Carrying A Spare Magazine: Yes Or No?

So you’ve decided to carry a defensive pistol on a regular basis. Good for you. You’ve spent hours scanning the pages of this website looking for a handgun that’s right for you and have selected a holster that will keep your pistol safe, secure and out of sight. On top of that, your gun belt game is strong, and you’ve given consideration to some of the other things that will keep you safe and sound, like a flashlight and a less-lethal option. You’re good to go, right?

Well, maybe. What about a spare magazine? Should you carry one, and if so, how?

Right now, a significant number of you are saying to yourselves, “What do you mean, ‘If?’ Of course you should carry a spare magazine! Two, in fact, and a backup gun as well!” 

Optional Accessory? 

First off, there is nothing wrong with carrying a spare magazine (or two) or a backup gun. It will not get you “killed on the streets” or some other horrific outcome. However, we have a limited amount of space on our person for all our everyday carry gadgets, and we need to prioritize that gear for what is likely to be needed, not our perceived needs. 

Concealed carry for armed citizens is actually somewhat new. Yes, people have been carrying a concealed firearm since the invention of the firearm, but widespread defensive carry amongst the citizenry really took off in the mid-1990s when “shall issue” carry started spreading across the land. Before that, it was law enforcement who carried their pistols on a day in, day out basis, and many of the techniques and gear used in law enforcement have found their way into the world of defensive carry for armed citizens. 

However, the job of law enforcement is different from the job of the armed citizen. Law enforcement is tasked with pursuing criminals and arresting them. Armed citizens are tasked with avoiding criminals, but if that is unavoidable, we must stop the threat. Once that threat is stopped, our job is done, we turn the pursuit and arrest over to law enforcement. 

This simple fact changes how we approach our mindset and our gear. We will not be drawn into lengthy gun battles with a crook who’s determined not to go back to prison. The most likely outcome, by far, is that the bad guy finds out we’re armed and skedaddles off to commit crime some other day. That’s a win for us. We stopped the threat. This is a weighty argument against carrying a spare magazine, because a reload is definitely not needed if zero shots are fired.

However, if rounds do go downrange, Murphy’s Law tells us that things can go wrong. If we take a quick inventory of things that can go wrong with a modern semi-automatic pistol, we find out that a surprising amount of them are magazine-related. Top this off with the fact that if your pistol does run out of ammo, you don’t have a pistol anymore, you have a rather unwieldy club, and all of a sudden carrying at least one spare magazine starts to make sense once again.

Now that we’ve established the need, let’s talk about the means. Tucking an extra magazine into an empty pocket is definitely an option, but that leads to slow, disorganized reloads as you fumble about for your magazine amongst the other things in your pocket. Many people prefer to carry their spare magazine in the same manner as their pistol: If their pistol is carried in an IWB (Inside the Waistband) holster, they’ll also use an IWB magazine pouch. This works, but I prefer to have a minimum amount of things poking me inside my belt line, so I carry my pistol IWB, but carry my reloads OWB (Outside the Waistband).

In doing so, I run up against another holdover from law enforcement: The design of the OWB magazine pouch. Most law enforcement officers carry their gear on a duty belt, and everything on that belt is out in the open for everyone to see. The problem is, I don’t want people to see that I’m carrying a spare magazine, as that implies I’m carrying a pistol as well. 

Law enforcement officers don’t need to conceal their reloads, and the same is true for many people who compete in the practical shooting sports. This leaves us with magazine pouches that are bulky and hard to conceal. Add in the fact that concealed carry is relatively new, and therefore new ideas for carrying a spare magazine pop up all the time (some good, some … not so good), and things can get a bit weird. 

This is why, after almost twenty years of concealed carry, I’ve settled on using Galco Gunleather’s Concealable Magazine Carrier. It does pretty much everything I want a spare magazine pouch to do. First and foremost, it holds onto my spare magazine when it’s not needed, but releases easily when it’s time to reload. Secondly, it snuggles up nice and tight to my waistline, which leads to reduced opportunities to “print” and show the world that I’m armed. 

Lastly, it’s solidly built. I’ve had the belt loops on cheaper Kydex magazines snap off during use, leading to my spare magazine hitting the floor in a public space (talk about awkward) and I’ve had the metal belt hooks on some leather magazine pouches wear out over time, which causes them to not hold as tight and make my spare magazine more obvious. 

If I have some complaints about the Concealment pouch, it’s that it is not an easy-on, easy-off kind of gadget. It has a belt loop, not a belt clip, which means you’ll need to remove your gun belt (and everything attached to it) if you want to remove this pouch from your waist. It’s also not cheap, but this a “buy once, cry once” sort of thing, as I have easily spent more than the $89 MSRP for this pouch buying other magazine pouches which gave out or made me look like I had a tumor on my waist. 

Carrying a spare magazine is not a requirement for living the concealed carry lifestyle. However, making informed decisions about how you prepare to defend what is near and dear to is. Make a decision about whether or not to carry a spare magazine, find the best solution to do so, then practice so your reloads become smooth and efficient, because the right gear means nothing without the right skills and mindset.