So I normally carry a j frame snub out and about my neck of the woods

Heading to vacation soon to some beach fronts and walks into the local town for food. Mostly swimsuits and t shirts for the week.

I was unable to bring my j frame 60 due to travel through MA and NJ not going to risk it plus too heavy for beach attire

But I see more beach trips farther south in the future so I can avoid those states

I’m thinking an LCP would make a dandy vacation gun
Small enough not to sag in your swim trunks or beach wear
Decent power and very easy to conceal

Anyone else have a small gun they would use for very casual vacations?

I had an original LCP and sold it foolishly but bought another one yesterday just for vacation at the beach starting tomorrow. Test fired it today and we’re ready to travel. Actually you won’t find me in swim trunks but it’s perfect for pocket carry or a small belt pouch. They’re fine little lightweight guns and pretty accurate. Excellent choice. I think it’ll become my everyday carry for a while, at least in the summer.

I have 2 LCP Maxes and love them.
Also have 2 Taurus PT-22’s. I carry one of them daily.
Pocket carry in pocket holster only.
I don’t do beaches or swimming trunks.

I carry a Ruger LCP in a Desantis Nemesis Pocket Holster everywhere I go, and I mean "everywhere". It rides in my pocket at all times, even when I'm at home because it's just so lightweight that it's literally easier to carry it with me than it is to leave it behind.



Get one and carry it with confidence, they make them in tons of different configurations, including the new double-stack LCP MAX which holds up to 13 rounds with the extended magazine.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

i won't sacrifice capability for concealability. instead i carry an m&p 2.0 3.6 inch compact in a tote bag if i'm at the beach or in a waist pouch if i'm being a tourist in the city. i won't go to any location where i cannot carry.

If you’re not going in the water, I’d wear cargo shorts instead of a swimsuit. Then the J frame can come along.

why not a J frame in those two states but an LCP is ok? I would go with a belly band and something larger with more power like a shield or a Sig 365. Not a fan of mouse guns. Each to their own. Safe travels.

I spend four months of the winter in Florida. I never go in the water so I wear Cargo Shorts and T-Shirts. I always carry a J-Frame in my pocket and various other handguns in the waist. I drive straight from Ohio to South Florida. My Permits are good all the way. I would drive around a State I couldn’t carry in and I have.

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Two Handguns every day

LCP will be good I have & Once Carried a Original LCP EZ to Carry (Pocket Holster) Cons Snappy Recoil & Tiny Sights When I need a small pocket gun it's A Glock 42 not a whole lot bigger vs the LCP way easier to shoot well far superior sights (Night Sights on mine)

Glock 42 in a pocket holster.

Off body carry is never recommended.

I think the LCP would be ideal. I used one for years when I felt a j frame was just a bit too large. I sold it after 380 ammo started going through the roof, but often wish I'd have kept it. An NAA 22 mag might be another option, but I find the LCP a lot easier to shoot quickly and more accurately.

I may not recall correctly but I seem to remember the recoil spring on my original LCP was a single spring. My new LCP has a double spring, one inside the other. Am I imagining that the older original LCP had only a single spring? The new one is more like my 9mm Shield 2.0.

Had one of the early LCP's, it was very small and easily pocket carried but didnt like the long trigger pull with no second strike capability so traded it off.
I keep thinking about trying one of the new ones.

I vacation in the mountains of Colorado and Utah. A Glock 20 is my vacation gun.

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God Bless America

I carry an LC9S. Southwest Florida, draw string shorts/swim trunks and t shirt.

These air weights in 32 H&R or 38spl

Attached Images

air weight 32 mags.jpg (79.4 KB, 509 views)

Mired in the 20th century ..... a Colt Mustang Pocketlite and a S&W 337PD....both about 12oz's

LCP is great choice for your application…… my question is , what’s with all you guys who don’t go in the water???????

A Kimber Micro is a my beach gun. It’s small, lightweight, accurate for the type and very reliable.

I can’t say that about the LCP.



The RIA Baby Rock above it would be my budget choice. A bit heavier but the 3.8” barrel is nice and it’s also accurate and reliable.

THIS is the reason why...I took this photo from the boardwalk.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Indulging in a little philosophy (again).

I would think about having both a “destination” (a safe beach area) and a “traveling” (where you have to pass through to get there) gun. It doesn’t mean carrying two but the threat levels may be vastly different or unpredictable.

My wife and son did a medium distance road trip years back and stopped for gas when they had to. A local police officer actually pulled up to her and said, “ma’am, I don’t think you want to stop here”. Food for thought.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Carefully plan your road trips and destinations. The highest vulnerability will be when stopping for fuel food and restroom. Be alert don't linger, use drive up windows as much as possible. Keep doors locked and windows up. Check the reviews of hotels/motels for crime issues. Limit your sightseeing to the tourist areas that have private security and a police presence. Don't be a target leave the wads of cash expensive watches jewelry handbags clothing at home, be as inconspicuous as possible, if you have the option drive something other than a high priced luxury vehicle. When stopping for traffic lights leave plenty of room to maneuver. Don't hesitate to run a red light if in danger, if a cop stops you it will be your lucky day.

