Concealed Carry - Quickest Access

[Werewolf]

Which method of concealed carry provides the quickest access to your weapon.

For me at least it's Shoulder Horizontal. Pop the button on your shirt (meaning literally just go thru it without unbuttoning it) reach in and grab my weapon. I practice this with the button over my heart unbuttoned no need to piss off the wife by having to have buttons sewed on all the time.

IWB for me is just slow - gotta grab and untuck shirt to get at your weapon. Major fumble fest.

OWB isn't an option at all in the summer and in the winter well I just don't feel comfortable covering my piece with just a jacket.

 

[sm]

Voted IWB.
I carry this way the most.
The way I dress and conceal no difference for me in IWB and OWB. Strongside at 4 o'clock.

I can see your point b/t IWB with cover garment and IWB using tuckable shirt...IMO a difference exists, the OWB would be quicker with only a cover garment. Just wanted to clarify the terms as I read them in your original post. For my situation anyway.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Strong side belt holster.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Fastest is strongside OWB for me, but I can't conceal anything other than an IWB.

 

[goalie]

I usually carry IWB strong side, but I do have a fanny pack for when biking in the summer. With the little "rip-cord" zippers that thing is like lightning.

 

[Chupacabra]

Depends on what I'm wearing.

IWB Strongside with just a shirt or light jacket covering it up I can access it pretty quick, and I imagine a crossdraw would be pretty quick too. Add a heavy, zipped up jacket to it and it's difficult. I'm looking into a shoulder rig for the winter months.

 

[Old Fuff]

You left out side pants pocket holster. One can stand with their hand already on the gun and not appear to be threatening in any way. Drawing and presenting the gun requires very little movement, and in some cases with certain revolvers you can shoot through the pocket without pulling the gun. Complete concealment is not dependent on any clothing covering an exposed part of the gun.

Same can be said with a gun in the slash pocket of a jacket or overcoat in cold climates.

 

[Dave R]

Is OWB really concealed? If it really is, I don't see how its any faster than IWB. Still have to move the covering garment...

I voted fanny pack. If you have a good one, its faster (and more importantly, more consistent) to rip& draw than to deal with cover garment.

I generally carry IWB, and practice regularly (and daily since I discovered I can shoot those Speer plastic bullets in my garage from my CCW pistol) but I still have occasional tie-ups with the cover garment. Some garments more than others.

With the fanny pack, draw time is very consistent. I _can_ be faster on IWB with the right garment when everything goes right. But I'm generally faster with the fanny pack.

 

[Preacherman]

It's impossible to give a general answer to this, because so much depends on your position and circumstances. If you're seated in a car, IWB strong-side becomes much more difficult (if not impossible): so a cross-draw or shoulder holster is quicker (as is an ankle holster, since one has only to reach down between one's knees). Much the same applies to sitting at a table, except that it's hard to reach through the table to an ankle holster! If you're standing, IWB strong-side becomes much faster, and one can keep one's body between the threat and one's gun - BIG advantage at close quarters. The cross-draw and shoulder holsters are not an advantage in this scenario. If one is lying down, a shoulder holster or ankle holster are about as fast as you'll get.

 

[10-Ring]

I don't know how 'concealed' it is, but I voted OWB strongside.

 

[Bainx]

Me thinks that all that voted "Strong side OWB" were somehow thinking in
open carry terms.

 

[clubsoda22]

Really, quickest access isn't the biggest factor in CONCEALED carry.

 

[cool45auto]

OWB would be ideal but IWB is more practical and is how I practice drawing.

 

[Erik]

Strong side OWB from a kydex holster.

(IWB is slightly slower. Slightly.)

 

[sgt127]

You left out my favorite, strong side appendix IWB. From under a loose T-shirt, I have broken one second with a Kahr MK9 with a PACT timer. Accessible standing or seated. Had to lose a few pounds to make it work though.

