I’ve seen people I’ve suspected of carrying, but not anything this obvious. I’m sure I’ve blared out at full volume before myself, though. Since Bitter has been around, I sometimes get “You’re printing wearing that, just so you know.” No, I didn’t know. I’d worn that before and didn’t think it would be a problem. Sometimes it helps to have an extra pair of eyes for that kind of thing.
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At the end of the day….this isn’t that obvious.
Could’ve been a cellphone. :-)
That’s one of my pet peeves with holster makers. They leave too much of the gun above the waistline… on some holsters my hand is practically at shoulder level before the muzzle clears the top of the leather! And it leaves a nasty bulge under a t-shirt. And with a blocky gun like Glock, a forward cant leaves a bulge from the rear of the slide while a straight cant leaves a bulge at the bottom of the handle. There doesn’t seem to be any “happy middle”. This is where the Browning Hi-Power really shines – they practically disappear under nothing more than a t-shirt and they’re more comfortable on my hip than some of those blocky “sub-compacts” on the market, some of which print worse than a full-sized 1911.
My Versa-Max II is the only holster I have that somehow magically allows a full grip AND keeps the gun lower in my waistline for a smooth and fast draw while giving me excellent concealment and comfort as well.
Indeed; I’d need a strong reason to look somewhere other than Milt Sparks for my holsters, although I’ve settled on the slightly bulkier Summer Special (belt loops over the holster instead of to the side) for a variety of reasons.
I suppose including wanting one since the ’80s ^_^, but also the dual belt straps neatly capture a single belt loop of a pair of jeans. For the ones I wear, just about where I want my gun (if not, you should get your belt loops moved as needed). Like Trevor Shepherd I don’t worry so much about showing, especially since Missouri just passed a law making it crystal clear that is OK if the context is OK. My setup at ~ 5 o’clock does stick out a bit (full length grip 1911s), but no one has ever remarked.
One other reason is that you can get them immediately from Brownells for a selection of 1911s, Glocks and SIGs.
I also like their single magazine pouch, but there are plenty of good options for that sort of thing. But if you’re willing to wait for the turnaround of a custom shop, you can get it exactly the way you want it, e.g. smooth against the inside (my skin in summer for the top part) and rough against your pants so it slides around less.
I used to worry about stuff like that. Now I use the “I don’t really care” method of conceal carry. In PA, it is legal to open carry, so we don’t have any of that silly “brandishing” stuff. I personally think there are numerous tactical reasons to keep it completely concealed, but it is not a legal issue. I make a good effort to conceal it (OWB holster with a cover shirt) but I don’t care if someone can see that I have a gun. Most people are not looking and even if they do see it, I just don’t care. I thought it was a little odd, maybe even irresponsible to think and act this way, and then I read a multi-page thread on The Firing Line where just about 99% of the people posting to that thread voiced the same attitude. I kept thinking that the “next person” would blast us all for our attitude, etc, but in the whole thread, maybe only one or two people posted negative thoughts and those were quite tame.
One other thing: Michael Bane always says that men do not look at other men’s belt line and crotch areas, and he cites the social phobia associated with doing so. I don’t know how true that is, and in fact I look at other men’s belt lines all the time. Maybe I should see a therapist….
Anyway, on that Firing Line thread that I mentioned above, one guy said that he carried a full-size S&W 44 Magnum in a belt holster covered by a shirt for an entire month just to see if anyone would notice. He said it looked like he had half of a grapefruit stuck to his belt line, and yet for an entire month not one single person ever said anything to him. Doesn’t mean that it was not obvious to dozens, but apparently not concerning enough to anyone for that person to mention it.
OC is legal in WA, so I practice “lazy” CC. I conceal, but I don’t lose any sleep over it. There are very few places that I go where it could be an issue, and if someone doesn’t want my business, I’m happy to take it elsewhere.
That said, 10 months out of the year, CC is pretty easy here, where a flannel or other overshirt is, if not obligatory, never enough to raise so much as an eyebrow.
I am pretty much with Trevor on the “don’t really care” mentality. It is not a legal issue where I live. Not only do I not care if I print or expose muzzle, no one else around here seems to either.
Sig’s comment hits the point. I live in a relatively hot and arid environment so for 8 months of the year firearm/holster selection requires careful consideration, as does clothing options. I admittedly got lazy in my carry choices as a LEO where I knew that if anyone saw or questioned the lump on my hip I just had to show the brass pass to explain it away. I still selected quality equipment, and tried to conceal appropriately for tactical security, I just wasn’t worried if sometimes the make, model or even serial number printed in cotton was obvious to the casual observer. It wasn’t until I became a civilian again that I realized just how lax I had gotten when my wife looked me over one day and said “Are you really going to wear that gun under that shirt?†I looked in the mirror and my first thought was “I wonder if a flat mainspring housing would be less noticeable.†My second thought was “I wonder how much it’s going to cost to reproduce my entire wardrobe one size bigger?â€