OWB Holster - Which style is best for concealment?

[GoPappy]

For carry OWB at 3:30 - 4:30 position with reasonable concealment under a shirt, vest or light jacket. Paddle, slots, snaps? Leather is preferred but all options are on the table. Easy on and off would be a plus too.

I need recommendations based on your experience and observations.

I want to carry my CZ Rami in an OWB holster. (I just can’t do IWB. It’s just too uncomfortable for me.) The Rami is almost the same exact size as a Glock 26 and fits great in the holsters I’ve tried for the Glock 26.

 

[Charlie]

Yes to all of the above! Buy, borrow, beg, or steal one of each type and wear them until you see what keeps you the happiest! It's kinda' like asking a group what's the best hat (for you).

 

[MikePotts]

High riding pancake style.

 

[oldag]

I prefer snap on OWB. Very easy to take on and off, yet fits the belt plenty tight.

Warbird Leather.

More important is a good belt. Preferably with a steel insert (Bigfoot, etc).

 

[toddnjoyce]

Holster is personal choice; good belt, as mentioned above, is a requirement.

 

[GoPappy]

I prefer snap on OWB. Very easy to take on and off, yet fits the belt plenty tight.

Warbird Leather.

More important is a good belt. Preferably with a steel insert (Bigfoot, etc).

I see some snap-on holsters where the holster sits between the belt and the pants (i.e., the belt goes over the holster). On others, it seems the belt sits behind the holster much like a slotted holster. Which way is the Warbird set up?

 

[oldag]

I see some snap-on holsters where the holster sits between the belt and the pants (i.e., the belt goes over the holster). On others, it seems the belt sits behind the holster much like a slotted holster. Which way is the Warbird set up?

The holster is outside the belt on the Warbird models I have seen.

 

[candcallen]

Owb is really about cover garments. I prefer close fitting holsters. The pancake holsters or snap on pancake like are best. Leather also seems to easier conform in this application.

ETA I'm lucky I rarely have to consider this option. Only in rare instances do carry owb. I just dont like it unless on a duty rig or rarely at the range.

 

[studenygreg]

I've had hood luck with galco combatmasters and bigfoot belts.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[bfm0072]

I also believe a good belt is imperative for a holster. Made a world of difference for me. I have two Bigfoot belts an 18 oz and a 16 oz I believe. I also use an El Paso Saddlery Street Combat with my G19. I carry at 3 o’clock. I usually have a jean shirt that I wear like a coat and it covers it well. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Byrd666]

My favorite holster below.

http://www.jeffreycustomleather.com/ConcealedCarryHolsterQSBTP.html

My first holster from him was one of these. Modified Kydex with a leather wrapped opening and belt tube to outside for between the pant and belt wear.

http://www.jeffreycustomleather.com/ConcealmentHolsterProfessional.html

He also made a belt for me that I have been wearing for a bit over two years. The belt gives just enough to conform without giving up holster stability. It's a B-1 DS in Walnut. My next from him will be the same style but in Black Cherry so as to match the QSBTP Holster.

http://www.jeffreycustomleather.com/BeltsAndBuckles.html

All of these can be, and are, easily covered with a loose t-shirt or polo.

 

[smittyb]

IMO, it is VERY hard to beat the Galco combat master for strong side OWB carry.
It’s what I have carried my CZ 75 in for years.

 

[oldag]

People worry too much about printing. No one notices.

Shirttail out, any OWB will be just fine.

 

[smittyb]

People worry too much about printing. No one notices.

Shirttail out, any OWB will be just fine.

I wasn’t worried.

 

[oldag]

I wasn’t worried.

Didn't say you were.

 

[Renegade]

I love my FLETCH

 

[Glenn B]

Whatever style of holster you choose bear a few things in mind:

Snap-on easy = snap-off easy.

No retention other than friction = no retention except friction during a take away attempt or a fall or while running/jumping and so on.

I strongly recommend that whatever holster you get it has at least one retention device such as a thumb-snap. I also strongly recommend a holster that attaches to your belt by permanently secured slots/loops that are integral to the holster. In other words, your belt passes through the slots and the loops, or leather around the slots, is always secure to the holster. Thus the loop(s) cannot be opened by way of a snap.

I never recommend paddle or clip on holsters. I have seen too many shooters at the range attempt to draw from each and the holster comes with the gun. One of the training videos I had to watch for Secret Service details for which I volunteered was of an assassination attempt on the president of S. Korea. One of his security detail tries to draw on the bad guy (who shot and killed led the president's wife) and while he does draw his weapon, the holster comes with it. He gets them apart and I believe he shot the assassin as best I can recall. Watch the and note the black thing that drops from his hands and skitters across the stage - that was reportedly his holster! (If you watch the video, granted it is terrible quality but pay attention to the lady just to your right of center stage, at about the same time the security agent is getting the holster off of his gun and shooting - watch her head - that jerking movement supposedly was the result of her being shot. There is one heck of a story as to how the guy got into the venue and to an open seat in the front row and how, as he made the attempt to kill the prez, he shot himself while getting up.) As for the security agent's holster, I am pretty sure it was a paddle or clip on holster. They are also relatively easy to take away.

