Gear Up For Summertime Hiking, Concealed Carry Style
Eve Flanigan 07.24.18
Summertime hiking is a great pastime with many benefits, including maintaining fitness and agility, two traits that complement what I like to call defensive living—enjoying life while being capable of preserving it.
Special considerations apply for hiking in the summer, with hydration and sun exposure being primary concerns. But there are aspects of defense to be accounted for as well. In some areas, the offspring of large animals are in the prime of exploring their surroundings, and otherwise peaceful critters like bears and mountain lions could become aggressive. In even the most pristine areas exists increasing concern for being an unwitting witness to illegal activities often conducted on public lands. Walking unawares into acts of smuggling or drug manufacturing can spell immediate danger from predators of the two-legged variety. All these occasions are rare, yet a few make headlines each year. Rather than back away from a pursuit I love, I choose to hike prepared.
Here are a few suggestions for gear that make summertime hiking enjoyable and safer:
Proper Footwear
Seek footwear that has appropriate traction and, if needed, ankle support for the terrain you’ll traverse. In preparation for this review, I donned Terrain Mid ankle-high “shoes” by Blackhawk. Their thick, deeply tractioned soles made a huge difference in safety and confidence to climb and descend steep, rocky going. With the laces a little tighter than comfortable for lounging around, they provide excellent ankle support and don’t slip, saving my feet from painful blisters.
Overheating is avoided with the Terrain Mid boots with their sturdy mesh-and-leather uppers. These boots have been with me now for two summers’ worth of hiking and I’ve come to love them for providing a balance of protection from rocks and thorns while still being breathable. Unlike many athletic shoes, the mesh has yet to tear from catching on thorns.
The only drawback to these boots is a small one—the pocket placed at the top of the tongue, for tucking in loose ends of laces, simply doesn’t work for me. With the laces tight enough for hiking, it’s inaccessible. When I have tucked in laces as intended, it created an uncomfortable knot on the front of my ankle/shin intersection. This is one feature that’s a good idea but seems to have been untested.
Blackhawk Mid Terrain Mids are available from distributors for around $75. The company’s site says black is the only color as of this writing. Mine are obviously brown. I’ve beat around rocky and/or sandy deserts with them for two summers now without any decline in traction or comfort. Best of all, in a self defense situation, I can still run in these boots.
A Shirt That Both Conceals and Manages the Heat
I carry appendix inside waistband, the reasons why are a topic for another day. Finding a shirt that works to conceal a gun when one is active and sweating can be a daunting task, but I’ve found one I consider the sweet spot. Shirts from Propper’s summerweight line are another item I’ve tried unsuccessfully to wear out after two years.
Unlike other non-sweat fabrics, this one doesn’t cling to the gun and does a great job of not printing. Also unlike cotton or no-sweat shirts, it maintains a dress-casual appearance that lets me move from the range to the classroom while looking dry and professional everywhere. The generous cut allows air circulation and there’s plenty of coverage for the gun. Likewise, when functioning as a tucked-in garment with range attire, it doesn’t make annoying naked spots above my holster and mag pouch like many other shirts touted as being sports-friendly.
A Velcro-closure chest pocket in this shirt can keep a map or other necessities close at hand.
I truly love this shirt for summertime hiking. It washes well and dries in minutes, looking crisp and presentable with no ironing required. Its roomy cut allows the wearing of a long-sleeve undershirt in cooler weather.
It does share one negative trait with other performance fabrics where long, sweaty days are concerned—it’s hard to wash the stink out. For that, I spritz with SCOE-10X, and the problem is solved until the next sweat session.
Propper offers the summerweight shirt in short sleeve only for women; men have a choice of sleeve length. Available colors are olive, khaki, navy, and black. Order direct from Propper for $44.99 for short sleeves; $49.99 for long sleeves. Holiday sales are frequent.
Hand Protection for Summer? Yes, Please.
The final entry in this summer gear review may seem unusual. But in triple-digit temperatures, being able to grab onto oven-hot rocks for balance is a necessity at times. Blackhawk’s Fury utilitarian gloves proved invaluable on a recent midday hike on southern Arizona’s Picacho Peak. Their lightweight material and color shed heat and lent not only comfort for grasping cables and rocks on the steep hillside, they provided protection from the scorching sun.
These gloves have electronic keyboard-friendly index fingertips that work fairly well for tasks like taking a photo, but their size Is a bit too big for keying in a text message. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for an excursion away from civilization.
Best of all, these snug gloves allow for easy drawing and firing if needed. While gloved shooting never feels quite natural to me, the Fury puts combat-accurate gun handling and shooting within reach. Pick them up from distributors in black, tan, or gray for $29.95.
Aside from situational awareness and a can-do attitude, mission-appropriate gear is the greatest asset for safe and fun hiking. The pieces of kit mentioned here can form a great basis for your concealment-friendly summer forays into the wilderness.