The Ocean is a cesspool. I would never go in that filthy germ ridden water. For one thing where do you think all the cruise ships and pleasure boats with toilets dump. They claim they’re allowed to dump 3 to 7 miles out but, i’ve witnessed different.

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Two Handguns every day

If you plan on going in the water either ocean/lake/pool leave the firearm secured in a safe in the hotel/motel room, not in a bag next to your lounge chair. Clothing and activities should influence where and when it's appropriate to carry a firearm.

I tent camp. It's nice to have electricity. But if you tent camp in the RV spots, watch out that the last person didn't dump their sewage on the ground. It happens more often than you'd think.
They like to hose the sewage into the water, too.

I avoid sun and surf. Sun is bad for you and there are THINGS in the water.....

If I'm traveling where it's legal to carry I'm probably taking my M649 with me because I can conceal it virtually everywhere. Because I won't be wearing a bathing suit the pockets of cargo shorts will handle the J frame. If I really want a tiny gun then I'll just drag out my Beretta 950BS and survive on .25 ACP. Hopefully.

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Come and take it!!

I bought a Springfield Hellcat specifically for vacations. It's thin and relatively light, I don't swim.

It has the capacity, 11+1 or 13+1. Plus, more importantly it has a standard rail, though short, to accommodate a light.

I feel that's a necessity for staying in motel rooms these days. It hides pretty well in a Crossbreed holster.

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Loyalty Above All.. but Honor

Lots of THINGS in the water:



A pistol won't save you.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Small, light, accurate, reliable……. Which one is the LCP not???
They seem to get great reviews from everyone. I’ve handled and shot 2 of them. I liked them.

It’s a matter of degree.

I’ve been a diver since 1985 and a technical diver since 1995, although I switched almost exclusively to cave diving in 2007-08. I still do the occasional pretty fish reef dive.

Over those years and somewhere north of 5000 dives, the only problem I ever had with sharks was on a wreck dive off the east coast of Florida in 230’ of water Deerfield Beach.

We were in the Gulf Stream and doing drifting decompression with about 45 minutes of decompression left. We were at our deco stops around 70’ when we encountered a large number of very aggressive Caribbean Reef sharks. It was very unusual behavior and they were continually swimming in and trying to bump us. We went back to back, vertical in the water and used our 40 cu ft O2 bottles to whack them in the nose when they came in close. It was a long 45 minutes.

When we surfaced, the boat captain apologized as there was a boat a quarter mile or so up current of our dive flag/ascent line chumming for sharks and he could not get the <insert expletive>s to stop.

Apologetic as he was he declined to facilitate our suggestion that we board their boat and thrown the <insert expletive>s over board.

——-

In NC wreck diving seeing large numbers of Sand Tiger sharks on various wrecks is one of the big selling points. They’ll often be inside large balls of baitfish as the sharks keep the medium size predators that prey on the baitfish at bay. Consequently on a really good dive you’ll have bait balls that engulf you and in the middle of it a sand tiger will swim by you maybe a foot away.

On a couple occasions I’ve had that happen only to notice the “sand tiger” didn’t have the snaggle tooth look of a sand tiger and was instead on one occasion a Sand Bar shark and on another a Bull Shark. That last one was spooky as Bull Sharks have been known to attack people.

Occasionally divers will see Tiger Sharks and Great Whites in deep water off NC, but in the open ocean they are not really a threat.

The only time I encountered anything close to an aggressive shark while diving in NC waters was when I was baby sitting a fairly new diver on a wreck. He forgot or ignored the pre dive brief and started swimming off in the sand away from the wreck, so I quickly tied a reel to the wreck and started swimming after him. When I caught up to him I turned him around to follow the line back, and we were face to face with three large sand tigers intent on taking our catch away from us. The #36 line of the reel looked just like the line on a speargun and they had habituated to spear fishing divers and associated the line with food. But since we don’t have any fish they just looked confused and left us alone.

My wife and I will fly down the beach now and then in our Citabria and spot sharks along the beach. There are a lot more than you’d think. Most are sand tigers and are pretty harmless, even though they’ll get up to 10-12’ in length. However, Bull sharks will hang out in the cloudy water of the sounds and close in to the beach, and they are responsible for the rare attacks that do occur. Great Whites will also come in shore on rare occasions but “Jaws” stoked fears aside, the Bull sharks are more likely to attack.

But even when they do it’s usually a mistaken identity thing, or just a shark taking a small nip to see if you are suitable prey. It’s usually one bite and gone - but even a mid sized Bull shark or Great white can do a lot of damage in that little taste test.

Still, the biggest risk going to the beach is the drive to and from the beach. Beach traffic is far more dangerous than anything in the water.

What area do u cave dive? Are there areas on Carolinas coast? Not much scares me but I’m not sure I’d want to go into an underwater cave. ��

Something plastic.......Don't want lose/have confisicated for using, something nice on vacation

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S&W Accumulator

Nobody wants to get shot with a mouse gun either.

For me, cave diving or diving in and around the concrete tunnels at the bottom of hydro-electric dams would be the sort of things true nightmares are made of.

