[Dollar An Hour]

It's hot where I live much of the year and I've got a P32 for pocket carry but want to carry something with more power on the belt.

I'll be wearing shorts and an oversize tucked-out T-shirt or camp shirt/hawaiian shirt (you get the idea).

I think OWB on a high-riding belt slide would hide just fine and should be cooler than IWB. Also seems IWB would be harder on the holster sweating all over it. Leather would soak and Kydex IWB is just hot since it doesn't breathe.

Anybody have alot of hot-weather carry experience that can comment on IWB versus OWB carry?

Guns in question aren't too big - S&W 442 or a Glock 19 or 26.

Input appreciated!

[Valkman]

I carry a 1911 IWB here in Vegas, but I must admit I never do stay out in the heat that long. :) I can't really see where a IWB would be hotter than a OWB, and I carry the same gun the same way year-round.

[AndyC]

Something like the SmartCarry (http://www.smartcarry.com/), perhaps?

[browningguy]

I carry a High Power IWB most of the time, love the summer wearing t shirts because it's even easier to conceal.

[aguyindallas]

I carry a Glock 26 in a few different holsters, depending on dress.

If I want to tuck, I use a Comp-Tac CTAC
If I want to ankle carry, I use a Galco Ankle Glove
If I want to OWB on the belt, I use a Don Hume JIT Slide.

For what you are talking about, I think the 26 or even the 19 in a JIT Slide will do great for you. Its a universal holster for that frame size Glock. It is nice and high riding and to me, my favorite way to carry a G26

[TOADMAN]

For me, I CC two ways - pocket carry a S&W 642/442 or OWB in a Jit Belt Slide for G26...Wear comfortable baggy shorts/pants and shirts a little bigger than normal worn outside the pants...No worries.

[BullfrogKen]

I've found IWB to be unbearably uncomfortable after about 6-8 hours with a 1911, sooner with a Sig 229 because its slide is thicker. After 12 hours, its intolerable.

That is my opinion. Some may find it doesn't bother them, but I imagine anyone who has a gun on anytime he has pants on might agree. I guess you can stick a 2x4 down your pants and learn to tolerate it. But its uncomfortable, and after six months of it day after day, you might find yourself looking for an alternative, too.

My experience with hot weather has been if I used an IWB, after 5-6 hours I sweat through it. And it stays wet as one night isn't enough to dry it out, so I'm constantly sticking my slide into a sweaty, salty piece of leather.

If you must have an IWB, get the Heritage from Milt Sparks. Or, the HR-LTD (New Products page). Either one has a waterproof barrier inserted between two layers of leather to keep the moisture from sweating through and soaking the holster. It is worth the extra cost. But it now, or buy it later, but eventually you'll buy it. If you only carry for 2-3 hours at a time, then maybe you won't need it.


I find I have no problem walking about with an OWB Commander, Hi-Power, or full size 1911. But my manner of dress differs from yours. Rusty Sherrick offers the best design of a high riding OWB I've seen, and I've been fortunate to have seen a few . . . the Gochenour Extreme High Ride (http://www.c-rusty.com/pages/holsters/vertbelt.html). My next choice would be a Sparks 60TK.

[BigEllis51]

Houston area [is that hot enough?] and no problem with the OWBs - after you get past the whole untucked, baggy shirt routine, of course. FWIW, I become aware of my IWBs much sooner - 3-4 hours - but generally can handle the OWB all day.

[Standing Wolf]

Make mine an outie, please.

[Old Dog]

I've carried a Glock 23 or a full-size 1911 both IWB and OWB during the hot summer months in the Tucson area (gets a little warm there). For IWB in hot weather, I favored a Kramer IWB #3 in horsehide (a bit thick, but very durable). No problems with sweat with this holster ever (all of my Kramers seem pretty much impervious to sweat -- and I do sweat a lot in the summer). For IWB in cooler weather, the Milt Sparks VM-2 is the way to go ...

But, OWB is the way to go. Simply far more comfortable. I carry a full-size or Commander size 1911 in a Kramer Belt Scabbard, sometimes a Galco Concealable, regularly in the summer under a camp shirt, baggy t-shirt or short-sleeved shirt and light vest. Never a problem with concealment.

[BullfrogKen]

BigEllis51: after you get past the whole untucked, baggy shirt routine, of course.

I would suggest you have other options to present a better, well-dressed appearance . . .

[carnaby]

I like to wear a t-shirt underneath, and an untucked short sleeve button up shirt over top with the IWB. Pretty comfortable, not as comfortable as just the t-shirt and no gun, but what are you going to do :P

[Autolycus]

I would suggest the Versa Max II as well.

