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View Full Version : Seeking some advice on "concealability"



Chefdog
05-24-2011, 10:47 AM
First a little background:
I have been a pistol shooter for years but I'm brand new to concealed carry and need some advice. I've done lots of reading here and value the opinions and experience that a lot of you have. I understand that there are a lot of personal issues involved in choosing carry equipment and methods, but hope that i can shorten my learning curve with a little educated guidance.

I've decided to try AIWB with a G19 and ordered a CCC Shaggy based on the loads of positive reviews and recommendations. The benefits of AIWB seem to outweigh the negatives for me, although time will tell. I have the ability to dress as needed to hide my gun, but there will be those times when absolute discretion is a must, and this leads to my question.

Will a slightly smaller gun like a Kahr CW9 (whether carried AIWB or not) give any measurable improvement in concealability over a G19? Or is a truly small (PM9) gun, or different mode of carry, the best bet for those times? FWIW, I'm a pretty normal sized guy, 5'9" and 170#.

Any thoughts,experiences or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

orionz06
05-24-2011, 11:08 AM
What holster and gun combos have you tried already? I would think that you should be able to conceal a G19 with easy at pretty much any location given the proper attire.

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 11:24 AM
What holster and gun combos have you tried already? I would think that you should be able to conceal a G19 with easy at pretty much any location given the proper attire.

The Shaggy + G19 will be my first foray into concealed carry. I want to carry the g19 as much as possible which is why I have high hopes for AIWB. I guess I was looking for any input as to whether or not a marginal size difference (like between g19 and cw9) translates into practical differences in hiding a gun?

Thanks for the reply.

ToddG
05-24-2011, 11:27 AM
Small differences in size don't matter unless they happen to fall on one end of some kind of threshold for you.

I'm not a small guy, but concealing a G17 isn't much worse than concealing a G19 for me. Having said that, there is a threshold in there and a G19 almost never prints for me AIWB while a G17 will sometimes. For other reasons, though, I opt for the G17 and just deal with it using better holsters, better clothing selection, and more careful behavior in terms of minimizing when I will print.

Going from a G19 to a G26 aiwb, however, won't gain anything for me because the G19 already conceals as well as possible. There may be other places I could carry a G26 (ankle, pocket) but none of those are my first choice especially for a gun that size. When I need to pocket carry, I opt for a j-frame or LCP.

In summary: If you're going someplace where you cannot safely conceal a G19, you probably need a substantially smaller gun.

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 11:38 AM
Small differences in size don't matter unless they happen to fall on one end of some kind of threshold for you.

In summary: If you're going someplace where you cannot safely conceal a G19, you probably need a substantially smaller gun.

That makes a lot of sense, and gets to the root of my longwinded, rambling question. Obviously I'll need to figure out where the threshold lies for me and make a decision when I get there.

Thanks, much appreciated.

ToddG
05-24-2011, 11:50 AM
Any time, chef. We need to have a forum get together over dinner at your place some time. :cool:

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 12:13 PM
Any time, chef. We need to have a forum get together over dinner at your place some time. :cool:

Might be able to work that out. Be forwarned, My house is a "no ankle holster zone" due to my new son. He's crawling around at top speed and he's sneaky!

ToddG
05-24-2011, 12:33 PM
Might be able to work that out. Be forwarned, My house is a "no ankle holster zone" due to my new son. He's crawling around at top speed and he's sneaky!

Wasn't trying to volunteer your home, dude. I meant the workplace.

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 12:53 PM
Wasn't trying to volunteer your home, dude. I meant the workplace.

Ahhh! Gotcha. Can you tell where my head's at these days????

Kyle Reese
05-24-2011, 01:27 PM
Ahhh! Gotcha. Can you tell where my head's at these days????

Congrats on the new addition to your family, Chefdog. :cool:

NickA
05-24-2011, 01:52 PM
One thing I'd add is that by and large people are not very observant; you'd have to be printing pretty bad to get noticed most of the time. The ability to see if you're printing is another advantage of AIWB in my opinion.
That said, for the times you HAVE to be very discrete a smaller gun (J frame, G26,etc.) is a good idea and you'll worry about it much less.

Shellback
05-24-2011, 02:44 PM
I'd also recommend taking a look at the thread here on "the gadget" for the G19. In my opinion it's the way to fly with the Glock and AIWB, when it becomes available. ;)

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 03:13 PM
Congrats on the new addition to your family, Chefdog. :cool:
Thanks, makes life a little more interesting to say the least. :D


One thing I'd add is that by and large people are not very observant; you'd have to be printing pretty bad to get noticed most of the time
Good point. I guess most people aren't really looking for guns, so you'd have to be pretty obvious or stupid to be made.


I'd also recommend taking a look at the thread here on "the gadget" for the G19. In my opinion it's the way to fly with the Glock and AIWB, when it becomes available. ;)
I've been following that thread and will say that it made my decision to go with a glock a little easier. Can't wait for the "pistol-forum special price pre-order"!!!

JHC
05-24-2011, 06:15 PM
I've been carrying concealed since 1981 and a fair portion of that time, in quasi NPE where discretion was critical. At 5' 11" and 170lbs AFTER Thanksgiving dinner my feeling is that a G26 conceals vastly better on me IWB or AIWB than a G19 and the G19 somewhat better than a G17 - which I'd prefer to carry all the time.

