Thoughts On Appendix Carry, And Why I Don’t Like It

It’s been somewhat of a phenomenon. Pictures posted on Instagram of concealed carriers carrying in the appendix position. It’s not a new position to carry in, by any means, but it seems to be gaining in popularity.

And I just don’t get it.

I’m sure that I will get some heat from this article, but I still stand behind what I have to say. If anyone can prove me wrong or make a valid point to sway my opinion, I’m all ears.

My biggest problems with Appendix Carry:

You’re pointing your firearm at your crotch

Remember the 4 rules of firearm safety. One of them; Never point your firearm at something you are not willing to destroy.

The firearm barrel, in all cases when carrying appendix, is pointing at some part of your body in a clear line. Whether it’s your crotch or your leg, it doesn’t seem like the best place to store a firearm.

My carry position is around 5 o’clock. We can argue that (almost) every carry position will compromise the rule to some degree, but carrying at the 5 o’clock position will typically just put a bit of butt skin in proximity to the barrel. Even with that, the barrel isn’t pointing directly at my rear end.

Here’s my best argument for this:

We can say that no method of carrying a firearm is 100% adhering to the 4 rules of firearm safety. If you’re carrying in my favorite position, 5 o’clock, you could still be pointing your firearm at the person behind you at the grocery store while you’re bending over to grab something from the shelf. However, appendix carry seems to be pointing at something we aren’t willing to destroy close to 100% of the time that it’s being carried. If that’s not a complete rule-breaker, I don’t know what is.

You’re potentially pointing your firearm at your femoral artery

If you ever hear that one person who says something along the lines of “I don’t shoot to kill so I’ll shoot them in the legs”, you should know that they literally have no idea what they’re talking about. Sure it could be less deadly, but all it takes is for that femoral artery to be hit. If that’s the case, death from bleeding out isn’t far away.

The femoral artery is no joke if it’s compromised, and it’s another reason I don’t quite understand appendix carry.

It’s uncomfortable to sit

This is not across the board, I know, because many people say that they are able to sit comfortably while carrying in the appendix position.

For me, I’ve never had success and have a hard time seeing how so many do. I’ve had numerous appendix carry holsters sent to me for review, and I’ve honestly never had success with a single one. I’ve sent them to other writers so that they could do the reviews. It wasn’t going to happen from me, because I couldn’t give it an honest review.

Additional thoughts

For the positives, I’ll say that it seems convenient to draw from, especially while sitting down. The first thing that I think about is being robbed while out and about, however. I like the idea of reaching for my wallet to give the bad guy, but instead drawing my gun from that same location if an opportunity presents itself. It’s also just a little further away from the bad guy if you’re ever one-on-one, and seems like it would be easier to block a reach going for my back side verses the front. Details, I know, because we never know how things are going to go down.

What seems to be an appendix carry craze just doesn’t do it for me. When we have better and safer options, in my opinion, why are so many deciding on this alternative? What am I not getting?