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Conceal carry clothing choices.


SDF678

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I just received my CCL yesterday. Of course I carried all day Saturday. That was easy. My dress was khaki pants with an untucked Henley and since the weather was a bit cool I wore a light London Fog jacket.

 

Today the weather was much warmer and being Easter I wanted to dress nicely. Umm, ok, how do I do this? How does one tuck in a shirt and not wear a sport coat or other jacket and still conceal a firearm? Do you all use a Sneaky Pete type holster? Ankle holster? Tiny pocket pistol?

 

Saturday I carried a Walther PPX on my right and two spare magazines in a mag holder on my left. Since I am a bigger guy I had no problems.

 

Today I carried a Glock 26 with a ten round magazine. I ended up wearing my shirt untucked. Felt like a slob on Easter Sunday dressed as such.

 

Earlier this evening I went to my self defense training class. Dress for that was sweat pants and a t shirt. I put the Walther and the extra mags on an Uncle Mike's black duty belt under the t shirt. That worked out fine.

 

I really would like to dress nicely yet carry my pistol.

 

Any thoughts, suggestions, website recommendations are welcome.

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I don't think the Sneaky Pete is fooling anyone unless maybe its a smaller model designed for a .32 ACP. Although it technically meets the requirements for Illinois FCCA. For the 9mm and .40 S&W Sneaky Pete holsters, it's just a small step from open carry, IMO.

 

I have to at least dress business casual and I'm in and out of client's offices downtown. I front pocket carry a Rohrbaugh R9 in a DeSantis Nemesis holster.

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A few of the guys around the office use Crossbreed Holsters, White Hat Holsters, and Alien Gear tuckable holsters. The only thing you notice is the extra clips on the belt that are holding the holster.

 

Myself, I wear a shirt untucked most of the time and when I do tuck, I wear a suit jacket.

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Most of the time I wear an Aliengear IWB with an untucked shirt over a baby Glock. It took me a while to get used to wearing nicer shirts untucked. I learned that some shirts are intended to be worn out, which helps. The Aliengear is tuckable, and when I first started carrying, I would tuck my dress shirt in around the holster, but never found that to be very practical. Eventually I found an ankle holster that I liked, and spent some time getting used to drawing from it. If I have to tuck a shirt in, I am wearing long pants, so that works well for me.

 

The only read downsides to an ankle holster that I found, is that it takes practice (which itself is a pretty good workout) and if you aren’t careful, the pants can ride up.

 

On a couple of occasions, I have carried OWB if I am wearing a suit coat, but there are too many times, like at lunch I would want to take it off. A friend of mine uses a shoulder holster, and swears it works great under suit coat or sweater. I have never tried one.

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In waistband hybrid holster (kydex on one side, leather up against your body) and a good gun belt is what you need.

 

I haven't seen much in the way of good conceal clothes other then for deep cover or a backup gun.

 

I'd like to see more conceal carry clothes that use molle and a belt anchor point so you could reliably draw from a good Kydex holster. Preferably a hooded sweatshirt with fake pockets that unsnaps or unvelcros when you draw. Does such a thing exist?

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Everyone's situation is different on what you can get away with clothing wise. If you are OK with wearing jeans, there are a lot of options for nice looking untucked shirts. My church is pretty casual, so I don't worry about tucking even on Easter Sunday. I've found the best way for me to conceal are appendix holsters from JM Custom Kydex. I normally carry a Glock 19, sometimes with a spare mag on my belt.

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Thank you, Gentlemen for helping me out. I had no idea there was any such device as a tuckable holster.

 

There is a man that comes to the GSL meeting with a Sneaky Pete. He keeps a Ruger SR9c in there. The holster is pretty large. People carry all sorts of devices on them now days. I would think only other gun people and the police might know for sure it is a holster. Is the general public or more specifically the criminal element aware of what a Sneaky Pete is holding?

 

I do know that some companies make button up shirts that are cut to be worn untucked. That is also an option.

