An Informative Look at Concealed Carry Holster Basics

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Here are just a few tips for those of you new to concealed carry, or who are thinking about buying a new holster, or carrying in a different way. Let me quickly cover the basic types of CCW holster, differentiated by where they go on your body, their pros and cons, and a few things I’ve learned over 30+ years of daily carry:

Outside the Waistband (OWB)

This is the easiest and most comfortable way to carry a gun at your waistband, especially a big gun, which of course means it is the single hardest way to conceal a pistol. You will need a covering garment and have to dress around the gun. Holsters can position the gun at various angles, somewhere between vertical and what’s called the “FBI cant,” which tilts the butt forward and points the muzzle to the rear, which is somewhat easier to conceal and, depending, doesn’t slow down your draw much. OWB holsters are positioned somewhere between 3 o’tclock and 4:30 on your waist (if you’re a right-hander). I’m a large size who has to buy XL shirts to conceal my full-size gun carried vertically at 3 o’clock. Over the years, I’ve run Milt Sparks, Galco, and Simply Rugged leather holsters, a Kramer horsehide Vertical Scabbard, and polymer and Kydex holsters from BlackPoint Tactical, Uncle Mike’s, Galco, Blade-Tech, and probably half a dozen others. Currently, I’m running a Safariland 5198 for my daily carry Glock 17 Gen 5, and it’s the fastest OWB holster I’ve run that isn’t a rig specifically intended for IDPA/USPA competition.

Inside the Waistband (IWB)

Carrying a gun inside your pants isn’t quite as comfortable as outside, but makes it much easier to conceal. You’ll need to get pants a couple inches larger than you normally wear to make room for the gun and holster, and you’ll need that same extra length in your belt. Even if the holster has clips, you’ll likely need a belt to help distribute the weight and keep your pants from sagging. As that holster is closer to your body, with likely only underwear between it and you, you might find you prefer something softer and/or with more give than polymer. Some IWB holsters (Crossbreed, etc.) have soft breathable padding on the inside, making extended wear much more comfortable.

The mouth of soft holsters might collapse after your draw, so when practicing you can’t “no look” reholster, you’ll need to use two hands and look the gun back into the holster—just something to think about. This isn’t an issue in a real defensive situation where you wouldn’t be even thinking about putting your gun away until the threat is past.

When carrying IWB I can’t comfortably carry compact guns—due to the curve of my hip, shorter guns dig their muzzles directly into me. For IWB I need to carry something with a barrel length over four inches. The only way you’ll know if you suffer a similar (or different) complication is by carrying various guns in various holsters, at length. Sitting in chairs, or in a car, is a good way to quickly learn if your holster fits you.

Appendix Carry

Appendix carry is also known as appendix inside the Waistband (AIWB). AIWB is nothing new, but it is currently all the rage. I think this is because it is the most comfortable way to carry a large gun inside your pants in a way that is very easily concealable. Most of the time, you can stick a compact or full-size pistol down the front of your pants (center or right of center) and can effectively conceal it with just a t-shirt and get it out very quickly. Most of the new holsters being introduced lately are intended for AIWB. Twenty years ago, you truly would be hard-pressed to find one dedicated AIWB holster, and now pretty much every holster company makes them.

I don’t AIWB carry or recommend it for two reasons. One, I’ve never found it comfortable no matter which holster I’ve tried, and two, most importantly, AIWB carry violates one of the four basic rules of gun safety, namely never pointing your gun at something you don’t intend to destroy. If you’re going to do it, be very careful getting that gun in and out of the holster.

Shoulder Holster

Somewhat popular back in the 70s and 80s, these have fallen out of fashion because you need to wear something to cover them—not necessarily a suitcoat, but maybe a jacket, or a bulky sweatshirt that you’ll have to reach up under. It positions the gun vertically or horizontally under one armpit, and usually a spare magazine or two under the other, and you can carry and conceal a full-size gun. Galco’s Miami Classic II is the shoulder holster against which all others are and should be judged—Don Johnson was running 
an early version of this as Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice, and that’s how it got its name. Today, these are more popular for hunters in the field than they are for CCW.

Pocket Holster

This is self-explanatory. Some people just stick small guns in their pocket, but a dedicated pocket holster keeps that gun oriented correctly and keeps foreign objects out of the trigger guard. Most of them have some sort of sticky exterior so that when you draw the gun the holster stays in your pocket. Highly recommend, no matter who makes them.

Ankle Holster

These have fallen out of fashion for three reasons. First, they are the slowest type to draw from of any body-worn holster. Secondly, you’re relegated to small, light guns. Third, actual fashion—everyone is wearing tights or skinny jeans. You need loose if not downright baggy pants if you want to conceal a pistol at your ankle, and then anything beyond a fast walk will be problematic. However, nobody expects ankle holsters these days, so you’ll have that going for you.

Thoughts

Just like you really won’t know if you’ll like a gun until you shoot it, there’s no way to know if a holster is right for you until you carry a gun in it for a week or a month. Whatever works for you, that is comfortable to wear and easy to draw from, is the right holster for you—because then you’re much more likely to be carrying a gun, and the #1 rule of a gunfight is: have a gun.

If you conceal carry regularly at all you’ll end up with a box in your basement or garage stuffed with holsters that didn’t work out, for one reason or another, but that’s not a bad thing—just consider it hard evidence that you were walking the walk. 

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