oil field traffic)
No sir , Yes sir , I am leaving,, No shots were fired,,,,
Mike

caster said:

I'm not too worried about the armadillos... I think even I am faster than they are (sometimes).

I don't anticipate any problems when racing, but, to race, you have to practice. We practice often, which means riding some of the same terrain (or similar) when we might be the only one(s) riding there on any given day.

What brought this to mind is a friend of mine was riding offroad up in Oklahoma last fall. Like most of the folks I've met that ride, if you see someone broke down in the middle of nowhere, you try to stop and see if everyone is OK and if you might have a spare they need to get going again.

My friend rolled up on a couple of guys sitting on the ground next to a clapped out quad and stopped to see if he could lend a hand. One of them produced a knife, and they rode off, one on the quad, the other on his bike and left him stranded out in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not too keen on the idea of letting a couple of bad apples be the cause of my not trying to help someone who needs it if I can, so, the CHL question came to mind.

Click to expand...

OK, the Trophy 900 is not a dirt bike. However, I wanted to share this photo as it's sorta, in a way, kinda off topic, kind of humorous but still slightly connected to the CHL topic. Slightly...

Queen Wilhelmina Lodge parking lot adjacent the Talimena Skyway early this summer.

After snapping this digi shot, I noticed the shiny brass, pay-per-view telescope looks much like an old water-cooled .30cal machine gun mounted to the rack on the Trophy. Pillion operated, it could discourage tailgaters.

I have a CHL as does my wife. My small-frame semi-auto goes in a left side pocket while riding. Right side walking.

Monte

When riding back country, I keep a .38 wheel gun in the tail or tank bag. Don't figure I'm going to need to shoot on the fly, doubt I could get a gloved finger in the guard anyway. The .38 is easy to clean from trail dust.

That photo turned out cool, That would stop the tailgaters,
Any one here tried putting there CHG, in the side pocket of a ST 1300 ??
The gun is so hot you can not handle it , I am not sure how much heat the shells can handle ???
Mike

MontMil said:

OK, the Trophy 900 is not a dirt bike. However, I wanted to share this photo as it's sorta, in a way, kinda off topic, kind of humorous but still slightly connected to the CHL topic. Slightly...

Queen Wilhelmina Lodge parking lot adjacent the Talimena Skyway early this summer.

After snapping this digi shot, I noticed the shiny brass, pay-per-view telescope looks much like an old water-cooled .30cal machine gun mounted to the rack on the Trophy. Pillion operated, it could discourage tailgaters.

I have a CHL as does my wife. My small-frame semi-auto goes in a left side pocket while riding. Right side walking.

Monte

Click to expand...

budzrex said:

Must be some wicked special sections on that Hare Scramble to
need to be packing heat, or is it to make sure the timekeepers keep you on
The proper minute. Real pissy armadillos in your area?

Just kidding of course but I was having this conversation today with a coworker who also rides and has a CHL. I just see no need while riding especially off road to carry a gun if I can't ride away from the trouble odds are I will not have time to pull and aim a weapon with any degree of accuracy while riding. If I do manage to pull one I would assume before I could aim it the offending vehicle would have just run me over, I know if someone on a bike pulls a gun on me in traffic the investigating officer will be pulling my dodge off of him to question him.



Before you assume I am anti gun I am not I like them, own a few and was looking to purchase another in the next week or so from a customer that manufacturers handguns. I just don't feel the need to arm myself every time I leave the house.
I travel across the state for a living seeing factories so I imagine my travel time is rather high compared to a lot of people. I average 4000 miles per month of travel around the state and most MFG facilities I travel to are in parts of town most people who don't specifically need to be will not go and I never feel threatened.

If I was to carry on the bike it would be packed away in luggage to have as evening protection of myself or the bike in a strange motel parking lot if I was forced to stay somewhere I did not feel comfortable

Click to expand...

As the saying goes: "You never need one until you really need one." Better to have it and never need it than otherwise.

I constantly battle this comfortable carry question. In Texas heat it is a **** to conceal and I tend to be conscious about printing or the weapon showing because of a shirt riding up etc. I wish we could just open carry, but we are fortunate to at least be able to carry legally at all. For now.

My CHL weapon of choice in the Texas backcountry is a blackpowder flintlock pistol.

Yes, it is a pain to load and takes some time, but if I miss, the cloud of smoke helps keep the 'skeeters away.

Some places in Texas and elsewhere firearms can be very helpful in many situations. While I'm not to worried about bears, or most animals, some wild hogs and javelina can get very aggressive and snakes (poisonous only of course and only if I'm stuck in the area) are best dealt with from a distance in my mind. I love the flexibility of the S&W Governor and the Taurus precursors. I've got a concealed carry pouch from Tactical Tailor that I like and use a lot. You can attach it to your belt or any strap anywhere or any molle gear. Depending on where and what I'm doing I've got some maxpedition bags that work great. Survival Sheath makes a chest rig that's interesting, a bit tactical for me, but with comm pocket, place for flashlight, and other gear it does look useful. As to landing on the gun. While it wont be fun it's not like it would be the first time. It may bruise but that's the worst that will happen. Since I'm pretty ATGATT outside the armor is unlikely to be an issue and with good gear the firearm should be secure.

I use a small pouch I took from my Military tactile pile, it's solid black, Velcro top opening, stiffeners in the rim of the pouch, it makes an nice easy to access opening.
Pretty much center of my upper chest attached to the front of my chest protector..
No worries on crashing, as it’s on the outside of the protector, easy to reach strong side hand or weak.
Pouched is sized to keep the gun in place, it cannot rotate or flop around, making draw quick and consistent.

caster said:

I'm not too worried about the armadillos... I think even I am faster than they are (sometimes).

I don't anticipate any problems when racing, but, to race, you have to practice. We practice often, which means riding some of the same terrain (or similar) when we might be the only one(s) riding there on any given day.

What brought this to mind is a friend of mine was riding offroad up in Oklahoma last fall. Like most of the folks I've met that ride, if you see someone broke down in the middle of nowhere, you try to stop and see if everyone is OK and if you might have a spare they need to get going again.

My friend rolled up on a couple of guys sitting on the ground next to a clapped out quad and stopped to see if he could lend a hand. One of them produced a knife, and they rode off, one on the quad, the other on his bike and left him stranded out in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not too keen on the idea of letting a couple of bad apples be the cause of my not trying to help someone who needs it if I can, so, the CHL question came to mind.

Click to expand...

another good reason not to ride alone