Outside the pants carry, how well can you conceal?
I’ve been on the mission of trying to find gun holsters that I can wear that are not IWB because I’ve had too many times where i got a bruise and it took weeks for it to go away. If i got thrown around in a fight IWB is more likely to hurt you in my opinion, but for some situations it’s about the only way a thin guy can carry. Now that I’ve grown older and packed on a few extra pounds, I’ve been trying to see if I can get away with summer carry outside the pants. Paddle holsters, especially the Blackhawk Serpa holsters protrude too far outside my body for me to conceal them with just a t-shirt. I’ve been wearing an Eotac Style 103 for Spring Season, but once it warms up I can’t carry with my Blackhawk Serpa any longer.
I’m trying some of these Woolrich Elite CCW shirts, they are really, really impressive. I think Woolrich got hurt pretty bad by the split up a few years ago, but the Woolrich Elite shirts i recently picked up have been really nice to wear to family and social events. Since the 1911 is one of the thinnest built handguns I own, I have been trying one of these Galco holsters that is a locked in place by your belt and sits right up against your body. I always prefer paddle holsters because they are easy to get on and off, but for CCW they just don’t cut it in the Summer. My Colt 1911 is getting use to this configuration and I’ll report back as soon as I get the chance.
If you are searching the web for a gun holster for a training class or you are looking for your first CCW Holster and your looking for a paddle holster or OWB holster, Fobus holsters are the staple for gun owners. There are always critics of various holster designs, but for those looking to carry a gun, the Fobus Paddle holster is a very comfortable and reliablie firearm retention device. Fobus holsters are excellent for carrying full size autos. From my own experience, most people prefer to train with full size autos for accuracy and capacity reasons and carrying a gun IWB is pretty much a problem for most operators.