Those holsters BullfrogKen suggested look nice.

Any experience with those BullfrogKen? The High ride you suggest looks to fit the bill I was looking for.

[TexasRifleman]

I would suggest you have other options to present a better, well-dressed appearance . . .

I agree, but IWB in Houston in July just isn't something many people can do and a) survive it and b) hide under any reasonable clothing.

It's for this reason that I, on occasion, use the dreaded off body carry.

I hate it, it worries me, but there are just times you can't get a holster hidden and I'd rather have something with me than nothing.

You have to ratchet up your paranoia level to a point where you hang onto whatever the gun is in like a madman so you minimize the chance of leaving the thing behind. I bought one of those luggage separation beeper things. One device goes into the gun case, one goes on my belt like a beeper. If I walk too far away from the gun the beeper goes off. Just in case.

It's not for everyone but I use it when the situation forces it.

[azrael]

For hot weather I use pocket carry...Works like a charm no matter the heat

OWB vs.IWB??? hmm prolly gonna have to buy both and try them out for a while...I would suggest wearing a thin t-shirt for the hollster to ride against plus a cover garment..

[pistolwhipped]

As much of a fan as I am of the VMII, I have given up IWB carry in Florida.
I find it as easy to conceal OWB as IWB. I wear the same clothing. And my britches fit better.

[BullfrogKen]

dup

[BullfrogKen]

dup

[BullfrogKen]

Tecumseh said: Any experience with those BullfrogKen? The High ride you suggest looks to fit the bill I was looking for.

You are referring to Rusty's piece? The Gochenour. Yes. I have some experience with it. It is a very good design, possibly the best.

I live 1/2 hour from Rusty and have visited him at the shop several times. I've known him for about 6 years now. He does great work, but he's very backlogged.

I've known the man who asked Rusty to develop this holster and whose name it bears for roughly the same time period, maybe a little longer. We discussed at length the design prototyping he went through to develop this piece.

TexasSIGman said: I agree, but IWB in Houston in July just isn't something many people can do and a) survive it and b) hide under any reasonable clothing.

Did you mean OWB? PA is hot in July, just like Houston. I've been to several hot climates. 95 degrees and 90% humidity is the same no matter what state or country its in. Define reasonable clothing.


I think you will find you'll be served best if you acquire an OWB first, and have more versatility with it, than if you get an IWB initially.

[Henry Bowman]

I live 1/2 hour from Rusty and have visited him at the shop several times. I've known him for about 6 years now. He does great work, but he's very backlogged.Re: backlog - I'm waiting on a dress belt from Rusty. Going on 6 months now. Last month it was in the "I'll make your belt next week" stage. Not complainting, just saying... If you see him, tell him I expect it will be worth the wait. ;)

[HighVelocity]

With a good belt and properly designed holster I think most folks can get away with OWB carry in the summer.
I mostly carry IWB though when it's real hot. Shorts, t-shirt and my Glock 29 in a CTAC works out perfectly.

[Ezekiel]

I've got the standard "could drop 20 lbs" spare tire, and I just cannot imagine IWB being the least bit comfy on a hot day.

Unfortunately, I cannot imagine OWB being nearly as well concealed. If you know what to look ofr, and where, someone without their head hiding in their posterior will see you print. (Regardless of the "Look, I'm carrying!" scruffy appearance of baggy shirt or photog vest.)

I go pocket carry, but that is just me.

[BullfrogKen]

Ezekiel said: If you know what to look for, and where, someone without their head hiding in their posterior will see you print. (Regardless of the "Look, I'm carrying!" scruffy appearance of baggy shirt or photog vest.)

Who are you calling scruffy? I think I look rather nice.


And . . . no one besides the two of us in a room of typical individuals would even suspect I was carrying, let alone see me "print". I can count less than two weeks in a year when I haven't walked about armed amongst my daily travels. My profession brings me into contact with dozens, maybe even 100 folks, repeatedly, in 40+ hour work weeks.

You guys all get WAY too nervous over this printing issue.

[Lennyjoe]

IWB a 1911 all year long. Get a leather holster that has the body guard and wear a wife beater undershirt for sweat/skin seperation.

I just buy 1 size bigger shirt and 36" shorts instead of the standard 34" for IWB comfort.

[Dollar An Hour]

I'm pretty happy with my Kramer horsehide pocket holster for my J-Frame, or at the very least, my Kel-Tec P32 in DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster. I just don't feel like pocket carry all the time. :uhoh:

I plan to try a horsehide belt slide from Kramer or High Noon. The word is that horsehide is much more resistant to soaking with perspiration.

