Not Everything is Personal Preference
Some gear is both objectively and measurably BETTER than others. Are some things personal preference? Abbbbsolutely! Are some of us going to hold onto the personal preference crutch as long as we shall live? 110%. Is it wise to let go of that? Yulp.
One of the quickest and easiest ways for us to start making poor choices with our gear is to be emotional about it. Calling everything a “personal preference” or disregarding objective truth about a product or a principle in the name of “well it works for me” is both unwise and dangerous. I get it! I use to justify my poor and even dangerous gear choices the exact same way, until I realized that I was only making things more difficult for myself.
Let’s talk about this:
Some gear is objectively and measurably better than others. For instance: a belly band vs a kydex holster IWB. Some things the belly band DOES NOT do on its own: Tuck the grip of the gun in, adequately cover trigger, allow for single handed reholstering, and lastly they do not have proper retention. A kydex holster does all of the things a belly band does not, and comfort too. I want us to be aware that we’re making compromises that aren’t benefitting ourselves. Adding a kydex trigger guard is much better in the realm of safety, but the belly band still doesn’t do any of the other things mentioned. I’m not condemning anyone for carrying this way, nor am I encouraging anyone to give up on carrying altogether, I’m simply pointing out that there are objectively better options and by carrying this way we are only making compromises. I am not a part of the club that touts “at least she has a gun.”
Other examples of gear/principles that are objectively/measurably better: Purse Carry vs On Body, Soft Trigger Coverage vs Hard Trigger Coverage, Small of Back Carry vs Appendix Carry, FOMI clip vs DCC clip.
Some of these may offend us, but my goal is to get us to ask ourselves, “why does this cause an emotional response in me?” The above examples are there to encourage concealment/safety, which both ONLY benefit you. There is no malevolent intend to encouraging us towards measurably better practices, so again, why is this causing an emotional response?