Smartcarry holster with a gut

[Super Trucker]

Is it possible. I am 5'11" and 195# so I have a gut out there. I wear 36x32 Levi jeans. I drive for a living, so I am sitting most of the day.and I am wondering if a smartcarry with a S&W J frame might work. Anybody with this body type have any info?

 

[Mak Maven]

I'm 5 11" 190lbs. w/ a gut .Cant see either guns.
If you know what I mean.
2" snubbie(s)
One is a C.A. undercover

Smart carry takes time to get use to down there. Was always worried about blowing the goods away.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Smart Carry Holster Review

5'10" 265, I have a gut!

 

[DigMe]

Personally I think a gut helps. I'm 6' with no gut and pretty thin and the Smartcarry just didn't work for me after a ton of experimenting save for one or two specific pairs of pants. That wasn't enough for my needs. The inventor carries a full-sized 1911 in his and, while he is thin, he does appear to have a gut and he carries the smartcarry below said gut. I think having a gut seems to help hide the lump a bit. For me the lump was huge (I was carrying a gun that is almost exactly the size of a Glock 19) and made it look like happy time.

brad cook

 

[Bulldozer]

ThunderWear/SmartCarry

I'm 6'1" and 220 pounds and wear 40 x 32 pants. The Thunderwear rig I have is always carrying my 3" SW M-66 if it ain't on my hip -- either pancaked or IWB'd.

Now this is in Central NY and it is year-around, from shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt in summer at lakeside picnics to all bundled up in winter coats and muffs. It works great for me. Nobody notices at all.

The other piece to the puzzle is that I end up driving for my job in the vicinity of 35-40,000 miles a year. The Smart Carry works damn well for seated travel and does not unduly displace "the goods." Sometimes I find, depending on the cut of the pants, some pressure from the 3" barrel on my left inner thigh, but with a 2" there is nothing like that to worry about.

The one downside to a SmartCarry is that urinal use is genereally out. You'll need to go to a stall to properly drop trou/unzip/etc and shift stuff around so that you don't get funny looks from fellow patrons or soak your rig.

Hope this helps. One last thing, pleated pants help disguise the thing greatly.

 

[nemesis]

A Smartcarry doesn't do anything a holster can't do and a decent holster can be drawn from while seated. Let me know how well your Smartcarry works when you face down a carjacker.

Buy a holster.

 

[P95Carry]

I am 6'.00" and 195 (tends to 205 in winter!) ..... and gut is fairly minimal. SmartCarry is a superb concept but - I still find it awkward, and rarely use it. That is not in any way slamming the product - just me. Usually 3.30 OWB cuts it for most days of the year.

HOWEVER ....... it is there for those very few times when I need VERY deep concealment and ... it is a way of enabling carry when otherwise I might have to go without ..... in this case some discomfort or inconvenience is acceptable ... compared with the ''no gun'' option.

It fills a niche ..... and I'd not be without it.

 

[Super Trucker]

Thanks everybody, deep concealment is the name of the game in this situation, so a regular holster is not really an option. I will assume the Smartcarry and Thunderware are a similar product, only difference I can see is price. Maybe I am wrong though.

 

[Erud]

I don't have a SmartCarry, but I do have a Galco UDC holster. It is leather and molded to fit my J-frame and holds the gun in roughly the same position as SmartCarry would. I prefer to carry something with a little more firepower than my .38, but I can literally use this setup undetected with virtually any clothing. I was carrying it today with a pair of my regular-size(34 x 30) jeans and a T-shirt and no one knew including my wife. I am 5'10 and 195#. You can also tuck a shirt in over this holster(though I never do). Check it out if you haven't already decided on the SmartCarry. I've never been comfortable carrying a gun in anything that wasn't specifically designed to hold THAT particular gun, but that's just me....

Erud

 

[joab]

I've been driving all day every day for over 20 years, pickups though so this may not apply to you.
I have been carrying in an ankle holster lately.
When seated the gun is very close to my hand and easier to get to than other styles with my pant leg hiked up over it.
Before I get out of the truck I adjust the leg to cover the gun.

 

[V-fib]

6’5†225 lbs. I usually carry my SP or 642 in a smartcarry in the low deep concealment position. However if I’m heading to the larger cities I position the smartcarry at belt level so that the grip of my gun is just above my belt at about 11o’clock. Best position I’ve found when your in a vehicle and have a seatbelt on. I even use it as a nice vertical shoulder holster with the addition of some quick attach straps my SO made for me. Much more comfortable than the Uncle Mike’s shoulder holster I have. So for me the smartcarry is three holsters in one.

 

[nemesis]

Thanks everybody, deep concealment is the name of the game in this situation, so a regular holster is not really an option.

It might be worthwhile if you could drop by and tell that to the people I work with every day. I carry a Springfield OM in a tuckable IWB holster and don't have a problem. Keep in mind that this is in hot and humid deep south Texas where shorts and a short sleeved shirt are the uniform of the day.

It sure would be worthwhile hearing why a regular holster is not an option.

 

[Super Trucker]

It sure would be worthwhile hearing why a regular holster is not an option.

I have tried several IWB & OWB and still have trouble with them not showing a print ( S&W 3913 ) that is why I say not an option. I am looking into the S&W 642 in the smart carry. I might add that I wear jeans and a tucked in tee shirt. If I wore a different shirt it would not be an issue for IWB. I recently tried a tuckable IWB but it still shows and wasn't real comfortable either.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

I have been carrying almost daily in a SmartCarry since June 2003, and have never been made. I'm a big, big fan.

My clothing of choice is shorts and a t-shirt, and I'm 5'8", 185ish.

The one position that doesn't work very well, especially with a belly, is sitting down in a car. (The inventor claims otherwise, but he's a beanpole!)

I have a holster stuck between the front bucket seats, and that's where my gun goes when I drive. Before I get out, I tuck it back into the SmartCarry. (This should pose no problem at all in the cab of your truck, since you're so much higher up than the rest of us).

The inventor of SmartCarry has a patent on his design -- claims that it is better than Thunderwear because there are no seams for the gun to catch on during the draw. I have no idea -- I've never examined a Thunderear rig up close.

Oh, and folks: It is a holster. It just isn't yours. So lighten up!

 

[bubbygator]

I'm 5'10" & 276 (down from 292). Being an old fart, I wear my pants higher & therefore larger in the waist (size 50). The pants overhang from my waist downward provides a LOT of space to avoid printing. The thing I like about SmartCarry is it has it's own suspension - I don't have to hold up both my pants and my gun. And it's as easy to get to (perhaps quicker) as any fully concealed (tuck-in) leather holster.

 

[MrMurphy]

Smartcarry didn't work for me with teh gun I wanted it for (G30) and I'm reducing my gut.


The Kramer Confidant mesh shirt holster under a t-shirt would also work, it's basically a shirt-shoulder-holster.

There's a "Kangaroo" holster out there that works similarly. Well worth it, about $20.