Carrying in sandy conditions

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This summer I worked outside for 10 weeks at about 30 hours per week on a beach. During that time, I learned a lot about concealed carry in crappy conditions, and thought I might share a few of those lessons.

First- oil is not your enemy. I worked a lot in the sand carrying wood, building projects, and generally getting down and dirty. Sweat, and the oil from that perspiration was far more dangerous than any oil getting clogged up with sand. I battled rust all summer, and the only way I won that fight was by adding a light coat of WD-40 every 3-4 days that completely covered the gun.

Second- A good holster is imperative, but the material is not as crucial as you would think. I rotated leather holsters from Tapia leatherworks and Remora holsters all summer, carrying my American Classic II Government sized 1911. Even carrying a full sized heavy gun, I had no issues when carrying that gun over my appendix (as is my preferred carry method). Due to the fact that my work was actually labor intensive, over the hip carry was not really an option.

Third- Regular cleaning is necessary, but with once a week stripping and cleaning, the build up from the sand was really not that big of a deal, and it probably could have been done every other week.  This was carrying a cocked and locked firearm in pretty crap conditions- and there were still no issues with excessive crud accumulation.

All said and done, I ended up with a touch of pitting I couldn't remove from the thumb safety of my ACII, but the gun and holsters held up well. Simple regular maintenance, similar to that which you should be performing on a carry piece anyway, and the environment really will have no major impact on your gun.  The only real difference was the addition of more oil to prevent rust and pitting from my normal carry routine- and even that could probably be mitigated by carrying a stainless finished firearm.