what to use for a holster

[wildfan1]

so getting my CCP class today, then will apply for the permit Monday. Planning for carrying, and would like some tips on holsters, where and how to carry (physically). I am a bigger guy (6', 265), but losing weight. I still got a muffin top in pants, so I question if IWB will be prohibitively uncomfortable. With spring and summer coming, going to be tough to conceal if carrying OWB. What other options have some of you used? Don't want ankle carry, for simple lack of accessibility. Do some of you use like rear (small of back) carry, pocket carry, or what?

Any tips are appreciated.

Matt

[Anokamnman]

I use my galco summer comfort iwb holster and a galco slide owb holster. With owb if I wear my shirt untucked it conceals pretty well. I personally carry at the 4 o'clock position since that is most comfortable for me. Personally I would not carry at the small of my back. I have enough back problems as it is

[EAJuggalo]

With proper gear IWB carry won't be uncomfortable at all. I've got a friend of mine that goes 6'3" 325 and carried all day in a cheapie uncle mike's fabric IWB with no problems. I'm 6'2" 240 and carry a Glock 21SF in an MTAC from Comp-Tac on a Looper Leather belt and have no problems with comfort. OWB carry can be done with the proper holster, there was a member here who was about 5'8" 250 or so who carried a full size 1911 in a Bianchi CarryLok and it was very difficult to tell.

I would not carry in the back either for two reasons:
1. You have almost no way to self check to see if you're exposing, you'd have to constantly tug at the back of your shirt and damn if that handle doesn't make a really convenient place for your shirt to hang up. Leaving you as the only person around that doesn't know your gun is showing.

2. And probably more importantly it's MN, it gets cold and icy, everybody is going to fall at some point. Do you really want a 2-5 pound block of metal on or near your spine when you slip and fall?

I'm not a fan of pocket carry, I just cant get it to work for me but that appears to be just me, lots of people here do it. The exception is I really like pocket carry in a coat if I know I'm going to have to leave it in the car at some point. The size of the gun also matters much more with pocket carry, my father in law carried a Ruger LCP in his back pocket for a while which I kind of liked.

What gun are you planning on carrying? That's a huge factor in how and where you carry.

[wildfan1]

Good question EA. I have yet to buy my carry gun. The instructor today raved about Kel-Tecs. I've always been a believer in "you get what you pay for", so I was leaning towards a sub-compact or compact in one of the best known brands, but really open at this point. Leaning Glock 26, S&W M&P compact 9mm, Beretta PX4, etc.

So whats the best way to find a good, comfortable holster? Are there brick & mortar stores that you can go try a variety of them out, or is it just research and luck of the draw online?

[Anokamnman]

The m&p 9 is a sweet gun. But so is the xdm 9. So many holster options for them and glock. Bills has a bunch of holsters to touch and check out.

[rcos]

I am going through the same thing as you, but am a little farther ahead it seems. I have a M&p9c and took my carry class just the other day.

I have a holster on order from Ryan Grizzle at http://www.rgrizzleleather.com/

His stuff looks awesome and he was great to work with. A bit of a wait, but many of the great holster makers have a wait.

I looked at a ton of sites and in stores to find what style I liked the best and what features I wanted. I think its such a personal choice, that you have to do what feels and looks right to you. My style of dress is pretty casual where I can probably get away with OWB most of the time since I dont tuck in my shirt much if ever, and i freeze easily so have a jacket most of the time. Personally I wanted a slide guard/sweat shield since I have a thumb safety and wanted as much comfort as I could find. Some holsters had it, others didnt, and others it was an option. I looked at what everyone made, found a style I liked then compared the styles between the the different holster makers and found the one that had the features I liked best. The hard part for me was the overwhelming number of choices that exist, it didnt make it an easy choice. These were my top contenders, there were some others like milt sparks (HUGE wait time, though I might order one some time just to see his work) and a few others that maybe didnt have exactly what I was looking for so I didnt save them:

For leather (which, personally I am a fan of) I looked at the following:
Ryan Grizzle - http://www.rgrizzleleather.com/
TT Gunleather - http://www.ttgunleather.com/
Sideguard Holsters - http://sideguardholsters.com/ (forum member here)
UBG Holsters - http://www.ubgholsters.com
Mitch Rosen - http://www.mitchrosen.com/index.html

Many other people have mentioned the following:
Crossbreed Holsters - http://www.crossbreedholsters.com/
Galco - http://www.usgalco.com/default.asp
DeSantis Holsters - http://www.desantisholster.com/
Safariland - http://www.safariland.com/

[EAJuggalo]

Most of us here have now or have had a drawer or box full of holsters that are either used very seldom or not at all. For the most part it's done through trial and error, with a good bit of asking for recommendations as well. I listed what I carry with in my previous post, but if I'm carrying the snubbie revolver rather than the Glock, that goes in a Quick Clip from Sideguard Holsters (The owner of which is Srigs here on the board) but if I were buying again I would go with a Tuck Clip instead.

The best thing I can recommend is decide what you're going to carry, buy something halfway decent to get you through and then post here and on other boards asking to try out other holsters. Other than our favorites most of us would be happy to let someone else give them a try.