 

[snubby]

Voted "other," at least depending.
A grip on a J frame in a pocket holster can be one's customary "mode of carry," this being rather nondescript on the street, yet offering a quick draw when needed.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Unlike Skunk who understands this clearly, some of y'all are voting for what method you like best, not for what is fastest. I have ZERO doubt that a strong side OWB will beat a shoulder horizontal button popping rig every time. It may be fastest for you if you don't own a Strong Side OWB, but not because the OWB isn't faster.

Strongside OWB and IWB will likely beat all others listed, simply because of the mechanics involved. You have the shortest distance to reach and the least amount of gun manipulation to bring it to bear on target. In a cross draw, waist or shoulder, you have quite a bit more travel distance for your hand to get to the gun and then to pull out the gun and rotate it around to the target.

 

[George Hill]

Cross draw is very fast... and very fast from more positions than strongside... Such as when you are sitting. The other advantage of cross draw is that you can draw your weapon easily with your weak hand. These two advantages are critical advantages.
The only downside is that strongside is a touch easier to conceal.

 

[P95Carry]

OWB strong side is my vote ....... either snub in high-ride leather or auto from Fobus ..... I do tho find draw times also (surprisingly maybe to some) very slick too from vertical sho rig .... with which I invariably have shirt unbuttoned. It's a Bianchi X-15 front break .... and is highly efficient.

 

[A Johnston]

A sidearm carried on ones strong side hip will generally be the safest and most practical way to tote a handgun. However, producing an expedient draw requires more than just a chosen mode of carry. In addition to a good holster and belt one must practice, practice, and practice some more. With a good carry rig and routine practice an IWB can be just as fast as an OWB worn at the same point on ones waist.

In my opinion shoulder rigs and cross draw holsters are, for the most part, a waste of time and money. As DNS already pointed out cross draw and shoulder rigs, although possibly applicable in certain circumstances, are generally much slower and require far more movement than a IWB or OWB worn on ones strong side hip. One can seldom go wrong with a good IWB or OWB from a reputable maker.

 

[TheeBadOne]

other

In the hand

 

[Vern Humphrey]

If concealment is an issue, IWB strong side. If not, consider OWB -- although with practice, you can draw from an IWB as fast as from an OWB.

The trick is NOT to use the up-and-down motion so often taught these days. Use a rotary, Jordan-style draw.

With the strong side hand at the 5:00 o;clock position, swing the hand back to touch the trailing edge of the holster, then up and forward to complete the draw.

Practice the Hackathorn Rip -- weak hand rips up the garment as the stong side hand makes the draw. This is faster and more sure than trying to swing aside a garment, and works on sweaters, T-Shirts, and so on, just like on suit jackets.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

While many rigs are fast, cross draw rigs and shoulder rigs don't seem to come out with the best shooting times. Heck, I have seen some very fast people with fanny packs, but fanny packs are not what I would consider the fastest rigs available.

The thread, as I read it, was for "quickest" access, not just quick.

 

[Hypnogator]

IMEO (having carried a concealed weapon on duty for more than 20 years), an OWB strong-side carry under an unbuttoned suit coat or jacket is by far the fastest to draw from, and maximizes your chances of hitting your target in the least possible amount of time. When you draw strong-side, your weapon comes straight up, and you have 6' to hit your opponent. A cross draw means that you have to snap off a shot as your weapon crosses your opponent's body, so you have only about 18" to get a hit. Good luck.

BTW, for those who insist in carrying cross-draw under shirts, etc., the best way to quickly draw without popping buttons is to cut one or two buttons off the lower chest of your shirt, then sew them to the buttonhole, so that they appear to be holding. Then sew a patch of velcro hooks to the underside of the buttonhole, and a corresponding patch of velcro "fluff" where the buttons used to be. Now your shirt will stay closed and appear normally buttoned, but you'll be able to quickly access your weapon by thrusting your hand between the velcro "buttons."

 

[P95Carry]

Hypnogator - I have to agree ... even with my paltry experienced compared with yours ...... and I like the velcro and false button approach ... a lot!