Alllen Bundy
Member
I started the holster frame back in November 2021. I finished the bullet stop in January 2022. It took a while to accumulate all of the necessary materials and a sewing machine. Then I started to design the outer fanny pack. And then I did a LOT or procrastinating!!! The designing and building of the internal frame was the easy part. Coming up with a design and a process to sew everything in the correct order was a bear. The designed evolved while I was sewing it.
My Mom could have sewn this up in 15 minutes and it would have been stitch perfect. I'm good at repairing sewing machines. I'm not so great at using them. Mom taught me how to hem my pant legs and do some basic repairs, and that's about it.
I picked up a sewing machine at a local thrift store. It wasn't working correctly and I discovered that one nylon gear had jumped a tooth so the timing was incorrect. This is a VERY light duty machine not rated to sew multiple layers of heavy nylon Cordura fabric. The nylon gear jumped twice more while sewing.
The flap is a fake distraction. It is temporarily held in place with double sticky foam. The holster opens at the sides.
This side goes against your body.
Bottom View. The frame would rotate inside the fanny pack so I screwed the bottom in place using stainless steel screws. The plastic strip also secures the side flap pull straps.
This shows the straps that you pull to open the side flaps. The flaps seem to hold in place well, but I might try to add small magnets to the flaps to improve the security. I don't want to use velcro because it is noisy.
Left: Pistol side. Middle: Side with flap closed. Right: Magazine and bullet stop side.
I still need to paint the aluminum frame black so that it won't show at the sides.
The pack is made from 500D Cordura with a water resistant urethane coating.
The binding tape is a nylon herringbone weave.
The thread is bonded nylon.
The side flaps are made with 0.060" thick ABS plastic sheet that is glued to the Cordura fabric.
I haven't decided how I will waterproof the stitching yet. After I'm finished this should be a relatively rain resistant holster.
I eventually plan to make a new version using thinner 0.060" thick aluminum for the inner chassis to reduce the weight. I also plan to add an alarm to the fake flap so that if someone tries to open it an alarm sounds.
I wore the fanny pack and rode 18 miles round trip and hung around a bonfire last night. There were no problems and the fanny pack was comfortable to wear while riding my bicycle. The fanny pack does not interfere with anything inside my rear pockets. I can also carry an additional magazine in my left rear pocket, giving me a total of 57 rounds on my person.
Maybe I sound paranoid, but during the GF Riots in 2020, I was inside a building 560 feet away from another building that was burned down that night. So the possibility of dealing with an angry rioting mob is VERY real for me.
The belt is NOT rigid. But it doesn't need to be. With this holster design you do not pull the pistol out. Instead, you reach in and wrap your fingers around the grip. The web between your thumb and forefinger rests against the outer edge of the holster frame and you just squeeze and the pistol pops out into your hand. I have the retention set fairly high, so the chance of the gun falling out is next to zero.
It is the same on the magazine side. You do not directly pull the magazines out. Instead you grasp the magazine with your thumb and forefinger, while your other fingers brace against the frame and you extract the magazine.
It only takes slightly longer to draw from the rear than from the waist at the side.
The fanny pack matches the black Cordura that the four panniers on my bicycle are made from. While I am riding, I seriously doubt that many people will be expecting me to be carrying a pistol inside my fanny pack. I think that the fanny pack looks sufficiently bicycle geeky.
The big question is what will people think while I'm wearing it when I am NOT on my bicycle. If they are thinking old guy wearing a dorky looking fanny pack, then mission accomplished. I'll have to see if I get any reactions while I'm shopping.
Nobody seemed to blink an eye while I pocket carried, and the grip of the pistol was printing badly. I don't know how many people are oblivious or how many people just don't care.
In Minnesota, 1 out of 12.9 people have a handgun carry permit. In Minneapolis it's closer to 1 out of 20, and in the 3rd tier suburbs it's closer to 1 out of 8 people that have a handgun carry permit.
This is the light duty sewing machine that I used.
