I used to carry a small Beretta, but now I carry a Ruger LCP. The Beretta is a better shooter but it is heavier and was more noticeable in my front pocket. The tiny LCP is so small that I carry it everywhere that is legal to do so. I even carry the LCP as a backup whenever I carry a larger pistol. My wife does the same. Critical Defense is my ammo of choice.

The little 380 is certainly not in the class of a 45, 40, or 9mm, but as they say " the pistol you have on you is more effective than the pistol left behind in your glove box."

You will never win a target match shooting the little pistol but I can keep almost all of my holes in a paper plate at 25 feet during slow fire.

I live in Phoenix Arizona: lots of shorts and tee-shirt weather here which makes concealment a priority. I carry a Beretta .32 loaded with hollow points. For carrying in our warmer months I use a tool belt pouch as a holster. The pistol fits in it very well and the pouch does not raise eye-brows. I got it from Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-4-i...0N13/204853191

The price looks right too !

And that as well. In the front pouch I keep an extra mag. I used to use a fanny pack but they just scream "gun!"

I used to carry a LCP religiously until we did a lot of expansion & penetration research testing in several different test medias. Now the .380 just don't make me confident it'll do the job as a primary carry gun. I only carry 1 gun & it has to be pretty small to be easily concealed year round. The gun I moved up to is the excellent Kahr CM-40. It's almost as small as a lot of .380s, even smaller than a few .380s,but delivers a LOT more powerful punch. While there's nothing wrong with a 9x19 I just prefer carrying the most powerful, most firepower for it's size cartridge/gun I can find within that size category. You might look at the Kahr CM-9, S&W Shield in 9mm, and a host of others around that size.

My everyday carry is a S&W Shield 9mm with 124gr gold dot hollow points. All I need. I have carried the Ruger LCP, 1911, glock 23, S&W airweight 38. For one I will never own another .40 unless it is a 10mm but the shield 9mm fits like a glove plus I never notice it is there.

When in casual attire out with the wife or wearing shorts I like to carry my Taurus 738 TCP in .380. I have it stoked with Hornady Critical Defense ammo. This little pistol fits into my front pants pocket with no noticeable "printing". When I do carry it in a holster with a shirt over it, it looks like nothing more than a cell phone on my belt. And accuracy out to 10 yards is more than acceptable.

I have several hand guns to chose from 357'mags 38 special and 22's. the one I have handiest is the 22LR cylinder equipped Ruger single six loaded with hollow points.
I sure would not want to be shot any place with a hollow point 22cal bullet and never in the knees.

Al

The knees?? Why would you try to hit someone in the knees in a self defense situation?

Great question. Sounds like a prison sentence. The only way I would even draw on someone is if I felt my life was in danger (they have a gun). Otherwise I'm confident I could get away. If not, I'm definitely not aiming for the knee.

Home defense is a bit different but I don't use a handgun for that and I'm still not aiming for the knee.