This will be my first summer packing. I need to figure out what works for me. I appreciate the ideas in the thread very much gentlemen. :)

[made2cut]

Always IWB for me. If it's too hot for a T-Shirt I'll use a folded hanky behind the holster for extra comfort and sweat protection.

[Frandy]

When not carrying my 1911, I was carrying my Smith 640 IWB. But I'm 5'6" and 152 lbs (this week, anyway!), and I really don't like the bulge under my belt. So, this week I picked up a Wild Bill paddle so I can wear it in warm weather with my favorite shirts, untucked. Feels great, conceals just fine, and nobody the wiser. (When I do carry my 1911, it's in a Sparks Summer Special.)

Here's the 640 in both holsters:

640 IWB (Galco)
http://homepage.mac.com/franman/.Pictures/640_in_Galco_600.jpg

640 OWB (Wild Bill)
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38648&stc=1&d=1145452475

[Srigs]

My choices are Smartcarry and Highnoon Holsters IWBs.

[Ezekiel]

Who are you calling scruffy? I think I look rather nice.

Forgive -- is that you? -- but said ensemble screams gun. :(

My profession brings me into contact with dozens, maybe even 100 folks, repeatedly, in 40+ hour work weeks.

Perhaps they just don't care, which is fine, but I wouldn't consider such carte blanche that they do not know.

"Most of us here would know", is my guess. To each their own. :)

[carnaby]

Perhaps they just don't care, which is fine, but I wouldn't consider such carte blanche that they do not know. "Most of us here would know", is my guess. To each their own.


Yeah, we might know, but that's cool. Ordinary un-gun-aware folks wouldn't have a clue. It might cross their subconcious that he likes vests, but that's about it.

[BullfrogKen]

Ezekiel said: Forgive -- is that you? -- but said ensemble screams gun.

Yes, it is.
Screams. To who? You? Screams suggets a rather obvious appearance. My experience suggests just the opposite. You suggested I must look scruffy and unkept with a baggy shirt to obscure anything OWB. I disagreed, an offered an example of an alternative. And these garments certainly do not take on the appearance of a photographers vest.

Perhaps they just don't care, which is fine, but I wouldn't consider such carte blanche that they do not know.

"Most of us here would know", is my guess. To each their own.

Were you and I to meet in person, you might conclude I were armed. I did point out that you would probably be the only one in the room who arrived at that conclusion - you implied that "You know what to look for". I must conclude you walk about society looking at people trying to figure out who is so armed.

People just don't do that. You might. But people generally do not try to determine if everyone they encounter is armed. If that is the standard you are trying to overcome, deceiving everyone, it is impossible. Everyone with pockets on a pair of slacks could be secreting a weapon in it. Now, if by conversations with others I advertised my interests, then I might give someone reason to suspect such a thing. But I don't, and I doubt the reason I don't raise suspicion is because they just don't care. I have worked armed alongside some very anti-gun co-workers who either through career-advancement or simple maliciousness would go to HR with a complaint if they knew.

I made the decision several years ago that I was going to train with what I carried daily. That meant either I trained with a subcompact or J-frame that was in a pocket, no decent light, and reloads stuffed in my other pocket, or none at all. After a year of training sessions at our monthly study group and shooting the NTI event stages with a J-frame, I concluded this wasn't acceptable to me. Nor I was content to resign myself to leaving the $2000 I had invested in leather, good equipment, and any one of several better handguns at home in my safe just to walk around with a $300 compromise. I could bring it out for play, but I was fooling myself if I thought it was training. If it wasn't going to be what I had available if I faced a confrontation, its not training.

I relate it to swimming. I can tread water with the doggy paddle. But I wouldn't call it swimming. It keeps me from drowning, but I wouldn't want to swim laps in the pool with it. I consider a subcompact or J-frame in a pocket the equivalent of the doggy paddle. It works, but its not what I'd want if I had to use it.

Until I swim a 500 meter only using the doggy paddle, I might think it is acceptable. Until I trained with limited gear and tested it, I was deluding myself of its true effectiveness.



I mentioned it here before, and I'll point it out again. You are self-conscious about obscuring your arms, and are worried about who might notice. Through my support group meetings I know folks who have an ostomy. I suggest they are more self conscious that you are about who might notice their appliance. And they have no option to leave it at home; they must go through their daily lives with it.

The last time you saw a man, or woman, walking down the street with a vest on, did you suspect they might be obsuring an ostomy appliance? I'll say this much - these folks aren't as suspecting as you that everyone they meet similarly attired suffers the same condition.

