AIWB: Wait, I've been doing it wrong?!

[The Dreaming Tree]

So, I noticed something today. Something I haven't noticed in four years of concealed carrying and two years of carrying "Appendix" (quotation marks to be explained shortly):

I don't do it right.

My "Appendix" Inside the Waist-Band ("A"IWB) isn't over my appendix, 1:00-1:30 for a right-handed shooter. I've been carrying dead center, at 12:00. Apparently, this isn't "Appendix" carry, but is "Crotch" carry. And I've never noticed. It's never bothered me (mentally), but there are times when it brushes against myself and it's a little odd.

In going through TLG's discussion posts on AIWB and the Eidolon-thread (big RCS fan, here), I've noticed you guys carry over your thighs. I tried moving my INCOG there, and it's just odd. Every time I step or sit, I can feel the muzzle press against my thigh.

How do y'all do it? Am I doing it wrong? Am I too fat (yes, that's a work in progress)? And, finally, HOW HAVE I, A 27 YEAR-OLD MAN, NEVER REALIZED APPENDIX CARRY ACTUALLY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH APPENDIX?!

[JV_]

I carry somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30.

I consider it AIWB for anything forward of the hip (12-2), and on the strong side, AIWB.

[DocGKR]

JV hit the nail on the head; for a right hand shooter, AIWB typically means holster placement in the 12-2 o'clock range (ie. anterior of the illiac crest).

[miller_man]

I think where people carry AIWB is body dependent. At least for me - there is that sweet spot where it rides perfectly and conceals well - for me its 12:30.

[JAD]

It's also holster dependent. The SME, I think JR has said, is meant to run at 12 -- mine certainly are. I run my JMC an inch righter.

[JMS]

I tried moving my INCOG there, and it's just odd. Every time I step or sit, I can feel the muzzle press against my thigh.

That's largely because, as appendix holsters go, it's a shitbox.

It's ostensibly designed to provide the wearer with the option of any IWB position, meaning that it was, out of the gate, essentially inferior to a purpose-built AIWB holster....were it not for how body/position-specific AIWB can be. Mathematically, some folks are just bound to end up with an INCOG working out for them in that role.

You may be over-analyzing things, if what you've been using provides you with adequate concealment, adequate ability to draw, etc. Don't change to either 1) change for its own sake, or 2) to look like somebody else. If a position closer to the hip with that thing is uncomfortable to the point of instability or an inability to tolerate wearing it that way....then don't.

[LOKNLOD]

I think in order to wear a gun "over my thigh", I'd need to either wear my pants so the waistline was somewhere about even with my solar plexus, or never lift my leg more than a few degrees from straight with my abdomen. Or perhaps wear the gun at a 45° angle pointing at my other leg.
12:00 to 1:30 or so is just fine, don't get tweaked over the semantics. If it works, it works. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

[JCS]

I agree it is body dependent. I carry around 12:30-1 in the natural crease and void created between my legs.

[Rich]

Back when I carried a revolver for a primary I carried between 12 and 1:00.