Dry practice is something that many advocate, but few regularly perform. My own dry practice ebbs and flows, ebbing more often than not. I’ve gotten back into the swing of things lately, and it’s brought some concepts to my attention. A few years ago I brought you “One Weird Trick to Improve Your Chances in a Gun Fight”. Today I bring you another weird trick, this one to improve your chances post-incident.
Post-Incident Holstering
We talk a fair bit about how dry practice will improve your odds of success if you get into a violent encounter. The repetitions improve your ability to access the gun and make good hits. The focus is almost always on the lead up to an event, or the shooting itself. While these are absolutely important aspects, I think we fail to see things in their totality. Once the gun comes out, we’re going to have to put it away at some point. Those of us who train or compete with some regularity know that holstering is the most dangerous part of shooting. More people hurt themselves when putting a gun on than in most other parts of the shooting process.
When we perform safe holstering in our dry sessions we’re building up muscle memory of that process, just as we do with the draw, presentation, or any other part of dry practice. This isn’t time to rush things to get to the next sub-second draw or target transition. Continue to be present at you put the gun away, working just as diligently as you do in the “fun” part of practice.
Whether or not shots are fired, post-use of force is not the time to discover your ability to holster safely isn’t what you want it to be. With adrenaline pumping, the potential for injury, inclement weather, and onlookers about, you want as much confidence and capability here as possible. Even in training, a cleaner holstering process will improve safety margins, reduce mental load, and smooth other actions. You can gain by safely and regularly holstering in your dry practice.
Improving Comfort and Stamina
Many people who carry concealed are only able (or willing) to do so for a small part of their daily life. Over the past few years my ability to regularly wear a gun has diminished greatly, as my job involves prohibitions on firearms including physical searches of my person, vehicle, and contents. This means that for more than half of my waking hours, carrying a gun is not an option. Due to this, the time I spend with a gun in my waistband is far less than not. This reduction in carry has had serious consequences for me.
Regularly carrying a gun helps our bodies get used to the feeling of carrying a gun. The extra bulk of a pistol and holster, the sharp edges of sights and magazines, all of these can lead to discomfort over long days of wear. These factors will be more apparent if you haven’t built up stamina for it, just like wearing a new pair of boots or an extra stiff belt. If we’re not able to bring a gun with us to work, then how can we help improve our stamina?
Practice Makes Perfect
Dry practice may not account for much time, but it is some time. Throw your gun and holster on for a few minutes, a few times a week if not daily. Practice sitting, kneeling, bending, and other normal motions. You can work your draw from these positions, or just do your household chores with the gun on. Sure, it’s not the same as being armed for eight hours or more, but it’s better than only being strapped when you go out in public. You may even notice some ways to refine your carry setup when you don’t have the added distractions of public life stealing away your attention.
Build up your stamina to carry to improve comfort, and decrease excuses to forgo the gun when leaving home. Your situational awareness will improve, and your ability to enjoy life will increase as well.
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