belt slides and others

[RHC]

While waiting for the CCW to come in I've been
buying holsters for my glock 26. (I also have a Taurus
UL 85, but let's save that for later.)

So far I have a:

1. Alessi ankle holster (very tight, very high quality):
2. De Santis gun caddie (belt pouch), 26 really only fits
well in the big outer pocket);
3. Don Hume thumb break for secure carry (owb);
4. Sidearmor IWB with both belt loops and J-hooks.

All these are good quality and I hope to use them for
years.

Now I also bought a fairly cheap belt slide made of nylon.
Someone on another thread mentioned that belt slides
were great when you needed to take your gun off to go
into a self-defense free zone like a library, since the
slide didn't really look like a holster.

Now that got me thinking. The slide has belt loops on either side, so in theory you could wear it inside your
belt, and then it would be almost invisible when you
took the gun out, even if you tucked your shirt in.

So the question is, is this practical, or would it be took hard to reholster?

Would it be safe to put the holster between the belt
and the waistband of the pants?

The sidearmor J-hooks also allow you to take the gun off
fairly easily, though there is a little more manipulation.

By the way, I'm still in a holster-buying frenzy, so
if I'm missing any great ways to conceal the 26,
let me know.

[JimFox]

I have two belt slide holsters for 1911 pattern guns - three if you count a Milt Sparks Mirage as a belt slide.

One, the BS-2 from Mark THG, is an excellent little rig. It is curved, stiff and retains a Colt Officers well. Because of the general shape and quality of the holster I would not recommend wearing it inside the belt - though one could.

The other slide holster I have is an old S&W slide holster which is essentially two pieces of leather sewn together. I have occassionally carried it as an inside-the-belt-outside-the-waistband holster. With certain pants that works well.

Using most belt slide holster as an inside-the-belt holster will give problems with positioning because most will require you to carry in an odd position or skip a belt loop. If you are handy enough with a needle and thread to move belt loops, or have a really good stiff belt, you can get by with the practice. It does tuck the gun in more closely and makes the rig more concealable.

If you would want to use an inside-the-belt-outside-the-waistband holster I would recommend getting one designed for that type of carry. The Milt Sparks Mirage is one such and the one I have is one of my favorites. These holsters generally have a tunnel loop and are a lot less prone to conflicts with belt loops.

I use the Mirage with a Kimber Ultra and favor a carry position somewhere short of an appendix carry, yet just forward of my strong side hip. For summer carry this is very concealable with most untucked shirts - even the lighter weight fabrics. Yet it carries outside the waistband and avoids a lot of the problems with our E. Texas Sweat Factor. With the semi-appendix carry you are also a lot less prone to printing - or flashing when you reach for something on the top shelf at the local grocery store. (You might flash a bit of barrel, but if you're bellied up to six shelves of Hamburger Helper, they won't tell.)

This method is only good for guns with relatively short barrels. Otherwise they tend to poke you in either the groin or ribs when sitting - or both - as well as requiring more length on the covering garment. I'm 6 ft. and scrawny and the Kimber or an Officers Model works well - A Kimber Compact or Colt Commander doesn't work as well - the extra inch of the barrel makes a difference. Depending on your build and style of dress - YMMV. Generally speaking this is also a good carry method for women as their hip structure and drape of covering garments aids concealment.

If you're interested in this type carry and want to consider plastic, then Springbok, Inc. makes a plastic version that I'm told is good ( http://www.springbokinc.com ).

To summerize a lot of meandering - I don't recommend belt slides for inside the belt carry. I do recomment that type of carry (inside the belt), but with a holster designed for it. Belt slides are good, but use them as they are designed to be used.

[skdtac]

Hi RHC,

While we have seen dedicated belts that have a split to insert a firearm, we wouldn't recommend that over a holster that offers security. If you're going through the trouble of removing your gun and then readjusting your pants, there isn't too much difference from taking off a holster designed to come off with the belt still on. This would be the preferred method, as there would then be nothing left on the belt to indicate anything. An empty belt slide on the belt still attracts attention.

We stock a full line of Ky-Tac custom kydex gear, and our most popular holster, the Braveheart, seems to sell out as quickly as we can stock them for the G26. We do have more coming in next week. For utter concealment, we will be introducting the Ky-Tac Pocket-Lock-It very shortly. We do have several in stock, but want to finalize the images and write up before debuting them. For those who wear pants with slash type pockets, this is the quickest, most effective pocket holster we've encountered. The design is quite amazing. We've even carried Glock 30s in Royal Robbins 5.11 pants with no detection.

If you've got any questions, feel free to drop us an email!