Need an advice on CCW holsters...

[Sheslinger]

There was no doubt in my mind until recently that I was going to conceal carry my SP101 but Friday we went to the range and I kicked butt with my Walther P99. So now I am faced with a tough decision - I shoot the Walther much better than I do the snubby but I am not sure I prefer 9 mm over 357 magnum. But 17 rounds of 9 mm is nothing to sneer at. Decisions, decisions...

Anyway, what would you say are my best holster choices? In between the waistband, I think. I don't want to get a different purse either because I love my leather backpack I take with me everywhere.

Is summer carry much harder? Am I better off just throwing the SP in my backpack then?

Thanks
Sheslinger

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Use the search function and search on the terms IWB, summer carry, and such and I think you will find plenty of information. Also go to the old www.thefiringline.com site and do the same searches and you will find more information. You can also find similar information on many of the handgun sites.

As for whether summer carry is harder or not, that all depends on you. Few people carry what they want to carry all the time without modification to their clothing. I have become a big fan of Orvis Zambezi cargo pants in which I can conceal an officer's 1911 in the cargo pocket and it ride quite nicely there. They have these in shorts and in pants and so I can carry my small 1911 any time and without a holster. However, I still prefer IWB carry of a full-sized gun.

Some people go with the Hawaiian shirt look, some with vests, some with untucked shirts. You just have to figure out what sort of clothing accessories work for you, your physical size, your lifestyle, and your environment.

By the way, if you shoot the 9 mm better, then that should probably be your primary carry gun. Ideally, you should carry the largest caliber that you can shoot very well in a platform that is reliable and that you know how to troubleshoot in a crisis, such as dealing with malfunctions, and that you can legally conceal well. A bigger caliber that you can't handle as well isn't going to be all that helpful if you can't put rounds on target.

 

[joebogey]

If you wear a belt most of the time, I would check out Milt Sparks and their "Versa MaxII". It's an IWB that can be worn with the shirt tail worn tucked. You only have to blouse your shirt a little to help cover the slight bulge. I have one for a Makarov, one for an Officers size 1911, and one for a Government model 1911. You will find that they will be much more comfortable if you wear some type of undergarment under your top, between your person and the holster.

On those days when casual dress allows, you can wear the top outside the waistband. Sparks also makes some really nice belt slide holsters.

If you go with the VMII, you need to order the kydex clips in order to use it as a tuckable. The clips used to come standard, but are now considered an option.

Can't say I'm too crazy about the idea of a purse, or backpack. Way too much time involved in trying to access the weapon. Not to mention those items may be the first thing the mugger, attacker goes for.

But then what do I know? I'm a man. I know nothing bout fashion, other than real men don't wear plaid pants.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I can't imagine anyone drawing quickly from a back pack.

I doubt you could go wrong with a holster from Kramer Leather or Mitch Rosen. I have both, and they're tops.

 

[Robert inOregon]

It's not the holster, but rather the clothing to fit the lifestyle. Fashion today for both ladies and guys is a button shirt worn as a jacket, even during the summer. Very easy to conceal just about anything using any number of holsters.

Still feel that a purse is the best method to carry a gun. The lion is always at your disposal and you don't have to take it out of the purse to use it. No one ever knows. I do a similar thing when I carry. Keep a Kahr K40 with a custom leather holster in my front coat pocket. Feel threatened, just reach in and I'm good to go.

 

[Jim March]

IWB or any "close in tight" belt holster generally won't work well for a lady if carried at the side or too close to the sideline. It's a basic "shape issue". So to carry IWB ("Inside WaistBand") she has to bring it further back, which is fine as long as it's still to one side of the spine.

Follow? Cross-spine is BAD. Fall on it, or certain types of car crashes, and you risk serious spine damage.

Whether or not this will work for a given lady is all about her size and...eh..."hip width" . The relatively low "height" of the SP101 (bottom of grip to top of rear sight) and shortness helps in stashing it in this limited "window" where it's still "rear mounted" but not across the spine. The 99 might not fit there.

Guys have an advantage in IWB because we can run the gun closer to the side without the butt jamming into our lower torsos. We can carry bigger guns IWB, as a general rule. I usually say that you can carry a snubby wheelgun with a 3" barrel just as easily as you can a 2" but with ladies, that may not be the case due to the smaller "comfort/safety window" on the belt.

I'm not ruling out IWB for either gun on ladies, I'm just pointing out an issue.

A lot of ladies run fanny packs, which can hide a 5" 1911 no sweat.

I think a better solution for ladies *must* exist, we just ain't found it yet. Basically, the gals "dip in" just at and above the beltline; use a rig designed for a guy at the side and it's a mess but we should be able to *use* that shape as a place to hide the dang thing. I'm thinking something with the butt up and forward, barrel horizontal and pointing to the rear, trigger pointing straight up and the barrel parallel with the belt and about 1" or 2" above the belt, with the anchor for the whole thing something like a padded thick leather "paddle" down the pants but anchored to the belt. You could then tuck something thick like a sweater over the whole gun just like guys do with IWB.

<scratches head> Dunno, it's just a concept at this point. Should give interesting properties though, as long as you kept the barrel at 2" for wheelguns or 3.5" for slideguns.

