Why Carry a Spare Mag?

Whether or not to carry a spare magazine on your body is a topic often discussed with concealed carry permit holders. Many carry one religiously other others see no need at all, and some kind of do a weird compromise by not having one on them but keeping one in the car. That is something I’ll never understand. “I don't carry a spare mag on me, but I keep one in the car just in case.” Just in case what? You get into a gunfight, run low on ammo and then call a timeout so you can run back to your car?

Like most things involving concealed carry, having a spare magazine on you has no clear cut yes or no option. It depends on the person’s mindset, comfort level, body type, etc., etc. Most that choose not to carry a spare magazine do so for some very practical reasons. Mainly they don't feel the chances of them requiring a reload justify the expense of a mag pouch or loss of pocket space, the added weight to carry all day, the added time to put it on you, and the additional item to worry about printing. These are all very reasonable reason not to carry a spare mag in my opinion.

There is also an argument given not to carry that I don’t agree with at all. The ol’ “if 7/10/12/15/whatever number of rounds the gun holds isn't enough to get me out of trouble I’m done for anyway” reason. I'm sure it’s said in jest most of the time, but I disagree with it for two reasons. First off, if they're not joking, that’s a pretty poor fighting attitude. I if I were in a do or die situation; I would want to keep doing in order to keep from dying. But of course my statement is just talk at this point, since no one knows what would happen in a situation like that without being in it. But that’s really trivial.

The main reason I disagree with this is the limited thinking to why one would carry a spare magazine. Running out of ammo is not the only reason why one should consider carrying a spare. In order to clear some malfunctions, the magazine needs to be removed from the pistol. If the need arises during a firefight, dropping the mag on the ground, clearing the malfunction and then drawing a spare mag from your hip would be much better than trying to pick it up of the ground when someone is shooting at you.

So does one really need a spare magazine? I don’t think so. The odds of one needing a firearm are pretty slim to begin with, and then factor in running out of ammo or having a malfunction and you’re dealing with an extremely unlikely event. But just like I carry a handgun for the extremely unlikely event I would need it, I too carry a spare magazine.





Do you carry a spare magazine? How do you carry yours if you do?
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