Gear For Non-Permissive Environments

There are times in our lives when the need to be discreet trumps the need for firepower. For instance, I worked in an office environment for ten years and managed to stay armed and ready the entire time. By paying close attention to the rules of your workplace and with a little forethought, it’s not that hard to be ready for whatever life throws at you when you’re at your job.

First off, let’s make one thing clear: Most of what I’m about to talk about is for situations when carrying defensive gear is legally permissible but socially awkward. If you work where it is against the law to have a “weapon” on you, like a government office or a school, don’t carry a weapon. Period, full stop. You can’t enjoy ANY of your gun rights if you have a felony conviction for carrying in an impermissible location, so just don’t do it. Ever. Also, these are my experiences, not yours. This is just me talking about what has worked in the past, and not suggestions for you. 

However, just because I can’t carry a, um, weapon in those sorts of places doesn’t leave me completely helpless. Let’s take a look at the gear options for when it’s best to fade into the background, starting with places where “weapons” are banned. 

Gear For Legal And Social Restricted Areas

These are places like behind the lines at TSA, or a school, or a government building, places where having even a knife would bring down bad, bad things upon your head. I travel often, and I hate the idea of being defenseless once I’m done with the metal detectors. This sort of gear is as innocuous as it comes and can go almost anywhere. 

A “Tactical” Pen

Can they be an effective self-defense tool? Yes. Aim for joints and pressure points, and forget pretty much everything you see in the movies. I hate most tactical pens out there as they are about as subtle as a hand grenade. The goal here is to be low-key and fly under the radar, so why carry something that has a glass cutter and M-Lok slots and is festooned with the logo from your favorite gun company?

Rather than rely on some 1-inch thick titanium monstrosity, I carry a simple, slim aluminum-bodied pen with me that looks, like, well, a pen, and can go places where a heavy-duty über-tactical pen just cannot go.

A Flashlight

I started carrying a “tactical” flashlight with the O.G. AA MagLite circa 1989, and I had one with me from Ecuador to Edmonton. Since then, the whopping six (count ‘em! SIX!) lumens of the xenon-bulb inside the Maglite have been replaced with this light from NiteCore. It combines a compact size (it’s about the same size as my AAA Streamlight), up to 800 lumens and a rechargeable Li-Ion battery to create an enormously useful everyday carry light.

First Aid Gear

Trauma shears are TSA-compatible, and pretty much all emergency medical gear outside of scalpels and the like is okay too. I carry a kit based on this setup from the late, great Paul Gomez, and it goes with me wherever I go with no issues. In addition to this, there is this neat setup from Sunshine State Safety which is about the same size and shape as a spare pistol magazine when used with a Snakestaff tourniquet.

A Coin Purse

This is a coin purse. It is to be used to carry spare change on your waistline, where it can be quickly unsnapped and carried in your hand for times when it’s nice to have something heavy and impactful with you. It is a coin purse. It is not an impact weapon. Got it? Okay, let’s move on. 😀 

Gear For Legally Permissible, Socially Restricted Areas

In Florida, a “No Guns Allowed” sign does not carry the weight of law. Think of it as “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” sign: If you break the rules, the staff can ask you to leave, and if you don’t, that’s trespassing. However, if you do this while carrying a gun, that’s armed trespassing, and that’s a very, very bad thing. And do I need to tell you that is not legal advice and you should do your own research on this? Yes, I do, so do that.

That being said, let’s take a look at some options for when you need to keep things off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush. 

Pocket Carry

I am a huge fan of this option for the times when discretion is most important. DeSantis is my usual choice for pocket holsters, but ESS has the new Mainstay line of holsters that is available for guns that are outside what’s normally considered usual for pocket carry.

Another carry option that is easy to use and very unassuming is the ABDO portable safe, which is very often mistaken for a heavy-duty waterproof smartphone case. Open it up, though, and you’ll see it can hold a small .380 or .32 semi-automatic pistol and either a spare magazine or a very small blade. 

Pepper Spray

Having an option between harsh words and “BANG!” is absolutely vital. Pepper spray is legal pretty much everywhere in the U.S. and is a very common option for less-lethal self defense. There are some places where it’s not allowed (most theme parks, for example), so do your research before carrying along with you.

Blades

I love CRKT knives for the value they offer, and their CEO Flipper is my current everyday carry. It’s easy to carry, easy to use but doesn’t look like something I’d use to gut a warthog. My EDC knife before that was also a CRKT, a Pazoda, because it’s also small and unassuming. 

Sometimes an even-more subtle blade is needed, which is where money-clip blades from Boker and Gerber come in. At first glance, these look like a money clip because, well, they are, making them very useful for low-profile situations. 

Multitools

Of all the gear I’ve carried for the past twenty years, I’ve probably used my flashlight the most, followed by my knife, and in third place, a multitool. Screws need to be tightened or loosened, and a knife just won’t do that. The Leatherman PS stands up to TSA scrutiny, as does this one from Nextool.

Where a multitool really shines, however, is in an office environment. Cables need to be tightened, zip ties need to be cut, stubborn screws need to go, you name it. Having a multitool makes you useful to your coworkers in oh so many ways that unless you work somewhere that outlaws edged tools, you should have one nearby. 

Specific models I’ve used include the O.G. Leatherman, this model from S.O.G., and let’s not forget the original multitool, the Swiss Army knife. Just yesterday, however, I got in the Silver Blade super-flat multitool from Nextool, and while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that other tools have, it is super-flat and can be carried inside your pocket, just like your wallet. 

Again, let me stress that I’m not suggesting you do likewise, and let me doubly stress that you should never, ever do this sort of thing if there are dire legal or lifestyle consequences for your actions. 

However, it is nice to know that with a little bit of research and planning, your life can continue on uninterrupted, no matter where you are.