 

Regarding a vest, a great solution but I would think that screams GUN more so than a Sneaky Pete. Maybe not. A vest would make a perfect cover garment and the extra pockets would allow me to carry more stuff. (I am a pack rat) I see lots of vests being used in such a manner in IDPA competitions.

 

I think I will check out some of the Men's stores here in town to see what my sport coat options might be.

 

Thank you all for the replies. I will check out the websites. I will also post some of my findings to help out the next guy in my situation.

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"Is the general public or more specifically the criminal element aware of what a Sneaky Pete is holding?"

 

Can't speak for the criminals' view, but after some 10 years of carrying concealed I strongly believe the general public wouldn't notice if you had a tuba strapped to your belt under a tight T-shirt. lol

 

I choose to wear untucked shirts and an OWB holster for comfort - my new steel-core belt helps a lot. For dress occasions my .380 pocket carry BUG simply becomes my primary.

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As you've already figured out, this is one of those situations where the right answer depends on the weather. Typically, I'm doing one of two things: when it's cool enough that I don't look out of place with the layered look, I'll typically be in a tucked colored cotton t-shirt, an OOB retention holster and two spare mags, and an open button-down shirt. If it's warm enough that an overshirt would look out of place, I'll do a t-shirt and an IWB tuckable (without actually tucking the t-shirt). Usually, my firearm of choice is a CCO-sized 1911.

 

The only exception to the above is church. There, it's slacks, a polo shirt, and a tuckable IWB holster with my Sig P365, actually tucked. I'll also blouse the polo shirt a bit so that when I'm standing, it drapes over the belt clips to conceal them.

 

Bri

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//Snip

 

Can't speak for the criminals' view, but after some 10 years of carrying concealed I strongly believe the general public wouldn't notice if you had a tuba strapped to your belt under a tight T-shirt. lol

 

//Snip

 

Sir, that is the honest truth. I remember writing a post either on IC or a different firearms-oriented forum noting that I used to go kilted quite a bit. When I first started, I'll admit I was a little self conscious. After I got into the swing of things, though. I could talk with someone in a Wally World for 5 minutes without them even realizing that there was something different about the way I was dressed.

 

People take their social cues off of other people. If you look uncomfortable or worried, or if you continually act in an abnormal way, people will pick up on it, if only to notice that you're acting "weird". If you just chill out, act comfortable and confident, no one will EVER notice the 10 lb Parrott Gun strapped to your back.

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I pocket carry a S&W 442 in a Recluse holster as well as a Beretta 21A in a DeSantis pocket holster. Works well winters and summer as long as the pants I wear have deep enough pockets. I also like to wear vests with zippered breast pockets and park my guns in there sometimes. Good place for easy access and less weight on my pants. Tried IWB carry holsters and never felt comfortable with the gun stuck in there rubbing and gouging me. Just my personal preference.
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I have a cheap ankle holster I purchased on Amazon for $10-15 iirc that works marginally well with my xds (because of the weight) and really well with my LCP II - used it with a suit to a wedding and a few formal dinner events. Not my preferred carry method because of decreased ease of accessibility, but you have to make sacrifices depending on your clothing options.

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Avoid the ankle holster if you can. They're not great unless you put a lot of hours of practice into drawing from them. As a backup gun holster, they're okay, but for your primary they're way too slow to draw from.

 

I have one for my LCP and after practicing with it for several days, I decided against using it unless it was to carry the LCP as a backup.

 

I've found that with appendix carry, you can wear as little as a t-shirt and not really print all that much. I mean, you probably aren't going to conceal a Glock 34 appendix lol, but a 19 sized gun is doable but about as big as you'd want to go. Unless you wear your pants up to your nipples, subcompact sized guns are perfect for appendix. If you wear your pants like Urkel, then you can get away with a G34 sized gun lol.

 

Generally speaking, the only thing that's going to print is the length of the grip. If you have a subcompact, most of them have short enough grips where you can't get your pinky on the grip. Those conceal the best. Pinky extension that don't add to the length of the rear part of the butt of the grip are great on that size frame gun.

