CCW Breakaways: A Potent Pair of Pants

The khakis use a traditional slit vertical pocket and can accommodate larger
handguns. The denim pocket still opens to double its size. Note the SkinTight
pocket holster (right) and Anti-Print Shield (left).

Ever heard of a monkey trap? Its effectiveness owes its success to the power of sheer desperation.

Take a large gourd, cut a hole in it barely large enough for an empty monkey hand, and insert something yummy and desirable. The monkey reaches in, grabs the treat, but can’t withdraw its hand while clutching the prize. The device works because the monkey is desperate for the free goodie and isn’t willing to let it go in order to become unstuck. So, monkey sits there, hand in gourd, looking sheepishly ridiculous.

If you pocket carry, you may have experienced the concealed carry version of a monkey trap. Some pants pockets, while large enough for the hand or gun alone, are a tad too tight to allow extrication of a hand clutching a gun. That’s why I always check the draw process on new pants — I don’t want to be the monkey in the event of a violent encounter.

These inside-out CCW Breakaways pants show the magic — configurable pockets.
Customize pocket depth, width and horizontal placement to match your body shape and handgun size.

Anti-Monkey Pants

The folks at CCW Breakaways understand the importance of a fast and unhindered draw from the pocket. Accordingly, they’ve designed concealed carry pants not only facilitating safe carry of a handgun in the front pocket but also a fast and snag-free draw.

The basic ideas behind the CCW Breakaway pants are the configurable front pockets and “fake” pocket openings. With normal pants, the top of the pocket is defined by the top of the pants. The pocket opening, regardless of shape and size, is what you get. Want more room to pull stuff out? Make a larger opening.

The CCW Breakaway pockets are attached at the top to the beltline of the pants with two snaps per pocket. So, if you withdraw your hand vigorously from a pocket, the snaps pop open and the pocket opening doubles or triples in size. This is the anti-monkey trap feature. Unlike the hapless monkey, you can take a full firing grip on your handgun while it’s in the pocket, and draw it out with no hindrance by the limitations of your pants pocket opening.

The company makes a variety of styles including pleated khakis, denim jeans, cargo pants and even shorts.

When the pocket “breaks away” one can easily pull a handgun out of their front pants pocket!
No monkey trap here.

Pocket Power

The pants are engineered with not only draw function, but concealment in mind. Each interior front pocket (no righty-lefty bias here) has internal Velcro attachment areas and straps allowing you to define the shape and depth of the pocket. The lateral strap also allows you to shift the position of the gun side to side. Depending on the size and shape of your handgun, you can arrange the pocket to place your firearm lower down the leg, more towards the center, or however you most like it positioned. There are pouches for optional thin plastic shields which break up any remaining outline of your handgun managing to get past the layers of heavy internal pocket fabric. Optional SkinTight holsters provide extra trigger protection if you like.

There’s another functional benefit to these potent pants. The design allows you to “prepare” to draw with no visible commitment on your part. Ease your hand into your gun pocket, get a grip and you’re ready to go. No one will be the wiser. If you don’t have to use your gun, great! No harm, no foul.

Learnings

As a guy, I’m incapable of reading instructions, but once I finally did, I was better off for it. The instructional videos on the company’s website will show you the tips and tricks for ideal usage, pocket configuration and gun placement. Don’t be like me — watch them first! Also, do pay attention to the “true-to-size” warnings on the website. Don’t order the same size you always get. Break out the measuring tape and measure a pair of your existing pants. You may be surprised at the difference between the vanity labels and actual size.

Oh, and a bonus tip. Consider optimizing the opposing pocket for everyday gear. There’s a lot to be said for having an ultra-deep pocket for money clips and cell phones. Give it a try!

As for gun variety, be aware every person is different. For example, the larger your pants waist size, the larger gun you can conceal. That’s not a statement of the obvious, it’s more a reflection of the width from fly to side seam, which defines the grip size one can hide. I had success with everything up to the mid-size auto pistol universe. As for more compact pistols, concealing models like the Springfield Armory XD-S, S&W Shield and GLOCK 43X was effortless. My favorite for these Power Pants? My vintage Walther PPK/S.

For more info: CCWBreakaways.com

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