First, smaller guns are easier to hide.  File that under “no duh?”, right?  You would be surprised by the number of people that I meet who want to hide a massive weapon for one reason or another.  It doesn’t matter to me what the reason might be, or what the perceived need is for that hand cannon… the bigger it is, the harder it hides, it’s as simple as that.  If you pick on a smaller weapon, you are going to have more concealment options.

Next, sharp angles and pointy things HURT.  Oh, and they hurt YOU.  Anytime you have an odd or pointy shape pointed against your body, you are asking for pain.  If you got to carry a gun with such features, there are ways to help, such as switching to Outside the waistband holsters, or using something that gets it away from being pressed against your body (belly band, concealment T-shirt), but it is something that needs to be considered.

Your best bet for a convenient concealment gun is going to be one that’s as rustproof as possible.  If you get a finely blued gun, sooner or later, you are probably going to be cleaning surface rust (or worse) from it.  Pick a stainless, a hard chromed, a nickel plated gun, or a duracoated gun (or just one with a really nice hard finish), and you will spend a lot less time worrying about the metallurgical state of your weapon.

Safety features of the gun in question:  Make sure that you are are comfortable with the safety features on your weapon, that there are enough for you to be comfortable, and that you practice until the muscle memory takes over and you don’t have to think about pulling down the safeties when you need the gun.  If you aren’t familiar with what “muscle memory” is, it’s the phenomena where you are so used to doing something, that you automatically do it without having to think about the steps involved.  Think “buttoning up your shirt” or “tying your shoelaces”…  you just do it without thinking “this goes here, and I push on that”…

The thinner, the better… usually.  Automatics tend to be thin already, but some of them are still quite thick.  A thinner gun is simply easier to hide than a thick one.  Single stack mag weapons (guns with magazines that hold one round on top of the other, not “staggered” to put more rounds on it) tend to have the thinnest outlines, because they dont’ have to accomodate a double stacked magazine well.  However, there are some double stacked guns out there with pretty thin outlines, so again, choose carefully.

Price comes up again, not only because you need to be able to afford to buy the gun (because even if it’s perfect for you, if you can’t afford it, it doesn’t help), but because you need to actually be willing to CARRY the weapon.  Time and time again, I’ve heard people talk about their perfect carry weapon… that they don’t have on them.  Why?  Because if they carried it, it might get rusty, scratched, dinged, or otherwise depreciated.  I understand that (I have a “safe queen” or two myself), but that doesn’t help out when you need a weapon.  Sometimes, picking on an ugly and relatively cheap weapon as your day to day carry makes perfect sense, especially if you actually carry it day to day, rather than leave it in the safe at home.  The gun you have with you is far more effective than the gun that you left at home.

Of course, reliability of the weapon is a key concern, and that should be obvious to anyone.  Reliability not only affects wether it goes “boom” when you want it to, it also affects wether or not it goes “boom” when you DON’T want it to.  Make sure that the weapon that you choose is reliable enough to satisfy you in both of these regards.

Bear in mind, that there is no one perfect gun, otherwise, that’s the only one that would ever be made.  Every weapon has a mix of features and benefits (and liabilities), that you are going to have to weigh to find out what works for you in the situations that you find yourself in.  Just be sure to think about the options carefully, and in time, you will find youself a good option or two.

Why is this?  Well, it’s not too hard to figure out… guns have a good amount of mass and weight, even the smallish ones.  The more mass and weight you hang on your pants, the more problematic they are going to be to control.  A good belt not only helps to distribute that mass and weight around a bit more, but it helps to prevent unwanted movement, both of the holster and weapon, and of of the pants…

When I speak of a good, strong belt here,  I’m not necessarily talking about specialty belts such as kydex reinforced belts, or specialized duty belts, although both are excellent for the job (although the duty belt might be a bit obvious).  Good quality belts can be had elsewhere… I’ve got one that came from a local mens wear store that only cost me $25.00, and it has plenty of stiffness to do the job.  What you want to find, is one that doesn’t easily flex “up and down”, but will still wrap around you properly.  Take a belt in your hand… place your thumb and index finger on the top edge and bottom edge of the belt, and try to push them together.  If you can do this easily, this probably won’t make a good holster belt for you.  If you can’t push them togehter easily, you probably will do OK.

Now, don’t rule out specialty belts such as kydex reinforced ones… those actually have some excellent points to them.  The problem is, they may be more expensive than what you are willing to pay, and you may be able to get the same functionality out of a more traditional mens belt with a little shopping.

Be sure to apply the “squeeze test” liberally, though… my experience has been that most  belts are more about fashion appeal than practical use now, and many of them are just not strong enough to actually help out in this situation.

Bear in mind, that these tips at most helpful when you are carrying waistline or below… IWB (Inside the waist), OWB (outside the waist), pocket holster (Yeah, it helps a little), and even ankle holster (keeps your pants in the right place).  If you are carrying above the waist, such as a belly band, concealment t-shirt, shoulder holster, or necklace holster, then a strong belt system isn’t important for your carry ability, although it’s still not a bad idea in general.

