Lumbago and the Armed American

Packing with a Bad Back

Written By Will Dabbs, MD

2019

Low back pain will take the edge off your personality in short order. It’s a ubiquitous
human malady — but it doesn’t mean you have to be unarmed!

I hurt my back when I was 27 years old and a soldier. I wish I could tell you it was fast roping into some evil despot’s lair to rescue the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Nope. I was climbing some stairs with a heavy duffel bag on my back. It wasn’t sexy or cool at all.

Now some 26 years later my back still gets sideways about once a year and it’s usually the most innocuous stuff setting it off. I can tote firewood and work my rural farm with impunity. The last time my back really got nuts, however, I was pulling on my socks. It truly sucks being older.

The doctor is in: a “full-size” defensive pistol is always a good prescription
unless back pain rules otherwise.

The Culprit

If I’m not asleep or in the shower, I’m packing a gun. As a gun writer, it’s kind of my job. The villain in this case was an incredibly cool homebuilt 1911 Commander in .45 ACP.

The gun sports a sterile aluminum bobtail frame and a simply superlative set of parts from Stealth Arms. I built the gun using my Ghost Gunner home-milling machine. The end result is compact, lightweight and shoots like a dream. As I made it in my garage, it also does not sport markings. Like I said, truly epic!

I packed the gun for a week in an Alien Gear IWB rig underneath my scrubs at work and felt adequately prepared for anything life might throw at me. After three days, however, I could sense trouble. It started as a little twinge when I moved certain ways and by day four I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep.

Will says a tricked-out GLOCK 43 packed in a Wilderness Tactical Renegade
ankle holster keeps him prickly without offending his back too badly.

Will’s magnificent sterile Commander 1911 .45 ACP was the product of
Stealth Arms and his Ghost Gunner milling machine.

The tiny folding North American Arms .22 Magnum mini-revolver weighs nearly
nothing but is worlds better than empty hands or a big rock!

The Solution

Treating back spasms involves non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications or steroids and possibly skeletal muscle relaxers. The muscle relaxers help me sleep but do little else. Gentle stretches make it better. It usually takes me about three days to get back in the game.

For those three miserable days, I’m still not really interested in wandering about unarmed. My solution is a Wilderness Tactical Renegade ankle rig and my optimized GLOCK 43. So long as I’m wearing long pants this combination is about invisible and doesn’t hurt my back.

The Wilderness Tactical ankle rig features a sheepskin liner to keep it from abrading your skin unduly and a heavy Velcro and elastic mounting system. Another elastic bit straps over the top of the gun to keep it in place despite vigorous exercise. It’s most comfortable over a pair of tall socks. With a little practice, you can forget it’s there and still access the gun quickly.

My ankle carry-gun is a customized GLOCK 43. The G43 is tough to beat when size really matters. A set of Hi-Vis sights from XS and a contouring surface treatment from DSP Laser optimize the chassis.

Another option is good old-fashioned pocket carry. CCW Breakaways makes some superlative dedicated concealed carry trousers with built-in holster pockets. Even more folks make pocket carry holsters for standard pockets, too.

For pocket carry, I reluctantly settle for a .380 ACP — a GLOCK 42 or Colt Mustang are personal favorites. I know this will be decried as heresy but I cannot bring myself to pocket carry with a loaded chamber. I just practice a lot charging the gun on the draw stroke. Castigate me if you must, but I have seen a severed femoral artery before. I’m fairly particular about mine.

There are times when even a .380 pocket gun seems to stress my back unduly. For those situations I pack a folding North American Arms mini-revolver in .22 Magnum. This gun punches deep yet remains all but weightless. The NAA revolver is a gun you can always have on you.

With a little forethought you need not go unarmed just because your back hurts. With rest and the right treatment it should get better. Stay limber and be patient, but remain prickly. The right gear will get you there.

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Lumbago and the Armed American

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