[rockstar.esq]

Bullfrog, you have the right idea in my book. I do my best to conceal my Sig P220 IWB (an Uncle mikes neoprene pouch) with a loose tee shirt. I have never had anyone even look askance at me once. I don't pretend that police officers and security professionals trained to notice such things aren't going to. I think there is a huge difference between a "questionable outline" and a wet tee shirt contest. Frankly, the prevelance of PDA's Cell phones and other uber gear on the publics waistline leaves a great many options as to what that "print" could be. The primary thing many should consider is body movements. Stoop, don't bend. And make sure your SO doesn't put their arm on the small of your back. I have to chastise my SO frequently for this transgression which would make printing significantly worse with an OWB rig. Final point, Neoprene won't wick moisture like leathers will. Buy your pants an inch larger and comfort will ensue.

[wbond]

I live in WA State and its not even hot here (yet) and my nuts are roasting over an open fire every time I wear my Smart Carry.

The only comfortable rig I've found thus far is a cheap fanny-belly pack made locally in WA State for gun totin. I bought it for $20 at my local gun store and it feels great and doesn't scream gun because it's not black and people around here do sometimes wear fanny packs. It's nice and cool and comfortable. This $20 fanny pack is much better than the big name brand gun fanny packs I bought before (cheaper too).

I'm still looking for an IWB holster that rides higher than my Smart Carry. The Smart Carry puts the gun butt inside my pants under my waist band. I hate that because I can't grab the gun and the barrel ends up crushing a nut or weeny when I sit down. Ouch! Hot, sweaty, and crushed!

Can anyone recommend an IWB holster that rides higher? I'd like to try half way between my front and my side. Suggestions? Guns are Firestorm .380 and Ruger SP101 .32 Mag. I don't have to use same holster for both. I can buy two holsters. Suggestions?

[BullfrogKen]

rockstar.esq said: I don't pretend that police officers and security professionals trained to notice such things aren't going to.

Neither do I. I just make sure they don't have cause to.

I could mention one of my previous employer's sites in a 6000 person office complex in McClean, VA that I visited as required that had really tight security. And I don't mean a 65 year old retiree security. The complex employs professionals servicing government contracts for the NSA, FBI, CIA, or any other acronym you can rattle off . . . not like Ehrlich Pest Control servicing, but intelligence gathering, defense analysis stuff . . . employing people in Cuba, Iraq, all over the globe . . .

Every visit I comfortably walked up to the staff behind the desk, said "Hi and Good Morning", got my clearance passes, and walked right on by to my destination armed as I am now, with a OWB Commander, 6P, 4" fixed blade and OWB spare magazine.

I've sat in lounges with Colonels and Generals smoking Hemmingways for hours in places I was prohibited arms, and my status as an armed man was never suspected. I've had conversations with police officers in places and states where concealed arms were prohibited or illegal, and didn't get questioned, hassled, or otherwise examined.


I don't intend to come across as boastful or haughty. I've merely been fortunate to study under masters of deception and guile, and wise enough to listen and learn as a humble student. I don't speak from theoretical exercises or "deep carry" practices with subcompacts. I carry OWB, the same way, every day, the same equipment.


If it were an issue, I think it would have become one by now.

[Old Dog]

BullFrogKen, I'm with you. I wear a variety of vests (mostly Columbia, Woolrich, Banana Republic, Coronado Leather -- even the photojournalist/safari "shoot-me-first" style vests) ... Generally speaking, NO ONE is looking for folks packing. Comport oneself with a mature, normal Joe Citizen demeanor ... no one cares what you're wearing, and few (other than maybe the enlighted "gun culture" folks) would ever suspect people in their midst are actually packing concealed handguns.

Vests simply do NOT "scream" gun-packer.

[Still 2 Many Choices!?]

OWB for cool nights or Winter. I prefer OWB with my Glock 23 in a Fobus paddle holster, as it is faster to access, but don't feel too disadvantaged carrying it in my Uncle Mikes IWB holster. My Taurus PT-145 ONLY gets carried IWB and gets carried ONLY with certain clothes that don't cover the 23, YMMV.

[Dravur]

As someone who has a spare tire, or, even a spare tire store around my middle, I can say that carrying in hot, humid weather has me concerned as well. So, in that vein, I have had my P7 hard chromed, and am in the process of ordering a sharkskin belt, holster and mag carrier from Rafter S.

I figure it this way. I sweat like Bill Clinton in a room full of interns and the Hildabeast outside. I figure, there is no way, short of a Milt Sparks plastic lined holster that I wouldn't get my gun soaked. Hence, the hard chroming.

I am gonna try this for now and see what happens. If my sweat takes out the hard chroming, I am going to get a job with Robar.

Im out.