To start, I'm interested in carrying my S&W Shield 9mm in an ankle holster, as a means of more practical concealment, when wearing dress clothes in particular... After more searching however, I'm not so sure ankle-carry is the best choice, and I'd like to hear feedback from others.
My primary carry method is appendix, IWB, around the 11:30 mark, as I'm left handed. This works great for about 95% of my carry needs, but only when wearing shirts un-tucked. One trick I've discovered, is to rotate my entire belt, shifting the belt-buckle as far away from the gun as possible, which keeps the buckle from sticking out and creating a weird bulge around my waist line. This works fine, and since my shirt is un-tucked and covering the whole thing, nobody ever knows.
I have carried AIWB before, with my shirt tucked over the holster, but it looks funny, and drastically decreases the comfort level, even if only mentally. For dress occasions, (church, funeral etc,) I've resorted to carrying in about the 7:30 position, (again, let handed) with my shirt tucked in behind the holster, and wearing a dress jacket to cover up the gun.
Now, wit temperatures heating up, I'm looking for a way to lose the jacket, and stay concealed.
I don think the Shield is a good pocket-carry candidate for me - I don't think it will fit in any of my pants pockets. And at this point, a smaller pocket-gun doesn't seem very practical either, as I don't think I could shoot a smaller gun very well.
Which has me thinking ankle carry, but I've been reading a lot of negative feedback about ankle carry. Thoughts? Particularly, ankle carrying under dress-pants? Is there a better alternative, that allows for concealed carry, with tucked in shirts? (Polo's, dress button-down's, etc...)
Sorry for the long- winded post. Thanks for reading.
My primary carry method is appendix, IWB, around the 11:30 mark, as I'm left handed. This works great for about 95% of my carry needs, but only when wearing shirts un-tucked. One trick I've discovered, is to rotate my entire belt, shifting the belt-buckle as far away from the gun as possible, which keeps the buckle from sticking out and creating a weird bulge around my waist line. This works fine, and since my shirt is un-tucked and covering the whole thing, nobody ever knows.
I have carried AIWB before, with my shirt tucked over the holster, but it looks funny, and drastically decreases the comfort level, even if only mentally. For dress occasions, (church, funeral etc,) I've resorted to carrying in about the 7:30 position, (again, let handed) with my shirt tucked in behind the holster, and wearing a dress jacket to cover up the gun.
Now, wit temperatures heating up, I'm looking for a way to lose the jacket, and stay concealed.
I don think the Shield is a good pocket-carry candidate for me - I don't think it will fit in any of my pants pockets. And at this point, a smaller pocket-gun doesn't seem very practical either, as I don't think I could shoot a smaller gun very well.
Which has me thinking ankle carry, but I've been reading a lot of negative feedback about ankle carry. Thoughts? Particularly, ankle carrying under dress-pants? Is there a better alternative, that allows for concealed carry, with tucked in shirts? (Polo's, dress button-down's, etc...)
Sorry for the long- winded post. Thanks for reading.