 

The length of the slide is the one thing about appendix that limits the size of the gun. The problem comes when you sit down.

 

ETA: if you're going to wear a suit, how to carry becomes a bit more convoluted. You'll have a tucked in shirt, which will interfere with your draw. You can carry appendix, but suit pants are usually made of fairly thin material so you'll like print. In this case, a pocket type holster would work best. Tucked in shirts will cause a lot of problems with your draw so if you can avoid IWB with a tucked in shirt, that would be ideal.

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Personally, if I have to tuck my shirt in I pocket carry my LCP II in a DeSantis Superfly holster. I've seen tuckable holsters but even they seem to be pretty obvious tucked in when I've seen them.

 

My normal day to day dress is jeans with an undershirt and a button up. I buy one size up on my button ups which helps make it crazy easy to carry concealed.

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I have a crapload of the longtail t-shirts. They work great.

 

 

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

 

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Iwb holster, buy your pants 1" larger, get a good belt, and what ever you do avoid all "tactical" clothing. Tactical clothing defeats the purpose of "concealed".
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Pocket carry with a pocket holster works for me with just about everything. At minimum that means I have the BG .380 with 2 extra mags in my back pockets. Even in jeans and a t-shirt. Though I carry larger when I can, I don't obsess over it so much because I can always fit the BG.

 

 

For compacts and larger, AIWB or IWB 4 o'clock depending.

 

When running or other physical activities I use a Safepacker.

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I have a crapload of the longtail t-shirts. They work great.

 

 

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

 

I'm a big fan of their stretch Ballroom carpenter jeans. All the pockets, all of the mobility, none of the 5.11-style tacticool.

 

Bri

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  • 4 weeks later...

IWB is just out of the question. Drives me nuts, I am always fiddling with it.

 

I have tried a few different OWB holsters for my Glock 26 with 15 round magazine. I also carry two extra 17 round magazines on my other side. When I am just wearing a shirt I leave it untucked. If the weather is such that I need a light jacket or rain jacket I tuck in the shirt and have the jacket be my concealment.

 

At the risk of taking this off topic I will confess to open carry when down in Evansville IN a few weeks ago. I was convinced everyone was looking at me and the cops would show up any second. Nope. Nobody seemed to notice or care. Open carry is not something I endorse at all times or in all places but it was an interesting experiment.

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I can't do IWB either. I have a well made Crossbreed IWB tuckable holster and for some reason could never figure out how to tuck the shirt correctly.

I've used a belly band holster before which worked well, except they're bad for summer use since they don't breathe and can be hot.

 

An under-the-shirt shoulder holster is the best I've found and works very well.

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Hmm, an under the shirt shoulder holster. I guess my searches have been weak as I have never ran across one of those. Can I assume that it requires a crossdraw? How well does that work? Just thinking it would really imprint under a t shirt, worse that an OWB holster.

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Hmm, an under the shirt shoulder holster. I guess my searches have been weak as I have never ran across one of those. Can I assume that it requires a crossdraw? How well does that work? Just thinking it would really imprint under a t shirt, worse that an OWB holster.

like this https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/5-11-tactical-mens-holster-shirt-155tamhlstrshrtssapt/155tamhlstrshrtssapt?camp=CSE:DSG_92700040949075603_pla_aud-563275158403:pla-505665461002&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIov24hui84gIV17rACh1gKAK_EAQYAiABEgI4xvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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I have a few Crossbreed IWBs, Alien Gear IWB and a cheap belly band holster for whenever I'm wearing basketball shorts or something else that isn't conducive for IWB or my horizontal shoulder rig.

 

A friend of mine uses a shoulder holster, and swears it works great under suit coat or sweater. I have never tried one.
Can confirm horizontal rigs are great. Carry a P229 in my Galco Miami Classic II. Wear it all of the time in winter or with a suit coat, sport coat, etc. Shouldn't need tie downs if the holster is correctly adjusted.Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
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