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.
Any experienced and well trainied CCW holder will tell you that it may be wise to change your holster or carry gun during the change in seasons. I’ve spotted more than a few CCW holders out in the open when it was pretty obvious that the machismo took the best of them and they just had to keep carrying that 1911 IWB at 5 o’clock in the summer months as they were 5’7″ and didn’t realize that when they were standing in line at the super market that I could see the T-shirt bunched up around the belt line.
Uncle Mikes holsters have been around for a long time and I know some people have it in for them because they aren’t very expensive and many of them are made out of Nylon. After being in the gun industry for so many years, I’m starting to be amazed at the number of people I have respect for that are walking around with 38 Specials and 32ACP pocket guns and believe me, they aren’t underpowered. The experts don’t always carry the most expensive holsters and gear, sometimes they just use when is neccessary and don’t waste money.
Additionally, holsters with this all-new ergonomic design are completely operable with the thumb making training easy, and the straight up draw makes them very instinctive to use, yet difficult for an assailant’s attempted takeaway. And finally, once the retention devices are released, the weapon can be drawn straight out of the holster with no twisting or other motion required.