I have been in a couple altercations wherein the bad guys attempted to take away my weapon. Each was a fight for my life. I retained my weapon in each instance and I am still here because they did not get it. In each instance I was wearing a thumb break; although there are other more secure holster retention devices, a thumb break is in almost all instances my minimum security device on my carry holsters.

Some holster such as the DeSantis Facilitator have a hidden retention locking device that is somewhat similar a tumb-snap as far as securing and releasing the firearm goes. I carried my Glock 26 in one for several years. It was a leather/Kydex hybrid, the leather backing held the Kydex holster to your belt. On mine, after many years of pretty very rough use, the leather started to crack/tear and I sent it in to DeSantis for repair. They put on a new back for free but it seemigly is not the same high quality and thicker leather that it once was when I first got mine. Still though, it seems to be a very decent outside the waistband belt holster with an apparently very secure retention device that is easy for the wearer to operate and not to easy for an assailant to reach if you are at all schooled in retention methods.

 

[oldag]

Whatever style of holster you choose bear a few things in mind:

Snap-on easy = snap-off easy.

No retention other than friction = no retention except friction during a take away attempt or a fall or while running/jumping and so on.

I strongly recommend that whatever holster you get it has at least one retention device such as a thumb-snap. I also strongly recommend a holster that attaches to your belt by permanently secured slots/loops that are integral to the holster. In other words, your belt passes through the slots and the loops, or leather around the slots, is always secure to the holster. Thus the loop(s) cannot be opened by way of a snap.

I never recommend paddle or clip on holsters. I have seen too many shooters at the range attempt to draw from each and the holster comes with the gun. One of the training videos I had to watch for Secret Service details for which I volunteered was of an assassination attempt on the president of S. Korea. One of his security detail tries to draw on the bad guy (who shot and killed led the president's wife) and while he does draw his weapon, the holster comes with it. He gets them apart and I believe he shot the assassin as best I can recall. Watch the and note the black thing that drops from his hands and skitters across the stage - that was reportedly his holster! (If you watch the video, granted it is terrible quality but pay attention to the lady just to your right of center stage, at about the same time the security agent is getting the holster off of his gun and shooting - watch her head - that jerking movement supposedly was the result of her being shot. There is one heck of a story as to how the guy got into the venue and to an open seat in the front row and how, as he made the attempt to kill the prez, he shot himself while getting up.) As for the security agent's holster, I am pretty sure it was a paddle or clip on holster. They are also relatively easy to take away.

I have been in a couple altercations wherein the bad guys attempted to take away my weapon. Each was a fight for my life. I retained my weapon in each instance and I am still here because they did not get it. In each instance I was wearing a thumb break; although there are other more secure holster retention devices, a thumb break is in almost all instances my minimum security device on my carry holsters.

Some holster such as the DeSantis Facilitator have a hidden retention locking device that is somewhat similar a tumb-snap as far as securing and releasing the firearm goes. I carried my Glock 26 in one for several years. It was a leather/Kydex hybrid, the leather backing held the Kydex holster to your belt. On mine, after many years of pretty very rough use, the leather started to crack/tear and I sent it in to DeSantis for repair. They put on a new back for free but it seemigly is not the same high quality and thicker leather that it once was when I first got mine. Still though, it seems to be a very decent outside the waistband belt holster with an apparently very secure retention device that is easy for the wearer to operate and not to easy for an assailant to reach if you are at all schooled in retention methods.

I have never had a snap on inadvertently unsnap. And essentially all my range time is firing after drawing.

The direction of the forces when drawing versus the orientation of the snaps makes them unlikely to unsnap, whereas the direction of the forces on paddle or clip on holsters is in a direction that can make them come loose.

 

[Glenn B]

I have never had a snap on inadvertently unsnap. And essentially all my range time is firing after drawing.

The direction of the forces when drawing versus the orientation of the snaps makes them unlikely to unsnap, whereas the direction of the forces on paddle or clip on holsters is in a direction that can make them come loose.

And you did not read any words I wrote saying they inadvertently snap off although I do not discount the possibility of sch. I said they are easy off. They are easier for someone to take away from the wearer than a conventional belt holster with closed slots. If you have ever had someone really try hard to take away your holstered handgun, I would think you would realize that you want a holster that is not going to come away easily, like possibly a snap-on holster or paddle or clip-on holster, and that also retains the weapon better than just a friction retention type. You also want a strong enough belt not be be torn off if some grabs your holstered pistol.

All that said - my guess would be - if you wear a snap-on holster in a vehicle long enough and squirm around enough in your seat - the snap could be undone by the seat belt buckle or something else in the vehicle pressing from underneath or somehow against the edge of the snap but that is just a guess. Thumb snaps come undone inadvertently, mag pouch snaps come undone likewise, even pants snaps sometimes pop open when unexpected. I see no reason for it to to be impossible with a snap on a snap-on holster should the circumstances be right. Then when you draw...

 

[GoPappy]

Glenn, while a snap holster would be easier for a bad guy to remove than a slotted holster, I would think the bad guy would just remove the gun from the holster LONG before he would remove the holster itself.

So, unless I run into a serial holster thief, this seems like a theoretical problem more than a practical one.