I have not owned or carried Kahrs but handled quite a few and I think I'd find one easier to conceal than a G19. However, I am not interested in dropping that much magazine capacity.

SLG
05-24-2011, 07:03 PM
I find that while a G19 is pretty easy to conceal, a Kahr is MUCH easier. Much thinner, flatter profile. Of course, if G19's reliability are up in the air, Kahr's have been floating for years.

jslaker
05-24-2011, 07:36 PM
This thread has me interested in whether anyone here has any experience with the Walther PPS series?

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 09:24 PM
my feeling is that a G26 conceals vastly better on me IWB or AIWB than a G19 and the G19 somewhat better than a G17


I find that while a G19 is pretty easy to conceal, a Kahr is MUCH easier. Much thinner, flatter profile. Of course, if G19's reliability are up in the air, Kahr's have been floating for years.

Its very interesting to hear the varying experiences and opinions about what works for everyone. Looks like there's really no way to avoid the "giant box of holsters" I keep hearing about or buying a few pistols to see what's best for my needs. Thanks for all the input, I do appreciate it.

YVK
05-24-2011, 10:59 PM
Looks like there's really no way to avoid the "giant box of holsters" I keep hearing about

I typed a response twice and deleted it twice, trying to avoid a thread hijack, but after seeing this quote, I figured I'd try. If you don't mind, in concept, a box of holsters, I wonder if conventional IWB would be a better way of starting carrying concealed.

What's everybody's thought on AIWB as a first-ever experience in concealed carry?

Another thought about AIWB in your situation (provided you are going to carry at home): young dads spent non-trivial amount of time bending, kneeling, crouching and otherwise picking stuff from the floor...I find that AIWB is less comfortable than conventional IWB in these positions, although others may disagree.

Chefdog
05-24-2011, 11:18 PM
What's everybody's thought on AIWB as a first-ever experience in concealed carry?

Another thought about AIWB in your situation (provided you are going to carry at home): young dads spent non-trivial amount of time bending, kneeling, crouching and otherwise picking stuff from the floor...I find that AIWB is less comfortable than conventional IWB in these positions, although others may disagree.

That's a good question. I wouldn't mind hearing people's thoughts on that.

As far as around the house is concerned I'm using one of the small gunvault safes downstairs now that he's mobile. Right now I plan on sticking with this until he's a little older and more independent and I won't need to spend as much time on the floor or picking him up all the time.

I'm going to give AIWB a fair shot first, but realize that Ill have to adapt as I see fit.

dookie1481
05-25-2011, 02:30 AM
What's everybody's thought on AIWB as a first-ever experience in concealed carry?

It's how I started.

Rappahannock
05-25-2011, 05:55 AM
This thread has me interested in whether anyone here has any experience with the Walther PPS series?

My PPS is what came to mind as soon as I started reading this thread. I find it the ideal conceal carry gun, with its super-flat design and various sizes of magazine lengths and back straps. It is also highly dependable and far more accurate than a gun of that size might be expected to be. For me, it is the perfect carry pistol and I both wear it and practice with it a lot.

JHC
05-25-2011, 11:07 AM
What's everybody's thought on AIWB as a first-ever experience in concealed carry?

.

I think that is an outstanding question.

For the $0.02 it's worth, I think strong side IWB might be a better way to break in to CCW. Not an absolute rule and I'm not suggesting any kind of absolute here; just my gut feeling from my 30 years of CCW. {jeezus I'm getting up there}

But TLG has most awesomely presented on the big AIWB thread the special considerations of AIWB and I can't see any harm in getting some experience strong side for a spell first.

MDS
05-25-2011, 11:19 AM
What's everybody's thought on AIWB as a first-ever experience in concealed carry?

For myself, I feel like carrying strong side IWB brings fewer variables into the equation. There are many quality holsters, for one thing. It seems like a 'walk' compared to 'running' AIWB. That's just my impression, though - and I've never carried AIWB.


Another thought about AIWB in your situation (provided you are going to carry at home): young dads spent non-trivial amount of time bending, kneeling, crouching and otherwise picking stuff from the floor...I find that AIWB is less comfortable than conventional IWB in these positions, although others may disagree.

I totally carry at home, and I'm one of those dads that actually, literally, rolls around on the ground with my 18-month old. This kind of play - at home or at the park or at the beach or wherever - is not negotiable to me. If AIWB makes it too difficult or uncomfortable, I'd switch back to traditional IWB.

That said, retention is super important for me, because of this. I used to have trouble with my Crossbreed SuperTuck in traditional IWB, because that holster depends too much on the belt for retention. Now that I use either a ADH OWB or Minotaur IWB, I feel 100% that the gun won't come out even when I'm doing somersaults with the kid.

jfrey
05-25-2011, 09:54 PM
I personally never carry IWB. It isn't comfortable and all my pistols are carried strong side OWB. Having carried both the CW9 and the G19, the Kahr is marginally more concealable since the grip is smaller and the whole gun is slimmer. It is lighter too. That being said, I traded the CW9 on a G19 for what I consider to be more reliability. The first day I carried the G19 I dressed as usual, shorts and a big t-shirt and asked my wife if she could see the gun. She looked closely and said "NO". After you have carried a while you will realize people don't notice near as much as you think they do. On more than one occassion I have stood and talked to LEO's I know and they never said a word.