Fanny Pack Holster - Proof of Concept - Part 1
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/fanny-pack-holster-proof-of-concept.897607/
Bullet Stop for Holster
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/bullet-stop-for-holster.900007/
My Mom could have sewn this up in 15 minutes and it would have been stitch perfect. I'm good at repairing sewing machines. I'm not so great at using them. Mom taught me how to hem my pant legs and do some basic repairs, and that's about it.
I picked up a sewing machine at a local thrift store. It wasn't working correctly and I discovered that one nylon gear had jumped a tooth so the timing was incorrect. This is a VERY light duty machine not rated to sew multiple layers of heavy nylon Cordura fabric. The nylon gear jumped twice more while sewing.
The flap is a fake distraction. It is temporarily held in place with double sticky foam. The holster opens at the sides.
This side goes against your body.
Bottom View. The frame would rotate inside the fanny pack so I screwed the bottom in place using stainless steel screws. The plastic strip also secures the side flap pull straps.
This shows the straps that you pull to open the side flaps. The flaps seem to hold in place well, but I might try to add small magnets to the flaps to improve the security. I don't want to use velcro because it is noisy.
Left: Pistol side. Middle: Side with flap closed. Right: Magazine and bullet stop side.
I still need to paint the aluminum frame black so that it won't show at the sides.
The pack is made from 500D Cordura with a water resistant urethane coating.
The binding tape is a nylon herringbone weave.
The thread is bonded nylon.
The side flaps are made with 0.060" thick ABS plastic sheet that is glued to the Cordura fabric.
I haven't decided how I will waterproof the stitching yet. After I'm finished this should be a relatively rain resistant holster.
I eventually plan to make a new version using thinner 0.060" thick aluminum for the inner chassis to reduce the weight. I also plan to add an alarm to the fake flap so that if someone tries to open it an alarm sounds.
I wore the fanny pack and rode 18 miles round trip and hung around a bonfire last night. There were no problems and the fanny pack was comfortable to wear while riding my bicycle. The fanny pack does not interfere with anything inside my rear pockets. I can also carry an additional magazine in my left rear pocket, giving me a total of 57 rounds on my person.
Maybe I sound paranoid, but during the GF Riots in 2020, I was inside a building 560 feet away from another building that was burned down that night. So the possibility of dealing with an angry rioting mob is VERY real for me.
The belt is NOT rigid. But it doesn't need to be. With this holster design you do not pull the pistol out. Instead, you reach in and wrap your fingers around the grip. The web between your thumb and forefinger rests against the outer edge of the holster frame and you just squeeze and the pistol pops out into your hand. I have the retention set fairly high, so the chance of the gun falling out is next to zero.
It is the same on the magazine side. You do not directly pull the magazines out. Instead you grasp the magazine with your thumb and forefinger, while your other fingers brace against the frame and you extract the magazine.
It only takes slightly longer to draw from the rear than from the waist at the side.
The fanny pack matches the black Cordura that the four panniers on my bicycle are made from. While I am riding, I seriously doubt that many people will be expecting me to be carrying a pistol inside my fanny pack. I think that the fanny pack looks sufficiently bicycle geeky.
The big question is what will people think while I'm wearing it when I am NOT on my bicycle. If they are thinking old guy wearing a dorky looking fanny pack, then mission accomplished. I'll have to see if I get any reactions while I'm shopping.
Nobody seemed to blink an eye while I pocket carried, and the grip of the pistol was printing badly. I don't know how many people are oblivious or how many people just don't care.
In Minnesota, 1 out of 12.9 people have a handgun carry permit. In Minneapolis it's closer to 1 out of 20, and in the 3rd tier suburbs it's closer to 1 out of 8 people that have a handgun carry permit.
This is the light duty sewing machine that I used.
Fanny Pack Holster - Proof of Concept - Part 1
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/fanny-pack-holster-proof-of-concept.897607/
Bullet Stop for Holster
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/bullet-stop-for-holster.900007/
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