FlexCCarry℠ Solutions:
A Positive Guide to Off-Body Carry
Launch Pad Publications LLC, Oct. 3, 2024
Paperback – 80 pages, 6x9 inches $24.95
Heavily illustrated, color
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJKVXDTY
ISBN-13: 979-8991672405
By Vicki Farnam
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
I read a book about concealed carry this month that is short on superfluous words and fluff and long on specifics. Addressing the contentious topic of off-body gun carry, longtime firearms instructor Vicki Farnam asks, “What is more important? Where a handgun is carried for self defense, or if a handgun is carried for self defense? If a handgun is carried for self defense, can it only be carried on a waistband belt with a holster attached to it? Or, can it also be carried in a dedicated pocket in a FlexCCarry℠ Daily Go Bag with a strap attached to the upper body, above the belt?” Put that way, the answer seems obvious, and I was intrigued to learn more.
That Farnam has the chops to assert these views is indisputable. She has been teaching firearms for over twenty-five years with Defense Training International, Inc. where, in addition to the fundamental defensive firearms skills, tactics and mindset, she contributes an important facet with her studies and instruction about women’s learning and communication styles as regards armed self defense, and more recently, safe every day carry in non-traditional holsters. As she writes in her latest book’s introduction, done correctly, FlexCCarry℠ is “a functional and justifiable addition to the body of knowledge of defensive firearms skills.”
Instead of the oft-vilified “off-body carry” terminology, Farnam employs the term FlexCCarry℠ Solutions, as a more accurate description of “handbags, sling bags, backpacks, tote bags, waist packs, and briefcases with dedicated pockets to hold your handgun.”
Those carry methods accommodate daily gun carry for those with “wardrobe styles, work requirements and environments, physical challenges, and medical issues” into which belt holsters don’t fit. “Who are we firearms instructors who may not have those issues to dictate and demand that someone else use traditional carry to defend themselves?” she challenges. Of considerable poignancy are the obstacles faced by those with “physical, medical, and mobility challenges (e.g., wheelchairs) that can leave a person vulnerable to threats from violent people and prevent traditional methods of carry.”
Farnam refutes common arguments including danger of purse paraphernalia contacting the trigger, purse security and theft, as well as accessibility for drawing speed – all factors used to belittle carry in non-traditional holsters. Resolve those issues through bags with dedicated handgun pockets, VELCRO® on the side of that pocket that’s next to the body and attached to that VELCRO® a holster that covers the trigger guard, she teaches.
Farnam outlines additional features that make up a good daily go bag, including high quality zippers or hardware, sturdy material that doesn’t mold to the outline of the pistol, and a closure that stays shut when the bag is inverted. If your handgun doesn’t fit well in a holster that’s supplied with your bag, replace it with one that fits, she urges, explaining that “re-holstering is one of the most dangerous things we do with handguns.”
The four universal safety rules apply to any gun handling, and for FlexCCarry℠, as with any other situation, require strict application. Of particular concern for those carrying in a daily go bag (DGB), Farnam stresses, is mindful focus on safety “every time 1) you pick up the DGB, 2) take off the DGB and put it down and 3) any circumstance where your hand goes to the master grip on the handgun.”
For safe practice and repetition of safe bag use, buy a replica of your handgun, Farnam continues, recommending Ring’s Blue Guns, plastic molded to the exact shape of a huge variety of firearms (https://www.blueguns.com/). An abundance of colored photos illustrates the steps of drawing and holstering in a variety of daily go bags.
The illustrations, coupled with my own experience, emphasize that the biggest safety concern is keeping the hand stabilizing the carry bag out of the muzzle’s path when drawing the gun out of the dedicated pocket before orienting it toward the threat. In the seven steps of the FlexCCarry℠ draw, Farnam repeatedly emphasizes, “At no time should the muzzle point at the support hand, nor in any other unsafe direction.” Refining that safety procedure during familiarization and practice is a very strong argument for her insistence on using a non-firing replica in the shape of your gun.
Farnam takes care at the end of the instructive chapter to explain that “While it is difficult to discern in these photos, the muzzle is never pointed at the body nor arm. It is actually pointing at the void between them.” The pictures show how larger bags that give access to the dedicated gun pocket via a side zipper provide a wider margin of safety between the stabilizing hand and the muzzle of the gun as it is drawn. The generous number of illustrative photos make this a very useful book.
Some holster bags feature locking zippers or other locks to secure the separate holster pouch, and Farnam stresses that if employing that safety measure, locking and unlocking the compartment when setting down and picking up the bag is an essential part of the routine. She offers a thought-provoking suggestion that a daily go bag might be best dedicated solely to safety supplies like guns, less-lethal options, and first aid supplies. Decide what’s essential and carry only that, she advises.
Farnam closes with advice to take firearms training, then notes that skill development and practice must be on going, so “review and analyze your training to identify what works for you in everyday life or what works for you in that moment of extreme anxiety.” Daily carry entails regular challenges, she advises, and decisions made to address our challenges must come out of a “solid foundation” based on training and practice. “Use your agile and flexible mind to seek the answers to your questions and find the method of carry that works best for you,” she encourages in closing.
Members, if you FlexCCarry℠ (thanks for the new term, Vicki) or have a loved one or associate who would be more consistently armed by using alternative carry methods, I strongly recommend the attitude, instruction and inspiration in Vicki Farnam’s new book FlexCCarry℠ Solutions. In addition to the mindset, safety and techniques she outlines, a generous resources list directs the reader to an array of alternative carry bags to fit the range of situations into which armed citizens go.
Alternative carry modes is not just a women’s issue! Journalist, producer and gun TV personality Michael Bane recently shared his own experiences, favorite techniques, and opinions on his podcast at https://www.michaelbane.tv/the-controversial-concepts-of-off-body-carry/64243/ in reaction to Farnam’s book FlexCCarry℠ Solutions. It is well worth the time to listen to Michael’s voice of experience about this topic, too.