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Who knows? The best concealed carry holster is going to vary by person and possibly day to day. My normal carry method is an M&P Shield and an IWB holster. Sometimes I have the Shield in a different kind of holster. I have a 1911 that I sometimes carry in an OWB holster with an overshirt. I have a fanny pack that I use for walking and bike riding. It’s large and can carry a full size gun; I normally have my XDm in it but sometimes my 1911. Sometimes the best I can do is pocket carry and I have my Pico for that.
Table of Contents
Fear not the holster drawer
The point is that it’s going to take some experimentation for you to find what works for you. This means you’ll end up with the holster drawer. Although in my case I have a storage shortage at home so it’s an old gym bag in the closet. Most of us have something like this. It may seem like a waste but it’s not. How else are you going to learn if not from experimentation?
You don’t have to spend the mortgage to test holsters
I’m not suggesting that you go out and spend a lot of money on expensive holsters. Nor am I saying that you should go to the gun show and find the cheapest little thing you can lay your hands on. I am saying that you can try out different holsters for not all that much money. I currently have about 20. One or two of them are really cheap that I wasted money on. Most of the others are quality holsters that didn’t cost that much. The most I’ve spent is around $60.
Many quality holster manufacturers have choices that aren’t that expensive. I have holsters from DeSantis, Alien Gear, and CrossBreed. None of them approached triple digit pricing. I recently reviewed the DeSantis Super Fly; the most expensive version of that I found available was under $40. I don’t remember exactly how much I spent on mine because I’ve had it for a while now. This is a quality holster that I’ve carried several times a week for several months now. On the other hand, if you can afford it and want to buy only the absolute best and most expensive for your testing then go right ahead. There’s nothing wrong with that approach. Most of us have a budget of some kind; I’m merely pointing out that a budget doesn’t preclude finding a good, quality holster.
Find the perfect holster for you
Ideally you would like to settle on the carry method you want, buy the best holster you can afford, and be done with it. Good luck with that. I said above there’s not a best concealed carry holster. There may not even be a best or perfect one for you. As I mentioned above what’s “perfect” for me can vary from day to day.
When I first got my M&P Shield to carry I was thinking pocket carry all the way. That notion lasted about 10 minutes after I got a pocket holster. The Shield was simply too big for my pockets/legs. Printed like crazy. Then I realized the car I had at the time had a pocket across the front of the seat cushion. That same pocket holster fit there perfectly and positioned the gun perfectly concealed between my legs as I was driving. Use your imagination.
I lived in Florida at the time so anything requiring a jacket was never going to work. So I moved on to IWB. Not having a lot of cash I wanted to try something inexpensive. I ended up with a DeSantis Sof-Tuck (Amazon link) that I carried for months. Eventually I replaced it with something that worked better for me but I still use the Sof-Tuck from time to time.
The point is that what you think you want may not be exactly what you finally settle on. And even after you’ve settled on a good method you’re probably still going to want to play around with other things. You’re going to get a new gun, or see something cool at a gun show, or just see a carry method or holster that you like and want to try it. Go for it. Worst that can happen is you’ll find out it won’t work for you.
Or maybe even that you’ll realize after you bought it that the holster wasn’t really a good idea. I have one or two that are still in their packaging. Impulse buys at a gun show. What can I say? Maybe some day…
Short periods for experimentation
I strongly urge you to not throw a brand new holster on for your full day. Sometimes a perfectly good holster needs a little breaking in or your body needs time to adjust to it. Maybe you need to learn how it rides. It’s much easier to learn those lessons two or three hours at a time. If you wear a new holster for 10, 11 hours at a stretch you may find some new pains the next day. More importantly, if your holster gets uncomfortable during the day you’ll be tempted to adjust it. It’s a normal human response; something is bothering you then you try to fix it. In this case it will telegraph that you’re armed to people around you in the know. “Concealed” is an important part of “concealed carry.” Most people may not notice and most of the ones who do aren’t a problem. There is always the chance that someone more criminally minded may realize you’re armed, though. You don’t want that.
Conclusion
The only way to learn is to try. That’s going to take some time and money but it doesn’t have to take a lot of either. And even after you’ve discarded something, consider it discarded for now, not forever. I mentioned my Shield that I’d tried to pocket carry before and how that just didn’t work. As I was writing that I started thinking that I wear pants and shorts with cargo pockets a lot now. Maybe it’ll work better in a cargo pocket. I’ll give it a shot later.
