EDC since March, 2011.
The 3.8 Compact was Goldilocks for me. I need a certain depth of concealment due to the social circles I run in - the 3.8 Compact with its 13-round magazine, combined with good support gear, allowed me to achieve this goal without having to modify any of my wardrobe.
www.xdtalk.com
^ That thread on XDTalk is sorta an ongoing blog about my experiences with both my EDC as well as her training twin. The EDC 3.8 Compact now has well over 12,000 rounds on its clock, while the training copy is somewhere in the neighborhood of twice that.
Here's a counterpart to that one, of my 4.5-inch range/training beater:
https://www.xdtalk.com/threads/new-xdm9-from-cleveland-poa-poi-magazine-questions.163960/ . This one is well over 50K rounds on the odo, live-fire count (
https://www.xdtalk.com/posts/7784845/ ).
For about five years - between January 2011 and February 2016 - I carried and trained with the 3.8 Compact using either a Beltman 1-and 1/2-inch dual-layer (training) or a Zlogloje (EDC), paired with a Pure Kustom Black Ops Pro set up for IWB.
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^ Airsoft on the left, training gun in the middle, carry on the right.
The following picture was in the summer of 2012, on day 5 of six days in Chris Costa's HE01/02:
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^ That was my everyday getup at that point - an el-cheapo Old-Navy T-shirt over similarly cheaply made Old-Navy jeans.
I can guaranty you that what's at my waist is precisely the leather setup that I described, above, and I can just as well guaranty you that I've got the gun at my waist, in this picture of me with Costa:
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In February of 2016, I added a Surefire XC-1, which necessitated the swap to the KT-Mech's Defender Light-Bearing, a full hardshell Kydex holster.
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The holster's been modified somewhat - I shaved away the excess Kydex at the muzzle end, but otherwise, both the carry and training copies are still going strong, with really no sign of wear. The blue tape on the magazine base-plate (Pearce +0 "pinky rest," and yes, this is how I carry the gun) is to signify to myself that this is a clear/safe setup for home dry-fire and manipulation practice.
As with the leather setup that I started with, the gun is still holstered at my 2:30-ish, IWB, but has since been mated to Ares Gear Enhanced Ranger belts using Comp-Tac over-the-belt clips. I've also got two copies of the belt/holster combo: one for training, one for carry.
I continue to carry the magazine in the same Comp-Tac IWB Magazine Concealment Pouch. Having 19 rounds at-the-ready as supplement to the 13+1 that's always in the gun is not only very reassuring, its mass also helps balance out my beltline.
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^ That setup in-action, in low-light class with Apex Shooting and Tactics, Ohio. Target is a Challenge TDI at 10 yards.
This is probably as disadvantageous as the setup could be for the little XC-1, with few lumens and a diffuse beam-pattern. At the Rittman Police Department range, the ground material consists of ash cinders from the Morton's Salt plant from across the railway that just soaks up any ambient light. On a moonless night with no supplemental lighting, it's hard to see anything at all, even with dark-adapted eyes. Add-into this mix the fact that the light's output was diminished by carbon fouling on its lens...... Oh, it was also *really* cold that night, there's no snow on the ground, but at points during the class, it was in the air: the five of us who showed up for class (10 registered) almost decided to huddle against each other for comfort.....
Here's the setup
in-situ - in daylight so you can see it:
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^ That's my fat ass shooting from supine.
Don't worry, I've got in-ear earpros in (Surefire EP3).
This picture was taken in the summer of 2016. I'm usually a no-undershirt guy, but I learned from previous classes (like that of Costa's above) that's not a viable setup for the (sometimes hundreds of) repeated draws that can rub my belly raw. A simple UA HeatGear compression shirt serving as an undergarment insures that I can go through 3+ days/nights of 8-hour classes and keep my mind on learning, rather than be annoyed with chafing, bruising, and scratches.
March 2017 -
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And again in October of that year:
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^ That was a "moving/movers" class - we were still on static targets at that point, but yup, there's that same gun.
Yup, since 2011!!!!
All four of my XDm9s (the EDC 3.8 Compact and its training copy as well as my HD 4.5-inch and its training copy) wear the same hardware modifications. Springer Precision triggers (three were done by my friend,
Quack, and one myself) along with their extended magazine release and slide stop (my dominant hand thumb likes to ride the factory one). Sights are Dawson .100 x .205 FO front, paired with their .125 notch Charger rear, with installation handled by
xdman. And you can see in the KT-Mech holster picture above that I've scalloped-out a bit of the grip by the heel, to help with stuck-mag extraction.
Some folks complain that the 3.8 Compact is a heavy little thing, and honestly, that's undeniable.
With the weight and the gun being relatively small, it is *_dense_*. The balance is pretty neutral, but it is dense.
To counter that, I've always been a believer in having an excellent belt and equally well designed and made holster. As a result, I actually have never "felt the weight" at my waist. I've carried IWB almost exclusively (OWB only for my 4.5-inch XDm9, in training classes that either requires that setup or as a sidearm for long-gun) since I purchased the weapon in January of 2011. My workplace is prohibited, so I don't carry there, but there's rarely a day that goes by for me without the gun being at my waist at some point during the day. During weekends and holidays, unless I'm in a prohibited area, the gun is on me from when I wake until when I retire for the night, and I've road-tripped for driving stints of upwards of 12 continuous hours while wearing the gun. The gear really makes all the difference. I have a duplicate of my EDC gun and support gear that I use for training classes - even for 8+ hour per day, multi-day sessions with a lot of ground-work, I've never felt uncomfortable.
) is a bit of a drive from NE-Ohio, but if you ever want to get away from home for a bit of fun, the Alliance Police Training facility is kinda The Training Mecca of the Midwest.