Category: Carrying / Self-Defense

After posting my initial thoughts on the Flashbang holster based on photos & a video, Looper Brand contacted me about reviewing one in person. I figured I would give it a try.

The First Trial – Solids & Retention
The night I found it on our doorstep, I didn’t have the energy or time for a full trial, but I wanted to try it out. We quickly found out that I needed to move up to the longest suede strap for the bras I normally buy. It’s not the end of the world, but it suddenly made me feel like the restrictions on carrying this piece would mean sacrificing the kind of bras a woman prefers to wear. (It is worth noting that Looper announced in the accompanying press release that they will make & sell you custom lengths for your bras should you need them.) The strap is reasonably easy to change, so that’s a plus for any woman who does choose this method and owns more than one style of bra.

I was wearing a ladies t-shirt in a solid color, and Sebastian said he could tell from some angles that something was there, but he could not tell that it was a gun. We also experimented with drawing it, and it was easier than I thought it would be. They describe the holster portion as “thermo-plastic molded clamshell designed to snap in place over the barrel/slide and trigger guard of many small .380 pistols and j-frame revolvers.” Snap indeed. It’s different than anything else I’ve drawn from, so I would suggest that any woman who buys it practices some dry runs.

On the note of the holster, we did have a bit of concern when our first several attempts to put the gun in the clamshell actually moved the slide. That’s just not a sound you really want to hear when you’re talking about a holster under your breasts. However, as I was told by the company, it’s not advised that you holster the gun while you’re wearing it on your bra. Put the gun in first, then attach the strap to your bra. So it’s not really a concern after all, but just something that initially caught our attention.
Continue reading “Flashbang Bra Holster Review”

I love when the desire to editorialize against guns is so strong that they actually contradict themselves. It makes me wonder if newspapers actually have anyone edit their editorials for content.

HB 1652 lets people who hold concealed-carry permits keep firearms locked in their vehicles while on a CareerTech campus. That includes people 21 or older who have completed a training course and undergone a cursory background check.

The problem is that most CareerTech students are teenagers and thus not eligible to carry concealed weapons. HB 1652 will mean that unarmed teens will rub shoulders on campus with armed adults, a potentially dangerous mix.

In Oklahoma, the Tulsa World is arguing against a bill that will force adults to lock legally carried firearms in their cars – therefore leaving them unarmed while on campus – by saying it’s too dangerous to have unarmed teens near these now unarmed adults. I didn’t realize that concealed carry holders who don’t even have guns on their person were so dangerous in society. It would be nice if they had some facts to back that up. Oh, but wait, they don’t like when facts don’t match their view:

Advocates of concealed carry and other laws aimed at arming more Oklahomans are quick to point out that those laws have not resulted in bloodbaths, as critics predicted they might. That might be true, but, on the other hand, there is no evidence that they have prevented public violence or made the citizenry more safe.

So it doesn’t matter that these laws haven’t caused any problems. It doesn’t matter that concealed carry license holders are likely more law-abiding than their teenage counterparts on these campuses. Reason and Logic have clearly left the building there in Tulsa.

Over at the Exurban League, they find some creative uses for an old blackberry case. The only problem with this method is that I actually have this appendage on my belt and it carries an iPhone. The other side, where I’d keep a reload, currently houses a Leatherman multi-tool, which I can’t really live without. But it’s an interesting idea I may have to consider.

Steve from the Firearm Blog wants to know, as a non-bra wearer, what women might think about a bra holster. I watched the video with an open mind, but watching it through a lens of “is this something that a woman could really wear every day (or even semi-regularly) and be somewhat comfortable” isn’t quite the same as trying to show how fast some chick on a range can flash the camera and pull out a gun.

1. I immediately noticed that something was off about her bra under that shirt.  Sure, she’s wearing a somewhat form-fitting top, but it’s not that tight.  While it’s not printing as obviously as some belt carry options, it may still attract unwanted attention in the form of men, women, and possibly children staring to figure out what, exactly, is wrong with a woman’s breasts.  So they won’t likely figure out it’s a gun, but it’s still people staring at your chest and knowing something is off, that’s not attention most women I know would enjoy.
2. The holster is restricted to women with boobs.  That’s not the end of a world for products, as a number of carry options for the waist are often restricted to women with hips or women without hips.  Everyone is built differently, and that’s fine.  But, it’s a reasonable question on how well it will fit a woman with the average bra size.  (Last time I checked, it was like a 36C or somewhere in there.) Their ebay listing says they have them for sizes as small as 32B, but I have my doubts about what a B-cup can realistically conceal.
3. It doesn’t look like it will fit every bra.  This may mean that a woman has to go out and buy all new bras.  That isn’t cheap.  Not to mention, some women find a bra that’s comfortable and stick with it.  Granted, carrying on a belt may have many of the same challenges, but rarely are people as picky about their belt fit as women are about good bra fit.
4. The gun is going to poke some seriously uncomfortable places if you have to move around a lot or even bend down.  Yes, this can be an issue with other on-body carry options, but I think it’s worth pointing out that this holster isn’t anything special.  It’s the same problems, just in a very different area where tolerance for discomfort or adjustment may not be as high.
5. They illustrate this on a mannequin that doesn’t have squishy breasts and on a bra with no underwire.  Considering the photo shows the barrel of the gun tucked into the left cup, this is a potential problem.  One, if it sticks under there too far, ouch.  Two, more than 2/3 of women wear underwire bras.  Even if it is comfortable, a woman will probably have to shape the wires of her bra around it.  It is also likely to push the ends of the underwire into unnatural and highly “pokey” positions. Ouch.
6. The underwire issue takes us back to the problem in point 1, visibility.  If the gun is pushing an entire cup out from your body, it’s more likely to be visible that you have something under there.  I didn’t study the video closely enough to see if their trial chick had on an underwire or not.  I’ll leave that to you men.
7. Lord help you if you have an accidental discharge.  Given the direction that the gun faces, if the holster isn’t incredibly tough, that would be mighty unpleasant.

Hearings are being scheduled for two competing right-to-carry bills in the Wisconsin legislature, one which would make the state shall-issue with pretty similar requirements to Pennsylvania (e.g. no training requirement). The other bill would allow carrying concealed without a license.

I’m amazed by the number of op-eds, any time this issue comes up, that says alcohol and guns don’t mix, and then proceed to mention that the bills prohibit license holders from actually drinking. No one really disagrees with that, it’s just that you can’t legislate responsibility. The people likely to ignore the prohibition on drinking are the same people likely to ignore the prohibitions on taking guns into restaurants in the first place.

For those of you heading to Pittsburgh next week, there’s no law about carrying a firearm into restaurants or bars in PA. It’s perfectly legal. We don’t even have a law that says you can’t drink while carrying. But keep in mind, especially for PA residents, being caught with a gun while intoxicated is generally grounds for having your LCTF revoked. How much do you want to bet NRA members manage to pull off another successful convention without having everyone get drunk and shoot up the place?