I’m a fan of the Glock 43 for its slimness and light weight.

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Some Might Say.

There is excellent cave diving in North Florida and the Florida pan handle. We also cave dive in the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico.

There is some sump diving in western NC (a flooded section of a cave you have to get to un-flooded portion of the cave) as well as in VA and PA. There are also flooded caves in Missouri and at least one small, tight cave in Michigan.

I started cave diving with Cavern and Intro to Cave diving courses to improve my line skills for wreck diving. However, I found I liked it a lot more than wreck diving. No boat ride, no bad weather, no cancelled trips, no unstable wrecks ready to collapse, no surfacing to find the dive boat had to cut the line to avoid getting run down by a ship, no sharks, etc (although we see the occasional alligator and water moccasin).

Caves are comparatively stable and what you see is what you get. I’m only aware of one collapse that occurred with divers present and 4 of the 5 of them survived.

My wife and I switched to side mount diving in smaller passages about 10 years ago and switched to side mount closed circuit rebreathers about 6 years ago. It took us about 600 cave dives to get there and frankly I’d have totally freaked out when I was new to cave diving in places that I find very relaxing today.

On the one hand, for a diver with no formal cave training there is no faster or more efficient way to kill yourself than attempting a cave dive. You’ll have an hour or so to contemplate how truly screwed you are before you drown. Getting into a cave is easy. The training is all about how to not screw things up going in, and worst case, getting back out if you do.

On the other hand, for a well trained, properly equipped, experienced, disciplined cave diver diving within the limits of his/her training and ability, it’s one of the safest forms of diving. It rewards training, thorough planning, good judgement and accurate self assessment of your ability.

Here are a couple stills from a video taken by a cave diver I was mentoring. They were taken on the way out from a not to aggressive dive to about 3,000’ back in large passage in a pretty touristy cave.

There’s a:
- side mount closed circuit rebreather on my right side, (the metal mesh cylinder with a black circle at the base);

- an aluminum 3000 psi 13 cu ft O2 bottle above the rebreather;

- an aluminum 3000 psi 72 cu ft “stage” low on my right side with extra bailout gas for an emergency exit if the rebreather fails in a manner that requires me to get off it, and it also provides a redundant source of diluent if I lose access to the primary “dil-out” tank; and

- a low pressure 2640 psi steel 85 cu ft diluent and bailout (“dil-out”) tank on my left side (cave filled to 3600 psi and 116 cu ft).

The O2 in the 13 cu ft tank replaces the O2 I breathe from the rebreather and is sufficient for about 6 hours at normal workloads.

The diluent in the dil-out tank and the stage is 30% oxygen / 70% nitrogen (on this dive to about 100’ depth). It lets me manage and maintain the volume of the closed circuit loop as I change depth and lets me maintain an oxygen partial pressure of 1.2 during the dive. That compares to a partial pressure of .21 when breathing normal air at the surface. A PPO2 of 1.2 is enough to minimize decompression, but not enough to cause oxygen toxicity.

The dil-out tank also provides my primary bailout gas if I have to get off the rebreather. Between roughly 100 cu ft available in it and roughly 70 cu ft in the stage it’s about 170 cu ft of reserve gas in total. At a depth of 100’ breathing about 2.6 cu ft per minute at 100’ depth and swimming about 50’ per minute it’s enough gas for 65 minutes and 3,300 ft of distance. With the flow rate going out in this cave however we are moving about 70’ per minute, so it’s enough for about 4,500 ft.

If I can’t carry a J Frame it’s my old LCP. Hundreds of rounds of FMJ & HP absent a single malfunction & combat accurate out to 10 yards.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Check my avatar. That's on a NC pier. Larry

My 342PD gets the nod for such scenarios.

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213th FBINA

Taurus TCP 38. 380 acp Hammer type semi double action, 11 oz, has never failed me other than the magazine can become unclipped. Cheap too.

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

I rarely change platforms and carry modes. Same thing, same place, pretty much without fail.

Vacation? Meh. Putting aside that I have 10-ish hours of medical stuff nightly and transporting the machine and supplies would be a pain, I am very unlikely to spend any discretionary money to go places where I have to put up with people. That's not a vacation. That's hell.

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NHI, 10-8.

Are you sitting on a yoga ball on the NC pier? I know yoga balls are dangerous, but are they aggressive?

Sorry if your avatar is something else. I can't tell. I opened it in a new window and zoomed to 500%, but its just blurry.

A yoga ball with gills.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

A tourist asked me if that was a man eater shark. I told him it was a vegetarian and I used a head of cabbage for bait. Larry

and sharp teeth Larry

At 75 my swim suit days are long gone but I do carry my old model LCP as needed. I’ve had it for years and never a single malfunction w/hundreds of FMJ & HP self defense ammo.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I just returned from a week-long beach vacation. Kel-Tec P32 was unobtrusive and never a bother. Ruger LCP would be the same.

I've been at the beach since last Thur. and my Cent. is working just as good here as it does at home. I'm planning on it getting me home in a few days. I do have a Sig P220 as a BUG. Larry

Ahhh yes...just another quiet relaxing vacation...

Pete99004

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Don't tread on me