So, this is why I’m partial to the belly band and similar elastic wraps for concealment. While they don’t hide all my extra poundage, they typically do a respectable job stashing ounces here and there. Like most things in life, this style of carry is by no means perfect. But depending on where you’re going and what you’re wearing, the pros often outweigh the cons (especially for women).
To help demonstrate this phenomenon, I have enlisted the aid of our lovely concealment model, Random Anonymous Chick With Adorable Dog. RACWAD advises me that in none of these photos is she armed with any less than two full-sized pistols, one spare mag, and two knives. No less than that. She beseeches you all to please pardon her smudgy mirror and inartful selfies.
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- The Hippie Shirt
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- The Bousy Shirt
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- The Draped Shirt
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- Not much printing here.
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- Slight butt print on this side.
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- No belt loops? No prob.
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- Suck in the gut, RACWAD!
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- Prints obscure prints.
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- Adorable Dog!
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- Very light summer fabric.
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- Peek-A-Boo
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- Peek-A-Boo #2
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- Even with heels…
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- Last resort, if necessary.
The holsters that Glock used to market for their firearms (haven’t seen any in a while), IIRC “Glock Sports Holster” or similar, can be sewn into a belly band and will allow easy and safe reholstering. “Fatdog” describes doing this over on TPI (TotalProtectionInteractive.com). If you’re unable to find on of the Glock made holsters, I’d think that Kydex covering the trigger guard would achieve the same result.
Glock does list a “Sport Combat Holster” on their accessories page for $14.
Not sure if it’s the same one:
https://store.teamglock.com/accessories.html?p=2
Thanks KM (and thanks to Hal too)! I’ve tried the Sport Holster by itself, and personally I wasn’t crazy about it as is. The belt slots are awkwardly situated and create a bulky set of lumps on either side of the pistol. And again, it requires belt loops, which women’s clothing often doesn’t have. But I haven’t tried Hal’s idea of sewing one into a belt band. That sounds very interesting … and worth a shot!
Tina should contact me if she wants to take legal action for the unauthorized use of her likeness. She should at a minimum be entitled to a nice treat. On a more serious note, I have concerns with regard to the safety of belly bands and appendix carry. A negligent discharge most likely will result in a rupture of the femoral artery. Last year an instructor in northern Illinois shot herself reholstering and nearly died notwithstanding the fact that skilled medical care was immediately available. It would be my luck to occur in BFE and I would not have a chance. Please convince me that I am being too skiddish.
Spoken like a true gentleMAN! 😉
I don’t think you’re being too skiddish. All great concerns to have. A few counterpoints. First, I don’t do appendix carry. I know a lot of good folks who do it, but personally I just can’t. Never have, don’t think I ever will. Too much self-muzzling. As for the belly band, I think the biggest disadvantage is that you can’t really train with it (except for short sessions), because the holster collapses with every draw. Requires too much manipulation to re-holster repeatedly. In other words, it’s really slow. If I trained with my holster, I’d fall behind on the line. The band would also start to rise with that many repititions and it would end up in my arm pits. That’s not an issue when I’m just walking around throughout the day and not messing with it. If I ever had to draw in real life, I would only have to re-holster once, not three hundred times like in a training course.
So the impediment is not so much muzzling as it is gear migration (and again, only with training, not with field carry). Even after using my weak hand to re-open the holster, I don’t muzzle myself with a belly band. I simply reholster as carefully as I would with leather or kydex (but yes, it isn’t nearly as fast — coming out or going back in). As for potential injuries, keep in mind that a bullet will pass through leather or kydex just as easily as it would travel through elastic. So I suspect that instructor who shot herself might have more of a trigger-finger issue than a gear issue.
Ideally I would rather carry with a gun belt and leather holsters. But the reality is, that would reduce me to cargo pants and oversized shirts everyday. Or conspicuous vests or jackets in the summer time. That can get to be so cumbersome that I might end up not carrying at all, which is not an option. Unlike men’s clothing, most women’s clothing has no belt loops. Skirts, pants, doesn’t matter. Women’s suits — no loops (or tiny one-inch loops meant for super-skinny belts that are more decorative than utilitarian). Frankly unless I’m wearing jeans, there’s a nearly 100% chance I have no belt loops. For years, I wore my gunbelt on my bare skin or just floating outside my pants, and I have the permanent scars to show for it. Often when I drew, I’d pull the whole belt up with the gun, which was a recipe for disaster. That’s not an issue with the belly band. While I’m the first to admit it’s not a perfect system, so far the band has been the best balance between competing goals: speed, comfort, concealability, and safety/security (including not muzzling myself or anyone else). But I’m still experimenting. The band I wear now is the product of several trips to a seamstress for tweaks and adjustments. It’s the third one I’ve had made in less than a year. And right now I’m looking into sewing strips of kydex along the top of the holster to keep it from collapsing, but even then I have to be careful to keep enough tension to secure the weapon firmly. So many balancing acts! A work in progress! – tgj
… Tina says she’s gonna give you a call….