First we did belts, now we are moving into holsters. Once again your holster needs to be strong enough to handle the same abuse that your belt should be able to take. You do not want it to fail, in doing its job. Here we have other things to consider, am I concealed carrying, open carrying, manual retention, adjustable retention, inside the waistband, outside the waistband, small of the back, appendix, or ankle holster. That is a lot to sort through. Know this you will have multiple holsters for whatever firearm you decide to carry.
So what are some options.....
I have to say it again, I will receive monetary reimbursement for any products purchased through these links in this blog. I am an Amazon affiliate.
The Black Scorpion Outdoor Gear Competiton Set-up. This option is well suited for competition, but not much use for everyday carry. Is it comfortable, and easy to draw and reholster from?...you bet. Is it practical for concealed carry?...no, it sticks out like a sore thumb. A holster like this is going to print and make it much harder to conceal, so depending on time of year and clothing choices, it might be hard to hide the fact that you are carrying.
Next up, we have a holster that I own and use for certain things, but not for everyday carry. This is a great holster for training because it secures to the light mounted on a pistol, not the pistol itself, meaning if your pistol has a rail section and the light mounts to it, this holster will probably work. I keep this holster mounted on a battle belt and use it for some training classes, depends on the class. If it is a concealed carry training class I utilize my conceal carry holsters and gear. If it is a skills, and tactics class involving movement, transitions, and/or shooting from the ground, I utilize this holster and gear setup. I believe in training in the gear you are going to be carrying and wearing, and I do not wear a battle belt set up for everday carry. Do we utilize many of the same skills in these classes? Yes, but I want you to be comfortable in the gear you carry the majority of the time. Ladies, if you carry in a purse you need to be proficient in drawing and engaging targets from your purse. Make sense? You need to understand what you are capable of with your gear.
Continuing we have a holster that I have carried for years, it is the Bravo Concealment OWB (Outside the Waistband) holster for Glock 17 with Streamlight TLR-1. These are great holsters with good retention and adjustability. Comfortable and with enough adjustment to make concealment fairly easy. Understand, you have to make clothing choices geared to helping you better conceal your firearm and any other gear you're carrying. The last inch of the grip is usually what prints, (meaning gives away the location and the fact you're carrying a firearm). I want the fact that I am carrying, to be a complete suprise to the bad guy, so with that thought process, my clothing and gear choices go towards helping make that a reality. If you wear solid color clothing it is much more dificult to cover up things you are carrying on your waistline. Here is some examples of the types of shirts I wear when I am really trying to hide the fact that I am carrying. Patterned shirts work well to help hide your firearm.
Onto Appendix Carry Inside the Waistband Holsters
This, first one is made by Desantis and has some adjustability in the clips and allows for the carry of a spare mag. Reasonably priced and will do the job.
The one that I am going to recommend, if you want the best, is Tier One Concealment. Below is a direct link.
How about small of the back and ankle holsters. Well here we go. Alright small of the back can be difficult, I prefer a right handed inside waistband holster. Wait what? Well let me explain I use to carry this way when I rode my motorcycle and it became habit, yes I have to draw with my left hand when I carry with this set-up. If I am on the bike my right hand has to run the throttle, make better sense now? Can you draw and engage targets with your left hand as your strong hand? If not I would encourage you to do some dry fire and start figuring out how to get that done. Can you engage and eliminate targets strong hand only, support hand only, right eye dominant, left eye dominant, normal grip, reverse grip (meaning using your support hand as your strong hand and your strong hand as your support hand)? Seems like a bunch of extra info in relation to holster selection, yes and no, you need to think about all of this and it will and should affect your choices for holsters. Ankle holsters really depends on the gun your carrying, if it has a safety, I am ok with some of the nylon, spandex, type holsters. If it does not have a safety, I want a much stronger, Kydex or Leather holster.
In conclusion, you need a minimum level of familiarity with how you want to carry. What position on your body, inside or outside the waistband, how large a firearm, spare mags, tourniquet / med gear, and anything else you want to carry.
I will have another post about other types of gear, lights, knifes, batons, brass knuckles, saps, and other less lethal self defense tools. Please share this post, and I welcome comments and discussion points.
Until next time,
ALWAYS LEARNING....ALWAYS EVOLVING
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