Weapon Carries

These carries apply to all weapons. They are not intended to show how to carry a specific type of weapon. The best way to think about what these carries are is that they are ways to hold weapons in different states of engagement readiness.There are three basic carries: tactical, alert, and ready.

The tactical carry is utilized when the possibility of enemy contact is remote. This is the least physically tiring of all carries. A rifle is gripped with both hands, one forward (on the foregrip/forearm/etc.) and the other (firing hand) in firing position (on the pistol grip or stock, finger off the trigger). The stock is tucked under the arm and rides at your side, near your hip. The muzzle points up and remains between your eyes and what you’re looking at. A pistol in this attitude of readiness is carried in the holster, and is called a “holster carry”.

Note: CQB type weapons without butt stocks (which make this carry awkward) shouldn’t ever be carried outside a CQB environment and in a CQB environment, you should use the ready carry always, but never less than the alert under any circumstances.

The alert carry is utilized when there is a good chance you’ll encounter some enemy. This is more tiring physically than the tactical carry, but allows for a quicker reaction time to engage. A rifle is carried with the butt in the shoulder, ready to fire. The muzzle is angled downward, about half lowered, to provide a better range to scan for sign of the enemy. A pistol is carried in the same way, held out in front of the body with both hands.

Note: A pistol tucked into the body, with arms bent and muzzle downrange, could still be considered in this type of carry.

The ready carry is utilized when you are going to contact the enemy, and soon. This is the most physically tiring of all the positions, and also causes the most mental fatigue, due to your heightened state. With all weapons, you are in your shooting stance from the waist up. It would be better to say that your eyes are not in the sights, rather than say the weapon is “slightly lowered”. Your eyes are just searching for something to sight in on and engage.

It would be prudent of me to point out that in a typical airsoft skirmish, you wouldn’t ever use a carry less than the alert. The only time I could see using the tactical carry is if you were in a large scale game spanning a great area and time frame. You be the judge, you’re the one getting kills/killed.

These three carries have also been known by: alert, low alert, and high alert (respectively, down the list).

Training Tip: When you transition between carries, try to do it smooth, seamless, and efficiently. Mostly, there isn’t any reason to be taking your hands off the weapons or adjusting them to new places. You should be adjusting your arms only.