Most often I carry only one gun on-person. I carry either my primary Glock 26 or my deep concealment Ruger LCR. These have become the only two guns that I carry for the past decade, as they both prove ideal in dimensions and capability for myself and my needs. While I train a lot with a Glock 19, I find the 26 is significantly more concealable yet sacrifices little in realistic performance. The LCR, of course, is for truly deep concealment.
Yet, occasionally, I carry both, wearing the G26 AIWB and the LCR on the ankle as a BUG. I find, in our modern era of a degraded society, that I carry the bug more and more often. The fudds will now declare me paranoid and start in with the usual epitomes of mediocrity, saying some nonsense like, “even needing one gun is a one-in-a-million chance.” No, check the real statistics on that before burying your head in the sand.
The primary reason to carry a BUG for a concealed carrier is quite different compared to the needs of law enforcement. The main reason that BUGs have been used among police in past events is due to ambush attacks, often being hands-on, or an attack that turns into a hands-on struggle, and they lose control of their primary handgun. For this reason, the small revolver has remained a favorite among a lot of law enforcement officers for BUG use, because many officers know that, should they need the BUG, they might need to make contact distance shots, thus favoring the revolver.
The revolver is also favored among many for BUG use because the design is more robust in alternate modes of concealment, such as pocket or ankle carry, as there are no magazines to be dropped or slides to be pushed out of battery. They also tend to be more resistant against the dirt and dust accumulated in such places compared to tiny autos that would otherwise go in a pocket or on an ankle. The shape of hammerless revolvers tends to be snag-free, making them ideal for these locations as well. Thus, a seemingly antiquated weapon remains a top choice.
An evaluation of the consistencies among civilian defensive gun use clearly shows that the nature of attack and conflict is quite different. BUGs almost never come into play among citizens because the primary gun fails or is lost in a struggle. Certainly, such an event is possible, but there remains a far more compelling reason to carry a BUG for the citizen.
Over the decades there have been many proposed reasons to carry a BUG: the primary gun might get struck with a bullet and disabled (happens more often than you might think). The primary might have a catastrophic failure right when you need it most. The primary might be out of ammo. You lose control of the primary, or you cannot access it. All valid and possible reasons. However, I firmly believe that the most pressing reason to carry a BUG, as a citizen, is to arm another person who is with you.
Most concealed carriers who actually carry on a daily basis probably spend most of their time with partners or other family members who do not. If that other person is trained in even the most basics of gun handling, then being able to arm them, should things go bad, is a tremendous force multiplier. It is for this exact reason that I firmly believe the small revolver remains the best choice for BUG use.
Most likely, you will be handing the gun to somebody with minimal training. If the situation is dire enough, you might hand it to someone with no training. The revolver is, by far, the safest gun to hand to someone with minimal training and experience. The long, heavy, trigger pull makes a negligent discharge far, far, far less likely compared to a striker-fired auto. The revolver is also much more immune to user error. An untrained person is very likely to inadvertently drop the magazine out of an auto. They are also very likely to obstruct the slide, or limp wrist the gun so badly that the “higher capacity” auto turns into a single-shot as soon as they actually need it. The small-frame revolver is practically immune to these issues.
This is the primary reason that the small revolver is the definitive BUG for the citizen.
For the best prices on ammunition, shop Ammoman.com https://www.ammoman.com/
For the ammo I use for training, go to: https://www.ammoman.com/9mm-blazer-brass-124-grain-fmj-5201-1000
Reflex Handgun 
Leave a comment