How to wear IWB holster comfortably

I wear/carry mine without pants.

In all seriousness, what works for one guy may not work for another. You'll need to try different carry locations, cant and ride height to see what combination works for you.

Personally, I use as much cant as I can get. Most retail holsters seem to offer cants up to 15° and some offer a little more. I make holsters (for myself) and after much experimentation, arrived at a carry location of about 2:30 and 35° of cant...I use these holsters for IWB carry. When using a retail holster, I carry OWB at the same location, but with less cant. These work for me. You'll need to experiment.

This carry location means I NEVER sit on/lean back on the pistol....its in front of my hip.....easy access, and again with the right ride height and cant, its absolutely comfortable.

I tried all the IWB holsters and finally decided it's not for me. OWB belt holsters conceal just as well and are much more comfortable.

To me, IWB holsters never really get comfortable; one just possible gets used to the discomfort after awhile. I never have. OWB for me.

I think the primary issue people have with IWB and back or hip pain is the belt is sinched too tight - particularly when carrying a bigger, heavier gun - to keep their pants from falling down.

For years I've been wearing Dickies suspenders over a wife beater undershirt and under my t-shirt or sport shirt. Hooks under the belt and carries the weight of the gun plus all the crap in my pockets.

Pro tip: get a good gun belt.


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

SkippySanchez said:

Pro tip: get a good gun belt.

Click to expand...

As mentioned, a good gun belt is essential. Buy the gun belt 2 inches larger than normal. Then wear pants with a waistband size 2 inches larger than normal. After that, it is just play with position and cant.

https://www.daltechforce.com/collections/best-selling-collection/products/superbio-black

works for me. Does a good job and lasts forever.

As for the bad back, IWB with a weapon PPS size or larger always bothers my back to a certain degree. Nothing I can't put up with, but bothersome all the same. The only way I can carry with no discomfort is a little Khar .380 in a rear pocket holster. So for me anyway, it's a trade off between comfort and fire power.

Pudge

Hi Katie, I have been carrying appendix side IWB ever since I was allowed (by law) to carry. Tight shorts or not, jeans, and skirts, I do wear a loose shirt, T-shirt or blouse over it and no one is the wiser. I’ve been using my Vedder IWB holster (fine holster) for about 3 weeks with my CCP, which is a bit more heavy than the Glock 42 I was carrying, but I soon forget I have it on. And when I’m not carrying a purse, I also have a Vedder mag caddy on my left side as well. I did try carrying in the small of my back...but that gave me fits as I have a bad back too.

suggestion please

imaoldfart said:

I wear/carry mine without pants.

In all seriousness, what works for one guy may not work for another. You'll need to try different carry locations, cant and ride height to see what combination works for you.

Personally, I use as much cant as I can get. Most retail holsters seem to offer cants up to 15° and some offer a little more. I make holsters (for myself) and after much experimentation, arrived at a carry location of about 2:30 and 35° of cant...I use these holsters for IWB carry. When using a retail holster, I carry OWB at the same location, but with less cant. These work for me. You'll need to experiment.

This carry location means I NEVER sit on/lean back on the pistol....its in front of my hip.....easy access, and again with the right ride height and cant, its absolutely comfortable.

Click to expand...

sent this same message on another thread - PPQ, but just in case, would you suggest OWB holster for PPQ SC which conceals well with shirt worn outside pants. Probably from Garrett which would be fine with me. thanks

Hello Joe. Yep, a Garrett is an excellent choice.

2:30 position 35* cant

imaoldfart said:

I wear/carry mine without pants.

In all seriousness, what works for one guy may not work for another. You'll need to try different carry locations, cant and ride height to see what combination works for you.

Personally, I use as much cant as I can get. Most retail holsters seem to offer cants up to 15° and some offer a little more. I make holsters (for myself) and after much experimentation, arrived at a carry location of about 2:30 and 35° of cant...I use these holsters for IWB carry. When using a retail holster, I carry OWB at the same location, but with less cant. These work for me. You'll need to experiment.

This carry location means I NEVER sit on/lean back on the pistol....its in front of my hip.....easy access, and again with the right ride height and cant, its absolutely comfortable.

Click to expand...

