People asked before what concealed carry holster I use, so I’ve decided to make the first official IMAO product endorsement: the SmaryCarry holster.
It’s pretty simple in concept. It wraps around the waist under your pants and is held in place by velcro. The actual holster is just a pocket. The one pictured is the large size holster, and it’s capable of holding a full-size 1911 (that’s my Colt 1991 in the picture). The second pocket is meant for an extra clip, but I found it fits my Walther PPK just perfectly (quickest reload is a second gun, plus it makes a left handed draw easier by having a left gun).
SmartCarry also makes a version that can hold two full-sized pistols plus has an extra pocket in back for cash or whatnot. What I really like about this holster is I can wear it with anything (shirt tucked or untucked) and carry a full-size gun completely concealed. I’d post a picture of me wearing the holster, but I don’t like the idea of a picture on the internet where people are trying to stare at my crotch. Where the guns are most visible is from their handles which will cause slight bulges about where the pockets are on a pair of jeans. This can be better concealed by putting your belt over the bulges which also helps hold the guns in place for an easy draw. As for the draw, after just a little practice, I can draw quick enough to rival anything short of an open carry holster.
The holster also comes in smaller sizes, but you can get the largest size and then just use safety pins to adjust it to the particular gun. It also comes in dark blue instead of white.
So, in the short of it, you have a holster you can wear with anything, carry a full-size gun (e.g. 1911 or Beretta 92FS), and have a quick draw, so it’s hard to have any criticism about it. Well, it makes it hard to use a urinal when wearing. It actually comes with instruction on how to do that, but I’d just wait for a stall.
BTW, I carry the Colt 1991 cocked and locked, of course. Usually, when carrying the PPK by itself, I carry it double action for the first shot with safety off (the safety is more for decocking the gun and is awkward to operate quickly). As a backup weapon, I leave the safety on. For the left-handed draw, I find it easiest to disengage the safety first and then draw.
I’d certainly be interested in hearing in the comments section what other people do for conceal carry.
I rarely use a holster, I carry a 10mm Delta Elite inside my pants just behind my right hip, tilted forward, butt to the rear, cocked and locked…or my 1911…or my Ruger P-85…sometimes I pack in the small of my back, butt to the right. A holster says ‘premeditation’ to a jury, and if you toss the gun after, there is nothing to connect you. I wear a two magazine Bianchi magazine holder clipped over my belt behind the left hip…can toss that, too, if neccesary.
I carry a P-89 Ruger taped high on my back with one bullet in the chamber cocked and ready. This only comes in handy if the bad guy tells you to put your hands on your head though. And I always have to keep my shirtless sweaty torso turned so that the bad guy can’t see the weapon taped to my back.
Umm…hope you keep the saftey on those, cause if you don’t and they accidentally went off…you get the idea…
(oh, and Martin, that only works if your Bruce Willis)
I don’t use a holster either. Since I am not a thin man, any of the IWB holsters that I tried were neither discreet nor comfortable.
I generally carry a Kel-Tec P32, which is a tiny little gun (5.1″ x 3.5″ x 0.75″) that I can stick in my pants pocket. I put my cell phone in the same pocket to break up the outline.
If I’m wearing an untucked shirt, or a jacket, and I’m not doing a lot of sitting, I carry my Kel-Tec P11 (9mm) in the small of my back, using the built-in belt clip. It’s fine unless I’m sitting down, and even then it’s tolerable.
Of all the holsters that I own, I find myself using a nylon inside-the-pants holster from Bagmaster (wor strong side) most frequently. It is perfect for my Glock 17 or my 1911. I find that leather inside-the-pants holsters just make me sweat in the holster area, very uncomfortable.
Is the SmartCarry a problem when seated?
I stick all my guns down the front my pants. That way, it appears that I am carrying a large package.
Concealed carry? Yeah, right. I live in Jersey, it was easier to get a gun in the Soviet Union.
I assume you mean legally get a gun in Jersey.
I used to live there; my dad ended up going to PA to get us kids an air rifle because there was too much of a hassle buying one in Jersey.
I couldn’t resist. Sorry.
I think I am an expert on this issue–no denying that. As I said before, nothing works better than a cheap Saturday night special stuffed in your underpants.
Really, there’s no need for fancy holsters or thingamajiggies. Just keep the gun loaded and cocked and easy to get at–like in your underpants. Then, when some alleged tough guys try to harrass you in the subway–POW! POW! You look okay, here’s another–POW!
Anyway, I’m glad to see you’re all using synthetic holsters. Leather is murder, just like meat. Please be kind to our animal friends.
Peace,
Bernie
Why conceal when you can just carry and deter criminals? Legally here in GA with permit of course! Here’s my ‘shooting systems’ holster with my 27 glock .40
Awwww, man…
When I first saw that picture, I thought it was a cool new robot plane. I thought “Cool! Frank carries his concealed weapons aboard a robot plane which is constantly circling above him, ready to call down destruction upon monkeys and other agents of evil!”
Then I saw it was a concealed carry holster, which is not nearly as cool as a robot plane.
Frank, why do you not have a robot plane circling constantly above you as your concealed weapon?
I’m a little disappointed in you.
kimber custom classic gallagher horsehide IWB, with shootin’ star extra in matched mag carry. loaded with 230 gr hydrashoks. in casual dress, no name fanny pack.
backup (seldom carried) ruger sp101 in sob holster. glaser blue tips
also benchmade cqc7 and red dye pepper spray.
vehicle carry; mossberg 590 and ruger 22-250 with 3×9 leopold.
working on training a mountain gorilla to be a guard dog, but it can’t bark for nothin’ and keeps tearing up the jasmine and honeysuckle and making nests. threw the meter reader over the house last week, so the judo is coming along nicely.
welcome to texas, drive friendly.
