All posts tagged Uncle Mike’s Hip Holster

Levels of concealment in close contact situations

I never thought about this all that much  until the first time that it happened.  In the Advent of cell  phones it’s actually easier and easier to get away with  now, but it can be a problem in unfriendly territory.  Many first time CCW holders start out with a paddle holster and a large size auto, but slowly transition to IWB.   IWB may not be the most comfortable for everyone, but there are problems that can come up with OWB in office, weddings, social environments.   There are gray areas where CCW may not be acceptable, but not illegal, and you may have problems.

I am speaking from experience here and not about what happened to me, but what happened to a friend of mine.    A women he worked with brushed up against him in a door way and hit the side of him where the firearm was.   She felt a clunk and then pushed up against the part of his body where she felt the gun holsters protruding area and start to say “what the hell is that” she kept poking and prodding him until she broke out into a cold sweat and realized it was a gun.   You’re average citizen isn’t going to look for a CCW, but if they find one, they may announce it.   It’s not just about hiding the gun from sight, sometimes concealment means not being able to find it in close contact situations.

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Shoulder holsters and the firing line

I always use to carry my full size autos in a shoulder holster, but I had a situation a few years ago where I thought that since the gun was vertical holster I didn’t need the retention strap and I ended up almost losing a gun when I unexpectedly felt it almost fall out.    I’ve grown to appreciate locking holsters like the Blackhawk Serpa and I always use a retention strap when using a shoulder rig.   Shoulder holsters are frowned upon by many firearm instructors because it’s hard to train someone on a firing line in that configuration.   Back in the day, most of the FBI agents I worked with carried in a shoulder holster, but not anymore.

There have been times that I have walked up to a firing line and noticed that I could clearly identify the hollow point ammunition in a firearm because even though it was holster, I was looking down the barrel.   A few guys in a long range shooting competion had their guns in gun holsters, and they were locked in, but I was still uncomfortable standing there.  If you have a horizontal shoulder holster and you were on the firing line, and I was standing directly behind you, you would be pointing  your gun at me without having your hand on it.   Is this alarming?  Not really,  but there is a split second period where if you were to go and unholster the gun, your hand would be on the firearm as it was pointing at me, and you would be violating one of the safety rules.

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