At SHOT Show I tried out a set of 5.11 Tactical’s “covert” dress shirts with the “concealed carry” pockets, and loved ’em. No, I didn’t carry a firearm. Instead of a gun, I had spare contact lenses, backup glasses, second wallet, etc. comfortably and unnoticeably ensconced about my torso each day on the SHOT Show floor. Beats stuffing pants pockets, or wearing web gear, all to hell.
As for weapons, I’m a short guy (5’8″), but even on me either of the new S&W Bodyguard guns are pretty much undetectable in this shirt, and any other handgun as lightweight and small (or smaller) just doesn’t print. The Packing Rat witnessed me storing my 940 J-frame in the shirt while in the privacy of my hotel room and the result was barely noticeable if you looked — and that only because the 940 is steel and weighs about 30 ounces loaded; it pulled the shirt down on that side. If balanced with similar weight in the other pocket it wouldn’t be a problem. I’d think a taller person could even carry a lightweight full-sized pistol in this shirt without detection, as shown in the video below:
(video had to be removed due to its horrible HTML code. I’ll try to fix it and get it up later. It should show up below the fold if you want to try that – Phil)
I’ve learned the hard way now several times that if you see something you like in this life, you’d best get it sooner rather than later, because if you wait, when you finally get around to buying it, it’s gone, and you’re in for years of searching on auction sites and craigslist to fill the void.
Of course 5.11 discontinued the covert dress shirt a couple of weeks ago . Why am I telling you about this now? Because I needed to be sure the batches I ordered from a couple different sources ended up in my hot little hands first. I hadn’t bought a new dress shirt in 20 years and was in the process of donating/tossing all the old ones anyway; I now have sufficient covert dress shirts to fill my wardrobe needs for the next 20 years, at which point I should be retired and into Hawaiian shirts anyway. I’m serious — I like these shirts so much that I’m not wearing anything else for the rest of my professional career.
LA Police Gear has ’em for under $18, quite the savings from the $59 list price. Snicker about “tactical” office wear all you like. I say get ’em while you can; they’re a great product.
Yes I’m an attorney. No, I am not your attorney, and nothing in this post constitutes legal advice or opinion.
Last Fall, I bought a Carhartt fleece-lined denim vest, and it looks great on me, but I soon discovered another advantage: It has inside pockets, big enough to take either my Ruger SP101 .357 5-shooter or my Kel-Tec P-11 9mm compact pistol. The inside denim pockets have a decent-sized patch of Velcro to close them, and that keeps the weapon firmly in the pocket. The weapon goes into the left pocket, and spare ammo/magazine goes in the right, along with flashlight.
There is absolute NO printing of either weapon in either pocket visible from the outside due to the stiff denim backed by thick fleece, and this is NOT the typical “shoot me first” vest, it has a recognizable Carhartt logo on it, and with the bluejeans I wear 90% of the time, it looks just like any other Northwesterner during the cool season. It was on sale for $30 IIRC.
The Pilipinos have a cultural dress shirt, the Barong Tagalog, and I used to have one of those. It also did a marvelous job of concealment, as it was a heavier linen material, nicely embroidered. There are cheaper ones made of nylon cloth, or spendier ones made of silk, but if you get a linen one it will do the job nicely, and in KALI, there are a lot of Pilipinos, so you blend, especially if you’re of short stature.
I like these shirts. I just ordered one. Thanks for the heads-up…
Woohoo! Mine came today! I’m very pleased with it! Thanks again!