The best concealed carry system is moving to Arizona, where you can openly carry, with no permit required!
RK Jones
How do I carry concealed? By breaking the law! Other than that, it’s poor opsec to reveal your tactics, methods and gear. (Hint: 1911s rule!)
M1911 all the way and depending on what pants I’m currently wearing at the time it’s either in the front or the lower back, butt to the right.
But As far as concealed weapons go I like my “walking stick” the most. Even to close examination it looks like a regular waist-high walking stick but push a trigger mechanism by the head and pull and a full length blade slides right out. Most people dont want to fight you with a roughly 3 foot blade in your hands. The expression you see on their faces is priceless.
Until next January, New Mexico demands that all
firearms be carried openly (no concealment). Back
when I did carry concealed (elsewhere), I used an
elastic bellyband for my mouseguns, or a Sparks
Summer Special for my 1911’s. When concealed carry
comes to New Mexico next year, I’m going with a
revolver (no brass to police up,if you’re in a
hurry to leave the area). I like the Rossi 971. I
find it as easy to hide as a snubbie, and cheap
enough to throw away or destroy, after use.
Concealed weapons permits vary from state to state, check out your local regulations, more than likely you’ll have to explain to a local judge why it’s necesary to have one. And Doc, tell me that’s not tape on your pistol grip for … er … non-identification purposes.
oh yeah, compact S&W 9mm, ankle-holster when it was needed. 9 mm Beretta, right-hip retention holster, when it was required. For the record, not my choice of weapons, that’s what they issued. Myself, a Sig-Sauer P-229 or the always faithful Desert Eagle point-five-O, will never fail ya.
Depends on the weather.
Blazing hot (ie. most of the time in Texas), something small like a Browning High Power carried in the waistband, or a small revolver in the pocket.
Cooler weather (eg. when visiting New York or Chicago), a 1911 in the waistband AND a small pistol in the pocket.
By fast, do you mean that you can draw and fire in well under 2 seconds? That is what you want to be able to do. Even if the BG has a gun pointed at you, since you are not dead, he hasn’t decided to pull the trigger. When you start to draw he has to figure out what you are doing, decide that he is going to shoot you and then actually pull the trigger. This takes at least .75 seconds if he were prepped to fire, but almost nobody is. So if you can do it in under 2 seconds, you win.
Wow! Where the hell do you guys live? South Central? If I had to live like you, I’d move to a different country, all that metal and weight, and uncomfortable feeling 24/7 for what? How many of you actually had to use your guns? The only thing my 1911 ever sees, is the bottom of my nightstand… and maybe my glovebox on the way to a gun range…
I agree that it is useful to have a small weapon nearby, just in case, but Jesus Christ, a backup, and a backup to the backup? Maybe you need to get more reliable guns, or move to a better neighborhood…
Peace… 😉
Speaking of the SmartCarry: I don’t wear my belly over my belt as many do, so there is no flat area below my beltline for the (small size) SmartCarry to ride in. I am still trying to work out a way to wear it in comfort, but when you have a big belly that goes all the way down to your pelvis, it’s not easy. It’s OK standing, but sitting down and getting up, well, it “pinches” places where I’d rather not be pinched. Since I wear suspenders and no belt, my choices are limited. I have not given up yet. The elastic belly bands work but they limit access to my Glock 27 and I find that they are hot to wear. I plan to keep experimenting.
I carry a Smith&Wesson SW99 .40 cal every where I go. Most of the time it stays in the truck when I get out, unless I’m at home then she goes in with me. I very seldum carry the gun on me, but I have a Bianchi high-hip leather holster for the times I do. I live outside Birmingham, AL so most places are ok to travel without packing on you. But when I got to go to the “bad” side of town or out of the local areas, the SW99 is on me. Most of the time i use a synthetic inside the pants holster which I place in the front of my pants. I am somewhat of a big guy so an untucked shirt or small jacket covers the handle. No problem.
Just thought you might like to know that this page is rated 25th on a yahoo search of “concealed gun clip-on” As for me I open carry, and was just harassed today for it. I hide lots of things in my pants, a gun is not one of them.
My preferred carry is my fanny pack, for my Berreta 92FS, one clip with hydroshocks, one with starfires. ( i like big holes going out….) my deep conceal is a kramer nylon shirt with under arm for carry posistion, rh draw and under the right arm for 2 clips.
Fanny packs make you look homosexual.
Also, I think people should have to possess at least a 9th grade spelling level to own a firearm. That pretty much knocks out 80% of you people.
I still have a “Thunderware” holster (the predecessor of SmartCarry.) I used to carry a Smith 640 in it. Being that it’s usually impolite to stare at people’s crotches (and more impolite to ask what that bulge might be) no one ever seemed to notice I was carrying.
But, if someone asks “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?” – well, life has both it’s disappointments and little surprises sometimes.
Most often I carry my G23C IWB using a Predator holster. It’s tuckable, but seeing as I’m always got a dunlop over my belt, I generally wear a shirt over the beltline. Its fairly comfortable, but CCW isn’t necessarily supposed to be comfortable, but rather, comforting.
http://www.predator-holsters.com/products-page.html
I haven’t used them yet, but I recently bought a couple of relatively small (and cheap) digital camera bags with shoulder straps. I’m hoping that I’ll present a picture of a guy carrying a camera, when, in reality, I’ll be “carrying”.
SIGPro(of course) 2340 chambered in .357 SIG carried openly on the right in a nylon double-tripple holster with the optional two clip pouch on the left. All legal of course thanks to GA laws and permits.