 

[pax]

Robert --

Purses get put down from time to time. This makes purse carry a not-so-safe option for many. They can be good in some circumstances, but not *IMHO* as a primary means to carry. The purse takes away the "throw your purse at the BG and run" option, which might be useful in certain circumstances, and it requires a bit too much attention in circumstances wherein most women aren't accustomed to carrying their purses from point A to point B (inside a friend's home, for example; looks odd to tote it everywhere as you walk around, but if the friend has kids, stashing it behind the couch isn't an option).

Sheslinger,

I don't have a specific holster recommendation, but I do have a few general hints of things I've discovered. I have a classic hourglass figure, so that tends to be the problem I work around in looking at holsters. Dunno if it applies to you are not, but if not maybe some other woman will read this thread and get some use from it.

1) Consider carrying in 'appendix carry' position. Envisioning your waist as a clock, with your belly button at 12 o'clock, appendix carry means placing the holster at approximately 1 to 2 o'clock. This spot doesn't affect the hip/waist ratio which is the killer for many women when it comes to IWB. Works for short-barrelled guns, not so well for longer ones. Doesn't take a particular holster type, just a standard IWB carried in this spot.

2) If appendix carry isn't right for you for one reason or another, look for holsters offered specifically for women. These are often designed with an extra drop so that the grip of the gun is less likely to dig into your ribs when carrying at 3 or 4 o'clock. Some of them come with a fairly radical cant, which can be a way to drop the grip without getting the end of the barrel below your cover garment. Which brings up the biggest drawback: many drop holsters are OWB and sometimes drop the barrel below what would be a reasonable length for a cover garment.

3) Don't even bother ordering a holster that you haven't tried on, unless you want to collect a drawerful of holsters which don't really work for you. Fitting a holster is for most women something like buying a pair of jeans: you might know the size you want and think a particular style suits your fancy, but until you try it on your own personal body ... well, you know how much fun it is to take a couple pairs of jeans to the fitting room and discover that "X" brand just isn't for you, in any size. And on the rack it looks about the same as "Y" brand -- which fits you perfectly. Holsters are about the same. You can't tell how it will fit by looking at it!

That's about all I know about holsters. I will tell you that I had occasion, a few months back, to try on a fairly large collection of IWB and OWB holsters -- most of them allegedly "made for women." I tried on perhaps a dozen of them. Of those, one fit perfectly, wonderfully, amazingly. Several worked but were nothing to write home about. Two or three were uncomfortable but doable. And one I would not have been caught dead in. I won't tell you the brands, partly because I don't really remember which was which but mostly because the friend who let me try them on had a near mirror image to my experience -- the one I loved, she could hardly bear to have on her body, and the one I simply couldn't stand was really good for her. Point is, women's bodies are all different and what works for me might be awful for you.

Don't lose heart; somewhere out there there is a holster which has your name on it. Might take some looking to find, but it is out there.

pax

I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. -- Gilda Radner

 

[Dave Williams]

I'll second pax - appendix carry

'd get an Alessi APX or Talon in crossdraw IWB configuration. This works well for appendix carry and crossdraw, both well proven female carry methods.

Dave

 

[Lennyjoe]

I love my Comp-Tac Undercover.

I like Kydex for IWB and leather for belt holsters.

Just my .02 worth.

 

[El Tejon]

First, get a cardboard box. Start trying stuff on.

She, it really depends. Female superstructure means they are the same but different. Depends on the mode of dress. Depends on the weapon, etc., et al.

I have seen the Kramer and the Galco Lady Gunsite used as great "range holsters." The one female LEO who I helped get organized went with the paddle type holster thingy, but she always wears a blouse jacket (is that right?).

 

[Art Eatman]

My wife is rather paranoid-obsessive about her purse. So, when I showed her the two-section carry-purse with the velcro-closure on the end, she thought she'd died and gone to Heaven...

Art

 

[hawk0484]

options

I live fairly close to a really nice gun shop. I took my carry weapon in, and the woman there showed me my options, and there were a lot. I tried several styles of holsters, several styles of purses with the built-in holsters, and 3 different fanny packs. Before trying them all, I was sort of leaning toward one of the purses, since I've carried a purse forever. However, when it came to drawing my weapon from any of the purses,it was difficult to access. The gun fit into a holster in a velcroed compartment, and getting into the compartment was awkward from the purse swinging from my shoulder.

I ended up choosing a medium-sized leather fanny pack. I wear it at somewhere between 10 & 11 o'clock (w/12 being at navel). I pull down the tab with my weak (left) hnd, which opens the zipper compartment where the gun is in a holster, and draw with my right. The compartment with the holster has velro for canting the holster or ambidextrious use, and a strip to attach a magazine or speed loader to. The other 2 compartments are large enough for wallet, check book, small checkbook sized calendar-planner, cell phone, keys, and lipstick. I have been carrying in this manner for several months and am very comfortable with it. I don't miss lugging my purse around!

Becky

 

[Zak Smith]

For IWB or OWB, I recommend Milt Sparks. You will not be disappointed.

I have a Watch-Six in black horsehide for my BHP and it's very comfortable and extremely high quality.

-z