Would you mind posting a picture of your holster positon? (the 2:30 with 35*cant NOT the no-pants carry)


I too am deciding on an iwb holster for ppq m2 4" as well as pps m2.
I have been looking into the gun/magazine combo with the magazine immediately ontop of the slide.


input/facts/recommendations? - college kid budget.

imaoldfart said:

Drake, only problem with my the amount of cant I use is NO ONE offers holsters with that much cant. Why? Go figure. I make my own....I simply kept trying different variations until I hit upon a combo that worked for me. It does require a little different draw stroke, more forward than up....but, its not hard to adapt to....took me all of 1 or 2 minutes.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

Click to expand...

and that much cant doesn't print when IWB carrying a fullsize?

imaoldfart said:

I can carry a 4" or 5" Q IWB with Beretta 30 round mag, and it doesn't print. I do ware a larger size t-shirt. Piece-0-cake.

I can carry this gun IWB.....just as you see it in the picture. Do I carry it in this configuration? Of course not....but after giving it a try, or test, I found out that I could actually carry it. The butt of the mag sticks up toward my armpit.

Click to expand...

Wait, what? Does a Beretta mag work with a PPQ?... or your just messin around?

I have lower back/Si joint issues. I can no longer carry IWB with pants. And, when I previously did - I discovered that I needed a longer holster, or I had hip pain.

For example - I could use a Comptac IWB holster for a fullsize Beretta 92 with no problems. But, if I carried a smaller gun, like my HK P2000 IWB.... The polymer holster for that gun was not as long. And for some reason - the shorter holsters put pressure on a certain spot when I sit down. When I am driving or sitting, it really starts to hurt.

So, when I carried a 92FS compact for a while, I used the fullsize 92 holster, or I couldn't do it.

But, that was several years ago.

Now, I can do IWB with a smart carry holster, and draw string shorts. But, when I wear pants with a belt, I only carry OWB now.

While I have yet to open carry, Texas is an open carry state now. So, I don't worry about printing any longer when I carry concealed.

Same here

imaoldfart said:

I wear/carry mine without pants.

In all seriousness, what works for one guy may not work for another. You'll need to try different carry locations, cant and ride height to see what combination works for you.

Personally, I use as much cant as I can get. Most retail holsters seem to offer cants up to 15° and some offer a little more. I make holsters (for myself) and after much experimentation, arrived at a carry location of about 2:30 and 35° of cant...I use these holsters for IWB carry. When using a retail holster, I carry OWB at the same location, but with less cant. These work for me. You'll need to experiment.

This carry location means I NEVER sit on/lean back on the pistol....its in front of my hip.....easy access, and again with the right ride height and cant, its absolutely comfortable.

Click to expand...

OwB& IWB about 2:30....just ordered Silent Thunder STX 2.0 for OWB carry for my PPQ SC on advice from owner of Garrett Holsters...thanks for turning me on to them.

imaoldfart said:

Drake, only problem with the amount of cant I use is NO ONE offers holsters with that much cant. Why? Go figure. I make my own....I simply kept trying different variations until I hit upon a combo that worked for me. It does require a little different draw stroke, more forward than up....but, its not hard to adapt to....took me all of 1 or 2 minutes.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

Click to expand...

That's pretty cool

KJ, as mentioned it’s gonna be highly personal. I found that I can’t wear appendix but some can. I wear at 3 o’clock and I’ll have hip bone pain. 4 works better. 4:30-5 and it presses my pelvis if I’m in the truck. There’s just that right spot where it disappears. Of course the belt and holster have a lot to do with it and some will spend a small fortune to figure it out. For me, Crossbreed or Clinger seems to work very well. And yep that 1.5” belt that’s .25” thick is crucial. I’ve found when I purchase my “final” holster, something else comes along. Good luck on the quest!

FelixWankel said:

Wait, what? Does a Beretta mag work with a PPQ?... or your just messin around?

Click to expand...

Felix, I do a lot of messin around, but I've been modifying mags for a while now to work in a PPQ M1/P99 and PPQ M2. The mod is simply adding an additional hole in these mags, in the right location. I also make a kydex spacer/sleeve to slide down over the mag to eliminate 'over insertion'. My most recent favorite mod is modding Sig P226 9mm 20 round mags for the PPQ M2......pretty easy mod.