To state the obvious here… if you are willing to pay more, you probably will end up getting more.  However, it’s not a given that you have to pay more to get a good concealment rig, it all depends on what works well for you.

To state another fact that should be obvious, there is such a thing as too cheap… if the holster doesn’t perform to spec, or worse yet, performs and then fails miserably, it doesn’t matter how cheap it was, it was way too expensive in the long run.  At best, a cheap holster may embarrass you by dropping your gun during a failure.  You could easily end up in legal trouble if your holster failed and showed your weapon in public, and in the worst case scenario, someone is hurt or killed because the holster failed.

Make sure that the holster that you pick fits you properly, holds the gun properly, and appears to have a high quality of construction and materials.  If you are uncertain about any of these issues, perhaps you should wait until you find something that you are more certain of.    After all, it’s only your life and the lives of your loved ones at stake here…

Seriously, though, picking a good holster is an integral part of carrying concealed, and picking the right holster FOR YOU is an especially important part of the process.  You may go through a holster or two (or ten) before you find a few sets that you really like… but when you weigh the options, that’s better than not carrying at all.

The best concealment rig in the world is totally useless if you can’t present the weapon when you need to, in order to influence the situation at hand.  Because of this, you should always consider how easy and fast it is to get your weapon into play from a given concealment rig.  Before making a holster purchase, put it on, stick your gun (or an acceptable substitute such as an aluminum dummy gun) into it, and see how easily it is to draw, keeping in mind that some holsters need a “break in period” before they draw really easily.

Retention, the ability to keep the weapon where it’s supposed to be, really breaks down into a couple of issues… keeping the weapon from disloding from your own efforts, and keeping it out of the hands of others.

Let me address the “keeping it from others’ issue first… Police officers use specialty retention holsters all the time, as well they should.  Their weapons are “front and center” and on the minds of every perp looking to get an advantage.  Without a good retention system, more bad guys would get their hands on more police weapons, which is NOT a pretty sight.  Retention holsters are very much an excellent idea for anyone with an exposed weapon, because it helps to keep the perps from arming themselves with someone else’s weapon.

Do you see the caviet there?  “Exposed weapon”.  If a weapon is properly concealed in the first place, no one knows that they should be grabbing it, let along knowing -where- to grab it from.  Retention against others is probably, in my opinion, more of an overblown issue for the average Concealed Carry person, one that really doesn’t have a lot of bearing on their situation.  I’m sure that there are those out there that will disagree with me on that, but sorry, it’s my blog and I can call it as I see it.  Get your own blog!    Still, even with that, it’s a decision that you, yourself, have to make in regards to your situation… perhaps everyone in the universe knows that you carry, and you don’t want people pawing your piece.  If you feel you need it, you probably do, so go for it.

Now, the other half of the retention issue is “retention against your own actions”.  If you jog, run regularlly, dogsled, or whatever, you should take into account your physical exertions and how likely they are to affect your carry.  There is nothing quite so embarrassing as having your gun fall out in front of some sheep, and having to scurry not only to get it back away, but explain to the sheep that they shouldn’t be alarmed by this.  Only you know your physical activity level, and how likely you are to perform a sudden backflip, so that’s another piece of the puzzle that you need to work on.

Even if you are the proverbial couch (or mouse) potato, there are situations that might bear watching… the old saw of losing your gun in the restroom stall is repeated often, because, well, it’s repeated often… if you have a concealment rig that’s vunerable to having your pants down, perhaps you should think about this carefully before putting yourself in this situation.  An ounce of prevention, and all that, really beats a pound of pistol skittering into the next stall.

The other half of this, though, is that the more secure the weapon is, the slower/harder it’s going to be to put it into action.  Lets face the fact here that when you need the weapon, you are NOT going to have plenty of time to leisurely draw and present the weapon, making sure that you do everything that you need to be doing… you are going to be rushed, pressed upon (sometimes literally), and the andrenaline is gonna be pumping.  Your friends and family are depending on you to do the right thing, and do it NOW!  The simplier this is to accomplish, the more likely you will accomplish it, it’s as plain as that.

Any rig should be practiced with just for this reason, and that includes rigs with and without any extra retention systems.  If they have retention systems, all the more reason you should practice with them until drawing through the retention is second nature for you, something that you do NOT have to think about, something that you can accomplish when the only thing you can see is the perp, period.

Why is comfort so important?  Simply put, the more problematic it is for you to carry your defense weapon, the more likely you are to forget it, accidentily or on purpuse, because you just don’t want to put up with the hassles.  Some people take this to the extreme of only carrying “when they think that something is gonna happen”.  Hogwash!  The problem with life, is that it doesn’t schedule things for you, nor does it play fair.  Things happen when you don’t expect them to, not when it’s convenient for you.  As stated in my overview, you don’t wear your car safety belt only when you expect to be in an accident, why treat your defense weapon any differently?

