I’ve gotten some good range time and a ton of carry time with the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Bag. In that time not only have I gotten the ability to test the bag, but to truly test the idea of off-body concealed carry. The Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Bag is a simple sling bag that houses a number of surprises.
Build Quality
The bag has proven to be quite well-built and well designed. It’s also low profile, which is an important consideration when carrying a gun bag. You don’t want the bag to look too tactical, and give away it’s purpose. The Tactical Tailor concealed carry bag looks sporty like something you’d buy at REI, not at a gun store.
The Concealed carry bag is very well-built. It’s quite high quality from the elastic to the padding on the strap and back of the pack. The zippers have given me zero issues, even when the bag is dirty and wet. The three straps are adjustable for people of all sizes. I’m a big, 6’4, 250-pound dude and it adjusts for me perfectly. The same goes for my 130-pound 5’9 wife.
The little bag has a surprising amount of room in it and is not just a bag designed for concealed carry. Overall, it’s just a compact and useful everyday carry bag. I was capable of fitting most goods I’d need for the day outside of a firearm. This includes my mini laptop, my phone and computer charger, a fixed blade knife, bug spray, extra magazines, a firearm, a bottle of water, sunscreen, and other gear depending on the situation. The hook and loop space make it possible to fit a variety of goods within the bag in an organized manner.
The padding on the back of the pack is very, very comfortable and protects you from the heavier, more uncomfortably designed pieces of gear in your pack. This is invaluable because the firearm pouch is located in the very rear of the pouch, and without it, the gun in the pack would dig into your back.
Concealed Carrying with the Tactical Tailor Concealed Carry Bag
I generally advise against off-body concealed carry. Not because I’m some tactical guru who believes my way is the best way, but because it is difficult. Off body concealed carry is often derided for a variety of reasons, most importantly the safety aspect.
Off body concealed carry can be just as safe as any other method of carry, as long as you treat it like every other form of concealed carry. When carrying off-body you have to ask yourself would you ever set your gun and holster in your shopping cart and walk away? Even just a few feet.
If you wouldn’t do that with a gun and holster, then you shouldn’t do it with a concealed carry bag. When I carried the Tactical Tailor concealed carry sling bag I treated it like a gun and holster. It stayed on my back, or directly in my control at all times. If it came off my back I set it in my lap or locked it away safely in my car.
I still prefer on body carry, specifically, strong side OWB carry. However, there is a number of situations where of body carry is the most effective means of carry.
Running, Hiking and exercising
When I run or when I hike I don’t wear a gun on my waist. It simply doesn’t work with the way I run or hike. When I run I don’t wear a belt and wear lightweight basketball shorts. The Tactical Tailor pack allows me to carry a gun in an effective manner that’s also comfortable and safe.
When I hike I tend to prefer a larger handgun just in case I need to deal with four-legged predators. Hiking with a concealed weapon can be quite uncomfortable due to the nature of moving over rough terrain, add in the fact the weapon is often a full-sized one it gets even worse. Putting the gun in a pack is an easy and comfortable option since I carrying a bag anyway.
General exercise is another great reason to carry off body. Again I like loose, comfortable clothes that aren’t great for concealed carry. Inside the gym, I still want my gun on me. The Tactical Tailor Concealed carry bag is easy to cinch down and tighten up to keep it from jumping up and down as you work out.
The only time it gets in the way is when doing bench work, and even then it can be spun around across your stomach and out-of-the-way. In this role, the bag is great for carrying general gym junk. A water bottle, Tylenol for the knees, my phone, wallet, headphones, my sweat rag, and car keys.
Carry Options
This bag has a universal band holster that fits a wide variety of firearms. This includes automatics from the size of the CZ P09, to the single stack Walther PPS, or my favorite pack gun, the SW99 Compact. I found automatics work great with the band holster.
Revolvers, on the other hand, were easy to secure, but difficult to draw and present. I found it much slower, and I had to jerk the weapon several times to free it. Automatics are the better option for the Tactical Tailor Concealed carry bag.
Live Fire
I trained both live fire and dry fire with this pack pretty frequently while testing. More dry fire than anything live, but about 200 rounds through 4 different guns were the live fire portion. It certainly takes practice and technique to do any kind of rapid draw from the pack.
I found the best method was to unclip the left lower strap, while at the same time grabbing the carry handle and pulling the pack over my back and onto my chest. From here the third zipper is pulled open and the weapon drawn.
This means you have to orient the weapon correctly in the pack to ensure you can draw it with your dominant hand. This takes time, but once you learn how to do it you become proficient quickly.
Magazine Changes
This can also be tricky, while trying to keep my eyes on target during a mag change I constantly opened the wrong pouch. To fix this I moved the middle pouch zippers to the off side of the pack when it was across my chest.
I also had to orient the magazines like the handgun so I could properly pull them from the elastic bands. The good news is that the bag acts as a drop pouch when changing magazines. It was easy to just drop them back in the pack.
Carry Options
Even if you don’t carry off body and don’t desire too, the pack is great regardless of how you carry. It allows you to easily carry extra magazines in your pack, as well as just general everyday carry gear. The Tactical Tailor Concealed carry bag is exactly what you expect from Tactical Tailor. A high quality, well thought piece of gear that is flexible and adaptable to a variety of different roles.
