Folks, the fact of the matter remains that in a self-protection scenario, there are only two sides... the criminal and the victim. Make no mistake, the criminal has no rules governing what they do and they will most certainly not play fairly. Why on Earth would you feel the need to play fair back?
Some people will tell you that there is no need for you to have a hand on a weapon until it's justified to deploy it... Such is just not the case. Now, there is certain levels of justification that may be needed in some jurisdictions for this, but typically, until you actually use the weapon it's just kind of there... and a hand on it, seen or not, may serve as a deterrent. May not, but may.
Let's talk about accessing the weapon in such a way that it is not seen... Covertly.
As a matter of routine, when at conversational distances (i.e. knife range) I typically stand with my left thumb in my pocket... To the untrained eye, it looks like nothing... I do that when talking to people I don't know because I get my preliminary grip on my Spyderco Waved Endura, positioned for an reverse grip edge out draw. Should the conversation go from casual to an altercation of some form, one motion ends the altercation.
Let's look to the gun.
In my video "Covert Draw Primer" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXIcVSlvcYc) you will see a video comparison of obtaining my grip on the pistol while in the appendix position and positioning my hand where a behind the hip holster and Small of The Back Holster would be. This brings the point of how position plays in to how well you can access your weapon, and I'll probably do a photo posting of this showing it again in a bit more detail.
When would you want to use this sneaky trick?
ANY TIME YOU MAY NEED TO USE WHATEVER WEAPON YOU'RE EMPLOYING!
Think about it...
Access is better than half the time of anyone's draw of any weapon...
If you can get your hand on the weapon and prepare for a draw BEFORE you *HAVE* to... Is that not a better solution?
I think it is!
Look at it like this...
The criminal knows when the fight is going to start...
You Don't.
Look at any racing event... In a motocross event, the line has those bars that are raised to prevent an early start. In a running race, the runners have to be on the blocks until the starting gun. In a car race, the pace car leads the pack until the green flag waves.
Everything is fair...
But the reality is, we can't assume that we will just magically KNOW when the THREAT of a violent assault will BECOME a violent assault...
If we start getting the alarm bells, there is nothing in the law (at least here in my jurisdiction) saying we can't attempt to access our weapons while attempting to retreat... All it says is that we can't DEPLOY the weapon until we are in danger of imminent assault that may cause death, great bodily harm, or be a sexual assault... If we're not at home we MUST retreat here... Nothing in that says we can't cut our draw time in half along the way.
What about at home?
Well... I'm gonna tell all of y'all now... Come to my door after dark unexpected and the German Shepherd in the house is going to tell me about it... And I'm going to answer the door in a less than friendly manner...
How many people converse at their door with their arm propped up on the door frame?
I do.
My dad does.
His dad did.
My mom's dad does.
And all but my dad will have something in that hand you don't want them coming out with, myself included.
If I walk out to talk to someone, best believe that "thing you don't want coming out" is with me too...
How can we do this?
Two theories and two separate scenarios...
1.
You're in an area where the alarm bells are going but there is no ACTIVE (i.e. actively trying to kill you) threat.
2.
You're in an area where a threat has been dispatched or is active yet not immediate.
In situation 1... The old police traffic stop standby is your friend... as you approach the weapon is laid behind the thigh.
In situation 2... move the gun to Position Sul and cover it up with something expendable... hats work REALLY well.
What about blades?
Well, the knife is the ultimate covert weapon.
It's silent.
When colored right, it's nearly invisible.
It's small, thereby easy to hide.
It's dangerous at any angle within it's range.
And when used dynamically, it is MUCH more difficult to take away than a firearm.
The behind-the-leg approach works well with a knife, as does opening it up and laying it along the inside of the forearm when in a reverse grip with edge out or in.
I'll probably do a photo post on that as well.
Folks, I got a lot on my plate time wise right now.
Hope this was a good read, and feel free to share it with appropriate credit.
Stay Frosty
Stay In The Fight.
WY6/1*
V/R
-Kenny Smith
Chief Master Instructor
President, Total Force Training Group