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Product: Lightningwear Deep Concealment Holster

Specifications: Two-pocket Nylon with a built in Velcro belt.

Price: At time of writing, about $40 on eBay

Dimensions.

Some of the descriptions say, “waist up to 40 inches.” A couple others say, “up to 50 inches.” I currently have a 48” waist and it works fine for me so I don’t know what the 40” people are talking about. That’s kind of what the elastic parts of the belt are for.

Each pocket is just over 5” deep at the bottom on the inside.

Outside is 7” from the bottom of the pocket to the top of the material that sits up against you.

The top of the pocket is about 8.5”.

What kind of holster is this?

This is one of the more interesting holsters out there. It isn’t, for me, a daily carry, but it used to be. It is good for certain niches, though. Like, say, carrying at the gym.

Advantages:

• One of the best pure concealment options.
• It’s quite comfortable.
• Holds a wide variety of guns, within certain size parameters.
• You can adjust it for you, specifically.
• Good retention.

Disadvantages:

• Getting it off requires some effort.
• So does going to the bathroom. You’ll learn quickly not to make it so tight you can’t move it to one side.
• Utterly useless while sitting and not all that fast while standing.
• There’s a bit of a mental issue to be overcome considering where it’s placed.

Where do I use it?

I don’t normally carry this every day, but I have.

1. I used to drive a delivery van for someone you’ve heard of. They’d tell us how important our safety was and then have a no guns policy. Forget bad people; some of the areas I was in had snakes, cougars, and various other wildlife that could be rabid. Anyway, my policy was to have my gun so I used this. Pants or shorts, it concealed perfectly.
2. It’s great for the gym. Much more secure than a pocket of gym shorts. Or sticking it into a locker with a “lock” that barely qualifies as such.
3. I’ve used it when doing some manual labor where a waist or ankle holster could be a problem. Disassembling an old spa comes to mind. Even pocket holsters lose some security when you’re either horizontal under things or possibly with your head slightly downhill. If you’re downhill with the Lightningwear your waistband or belt help provide retention. Or your belly. Whatever.

Let’s look a bit deeper at the lists.

Advantages.

People do not normally look at your crotch, at least not if you’re a guy. And even if they do it’s not like the gun prints. The only thing might be a certain flatness to the front of your pants. I also normally wear black or navy shorts so even that doesn’t really show much.

I was worried about the comfort level of this at first but I wasted my worry. The normal procedure is to put your shirt on first, then put this over the shirt. That does a couple things: it puts a layer of cloth between you and the belt part; it also helps keep your shirt tucked in which I liked a lot. As I said, I would wear this 10, 11 hours at a time and have no problems.

As you can see from the picture, the Shield, with two spare magazines, fits quite well and is very comfortable. That’s the only gun I’ve ever used this with. I took some pictures of other guns I own.

The J-frame would work just fine. The RAMI looks mostly pretty good but the beavertail kind of sticks out the top a bit. That is an issue. The Sig 2022 is right out; it sticks out too far.

You adjust it when you put it on: tightness, hang, location, etc. Once you get it right you’re good for the day. If you get it wrong you can adjust it later but you will need some privacy for that.

Your gun isn’t going anywhere. There’s nothing specific to the holster to retain the gun but it’s pressed against you and the grip is below your waistband. Gravity and friction are your friends.

Disadvantages.

Once it’s on, it’s on. The easiest way to remove it so to take off, or at least lower, your pants. Not something to be done in public unless you’re trying to attract attention to you and your gun.

You will have to shift it to the side to use the restroom. It’s kind of a pain at first but you get used to it and it’s not a big deal.

Maybe skinny guys can get to this while sitting but that’s not really what this site is about, is it? (It’s OK skinny people; you can still stay here and read if you like.) For me, I have to basically do a reverse plank and then move it past my belly while getting past my belted pants. Driving is even worse since you have less room to maneuver. Trigger discipline is important here. Even while standing I wouldn’t call this fast but it can be decent with some practice.

The mental issue. I don’t know if this is still the big deal it used to be now that appendix carry is more accepted. I’m not sure I have to say this but I will: a gun in front of your junk is safer than one pointing at your junk. Still, it took me some time to get used to it. My Shield has the manual safety so that helped.

Reholstering.

The idea of speed reholstering is silly. Which is good because that’s a truly awful idea with this holster. You need to reholster slowly and with deliberation and attention. I personally think that’s the best way to reholster pretty much all guns in any holster but it is more critical here. If possible, I will at least unfasten my belt before reholstering. I make sure my manual safety is engaged before reholstering. With a hammer gun I ride the hammer with my thumb and pay attention to the feeling in that thumb.

Quality.

I’ve had this holster for several years now. It’s in fine condition. Nothing has unraveled, no loose threads, the Velcro sticks as well as it did when I first bought it. Speaking of the Velcro, they were smart enough to put the hook part of it so that it is pointing out so that if you don’t get the straps lined up perfectly you get the soft, loop part against your skin.

If I ever need another one I’ll get this in a heartbeat. At its current rate I expect it will last long enough I may never need another one.

Conclusion.

The Lightningwear is marketed as “deep concealment.” There are some very good reasons for deep concealment. And a few bad ones. Choose wisely. Myself, I may or may not care about some private company’s policies if they conflict with my own. Laws are another story; I don’t carry where it’s illegal. Well, there was that once but that was ignorance and I won’t repeat it.

I like the holster. I think it’s situational and will never completely replace my IWB but when it’s good it’s really good.

The best place I know of to get one is on eBay and they’re relatively inexpensive. If you think this could work for you then go on over and pick one up.