The Danger of Personal Preference

“To each their own.” “It’s all personal preference.”

We have talked about this before, but I’d like to touch on it again. The above statements can be very true in many scenarios. Favorite clothing brand, color, home decor, vacation spot, etc.

When it comes to life saving gear such as guns, holsters, oc spray, medical supplies and things of the like, the above phrases can quickly become extremely harmful. Selecting life saving gear is not the same thing as selecting a clothing brand we love. This is because the cost benefit risk analysis has MUCH higher stakes with life saving gear.

If I stay loyal to a clothing brand because I love their product, even though 75% of their other customers have consistently found their product to be of poor quality? It doesn’t really matter, to each their own, it’s a personal preference thing.

If I purchase a tourniquet off of Amazon on the cheap, knowing that off brand tourniquets are prone to break when we try to use them for the one thing they’re useful for? I may lose my life or not be able to save someone else’s due to this single choice. Same goes for holsters. If the dangers of a certain style of holster have been made clear to us, but we continue using it anyways because “personal preference” we have just increased our risk of an negligent discharge, which is a negative outcome that could impact our lives and the lives of our loved ones forever...all in the name of personal preference.

I would highly encourage anyone to do research on the life saving gear that they’re using. The stakes truly are high, and with a little research we can mitigate so much risk that we would have otherwise opened ourselves up to.

I started out using dangerous holsters. Comfort was my main concern, and to be honest, I thought safety was also a major concern, but I failed to ask questions, to test my gear or to do even a small amount of research. A small amount of research would have been able to keep me from using dangerous holsters for months on end.

The stakes are high here, and I personally believe it is our responsibility as concealed carriers to do the research and make wise decisions with our life saving gear choices.