I can now close a CoC #2 (rated at 195lbs of lateral pressure) with a braced close.

(for those who don't know, a braced close is where you place your other thumb between the handle resting in your palm and your 'thumb pad'. This reduces the movement that the handle can make, thus preventing it from moving too far and ruining the close).

For now I'm going to accept that that is the best I can do (as in, I can't close it without my other thumb positioned). Therefore I'm going to move up to the #2.5 and hopefully close that in a braced position in around a month or two.

I expect that I will be able to close the #2 without being braced within a month. Since braced closes don't count when going for certification, this is going to be the hardest part.