Simply put, Comfort is necessary, at least to some degree, because it encourages you to carry constantly, not just “when you think you might need it”.  There is no colder feeling than finding yourself in a bad situation, that could be averted with your defense weapon… only to remember that you left it at home.

I want to stress again, this is yet another reason why it’s so important to try on your perspective rig, with a gun (or an acceptable substitute) in it, before making a decision on using it.  If the holster isn’t comfortable, you should look for something that is, period.

Concealment is a very big deal here.  Lets face it, not only is it called “concealed carry” for a reason, but in many areas, failure to properly conceal can be considered a crime unto itself.  Even if it’s not a crime, you end up causing a ruckus, attracting official attention, and just plain end up making the rest of us look bad…  we have enough issues with the sheep already, afraid of us simply because we actually chose to take responsibility for ourselves and our loved ones… lets not give them any reason to think about us any further, especially in a negative light.  Think hard about the true concealment of your weapon, not only the holster or rig, but also the “rest of the package”… you, how you dress, how you act, even what weapon you pick to carry affects this.  Larger weapons are harder to hide, all other things being equal.  Plus, how you act is very important as well… the best concealment in the world can be blown by absently putting your hand on your weapon and/or rig to adjust it while waiting in line at the grocery store.  Get a good rig that doesn’t need adjustment, and don’t adjust it, at least not where people can see, ok?

It’s vital that you try on a holster before you buy it, if for no other reason than to find out if it actually concealed on your body frame.  What conceals for your buddy, or the magazine writer that penned that wonderous writeup on the XZY 2000 holster, or the mega-sporting goods store clerk, may or may not conceal on you the same way.  TRY IT FIRST!  If in doubt about how well it conceals, ask a friend, a passerby, the store clerk, find a mirror, whatever… make sure that it hides properly.

Now, there’s a fine line between “realistically hidden” and “vanished into thin air”.  If you can see it, knowing where to look exactly because you just put it there, that doesn’t mean that every sheep passing by is gonna start bleating “man with a gun!”.  If you can see a small telltale, realize that it’s because you know where to look and why to look.. the vast majority of the population doesn’t.  However, the fewer tells you can give off, the better.  Aim to have fewer tells whenever possible within reason.

Also keep in mind that, unless you wear the same set of clothes all the time, the holster that works so well with what you had on when you tried it on, may or may not work as well with your “Sunday go to meeting” clothes, or your “working on the lawn” clothes, or your “taking the spouse to the grocery store” clothes.  I’m sure you get my drift.  Not everything works with everything all the time… be prepared to be creative.

And so, without further ado….

I won’t claim to be an expert on the matter, but in the past couple of years, spending nearly every weekend at one gun show or another, talking to thousands of people about what works and doesn’t work for them, I’ve managed to come up with a thing or two to think about regarding concealed carry techniques.

First and foremost, there is one thing that is true 100% of the time… there is no such thing as a perfect concealed carry system.  Everything is a trade off to one extent or another, and even when you find a good system for you, it won’t necessarily -always- be the answer for you, because circumstances change.  What works well in the dead of winter, might be a bit obvious in the heat of summer, for example…

Now, if you are a grizzled old veteran of concealed carry, you probably know all this already.  I’m writing this more for those people who are just thinking about “what do I do when I get my CCW license?”, to help get them thinking in the directions of solving the riddle that is “what do they do”… because it’s just that, a riddle, not a pat answered question that some “expert” can rattle off without even looking at you.

Everything is a tradeoff, but what elements are you trading?  Well, every concealment rig or system has elements of the following:

[1] Concealability. If the weapon isn’t hidden, then you have a big honking problem usually.  An obvious weapon isn’t “concealed”, it scares the sheep, and it gives away your advantage.  Plus, it tends to attract curious law enforcement officers that want to know what part of “concealed” you failed to understand.

[2] Comfort. If the rig isn’t comfortable, you aren’t going to carry it very often.  Carrying a weapon “only when you expect to need it” is kind of like wearing your safety belts in your car “only when you expect to be in an accident”.  Unless you happenn to work for the psychic friends network and can accurately predict the future, get over this malarky and get used to carrying 100% of the time, excepting of course those times and places prohibited by law.  And then, carry to those places and from those places, just not AT those places. 

[3] Accessability/retention. Two sides of the same coin.  If the gun isn’t accessable, it’s probably useless, if it’s not where it’s supposed to be when it’s supposed to be there, it’s worse than useless.

[4] Cost and durability. Lets face it, the most perfect holster in the world does you no good if you can’t afford to buy it and use it.  And if the holster falls apart on you, or fails to operate as advertised when you need it, it doesn’t matter how cheap it was, it still cost too much. 

That’s the highlights, now we have to get into the specifics….