In going to see a concert last night, I had to do something I don’t care to do.

I had to disarm.

It’s always tough to say how a particular venue will handle things. I’ve been to shows where I’ve been wanded down and frisked. I’ve been to shows where I’ve just walked right in. Will the venue have any restrictions? Will the venue have any signs (e.g. 30.06)? It’s just a grand unknown, and frankly I don’t want to deal with any possible problems. I want to see the show, and so I’m willing to unarm myself. I take some solace that I’m not totally defenseless with empty hands, (I even went over Tony Blauer’s close quarters form in my head). I still carry myself in a proper way, always polite, knowing where exits are and positioning myself accordingly, wearing my steel-toed boots and being one of the bigger guys doesn’t hurt either. Plus I also grant that most heavy metal concerts are actually pretty peaceful affairs; the only violence tends to be from The Toxic Waltz. In all the concerts I’ve been to, there’s only been a few incidents (I’ve never been involved) and usually it’s because someone’s rather drunk and stupid, and they’re really no threat or problem and are quickly bounced by event staff.

But that does present one reason for venue-induced disarming, because you don’t want the drunk and stupid guy to have a weapon. But on the same token, those of us that choose to remain sober and lucid could be defenseless. Of course it doesn’t matter too much in a bar environment: a beer bottle can be ugly enough to get hit by. Then you have events such as when Dimebag and others were shot on stage; rare, but I can’t not go to a concert without thinking about that possibly happening again.

Last night was without incident. It did make me think about some things tho:

• Any sort of waist-based carry is out of the question. You’re packed in too tightly with other people. People are constantly touching you as they navigate through the crowd. It’s too easy for someone to place their hand on your hip.
• Something like the SmartCarry could be usable, but it’s still tough to say.
• I did think about how an ankle holster might be a workable solution, but you must ensure solid retention.
• While clip-knives are useful, the exposed clip is very likely to snag on something and the knife go bye-bye without you knowing it. A suggestion from Greg Hamilton was to sew a pocket on the inside of your pant pocket that the knife could slip into. It would be in the same location, just not exposed. While this was more meant for people that might need greater concealment or just social constraints (e.g. wearing a suit or other dress clothing, clips don’t accessorize that well), it’d be useful in a case like this too.
• I need to get a proper cane. If nothing else, last night’s concert made me realize that I’m certainly one of the older folks in the crowd these days, so ol’ gramps here might as well have one to keep those young whippersnappers in line. 😉
• When it come to self-defense, recall InSights’ ABC’s: Always Be Cool. That holds quite well here. In this context, at a show, with other members of your tribe (we’re all wearing black band t-shirts, right?), you’ve gotta just be cool. That goes a long way towards keeping you out of trouble.

Furthermore, times like this demonstrate a weakness with services such as Texas3006.com. That service is great if the place has been visited and is hostile to law-abiding citizens, thus can be listed. What if the place hasn’t been visited? What if the place has been visited but is known to be friendly? It doesn’t get listed and thus you don’t know what the state of the place is. So if I wanted to look up Scout Bar, the lack of it in the list doesn’t tell me what I need to know: is the place friendly to law-abiding citizens that care about their own defense.  This isn’t to say what Texas3006.com provides isn’t useful, it is, but it’s limited.