Which pocket to pocket carry?

[Crazy Dane]

At the first of the year, I picked up a LCRX in 9mm and it is/has become my goto carry gun for in and around the house in a DeSantis Slim Tuk, AIWB most of the time until I get to doing things that interferes. I am looking into pocket carry and my immediate reaction would be the right pocket because I am right handed but that is the pocket I put shit in when I am busy. I hardly ever put anything into my left pocket. Being somewhat ambidextrous I don't have any problem shooting weak hand so I'm leaning left. The reason I have the Slim Tuk is the Nemises that I tried first felt like I put an oven mitt in my pocket and DeSantis allowed me to swap at no charge.

Looking at kydex from Aholster https://aholster.com/pocket-aholster/or Alabama holster https://www.alabamaholster.com/product/front-pocket-holster/ I see that these are made in left or right handed versions and may just get 2,one for each pocket. Both have a straight up and down drop. Then I get into leather like this ​https://www.pcsholsters.com/collections/pocket-holsters/products/french-curve and wonder if I would benefit from the cant. I'm not trying to avoid the inevitable box-o-holsters, just trying to make sure that I end up with ones that are useful.

I want to avoid soft nonstructured holsters if I can.

I will most likely be wearing technician or carpenters pants from the Riggs Wear collection by Wrangler or old school BDUS. I think I only own 2 pairs of jeans.

Thoughts, questions, opposing viewpoints?

[Jason M]

For me, it is role dependent. If the gun its to be a backup to a primary, it rides in the off side pocket. If it is a primary it rides in the strong side pocket. This is just the way I've been doing it. There are others here, who are wiser, other niche role methodology. It think that it boils down to defining the role that you want filled and then work backwards from there. The J frame lends itself to that.

Here is an ambidextrous pocket holster that I have a lot of good service from. Its the "cutdown pocket revolver" about halfway down the page.

http://bellcharteroakholsters.com/pocket.html

For dedicated off side pocket carry I have a Kramer pocket holster.

[Duelist]

I like the Aholster, and Mika square bottom. Which side you use is really situation dependent, and you’ll have to analyze your situation, and probably try a few things out. If the pocket gun is the only gun, for me, it goes in the dominant side pocket. That required a paradigm shift for me when i started pocket carry, as that was the pocket where my slip joint Case or Schrade or SAK pocket knife had gone for my whole life, and now it couldn’t.

On the other hand, if I’m going to be sitting down playing guitar, *nothing* goes in my right hand, dominant side front pants pocket. So I either have to carry non-dominant side or some other carry method. If im in my recliner or on my couch or bed, that may mean the gun is just slipped out of the pocket and set down nearby. If I’m at the studio teaching for six hours, it’ll be on an ankle or in a smartcarry, in the left hand pocket, or IWB. If I’m doing a gig, then it’ll probably be in a smartcarry.

And if I’m going to work my day job, I’ll be back to my Case slipjoint and nothing else. LOL.

[SeriousStudent]

Left front pocket with a Smith and Wesson 342, loaded with Federal Gold Metal Match wadcutters. I do not traded pockets unless my left hand is broken or injured.

Consider that drawing while seated is just about impossible with pocket carry. But the primary is a Langdon-tuned Beretta 92 Vertec, carried IWB on the right hip ready to go.

If you are seated a lot, consider carrying on the inside of the left ankle. A second S&W 342 fits that role currently. But I only do the ankle carry thing at work and at church, where I know I will be seated for prolonged periods.

Hope that helps.

[Rex G]

To get it out of the way, first, before I forget, find what SouthNarc has had to say about pocket carry. @SouthNarc

If the fight has started, before one can clear the weapon from the pocket, it may then be problematic to reach the weapon, attain a firing grip, and then clear the pocket, during the fight. Depending upon the design and location of the pocket, it can be difficult to work from that pocket, when bent at the waist/hips. This is especially likely with front and hip pockets.

It is, of course, a valid tactic to already have one’s hand on the grip of the pocketed weapon, pre-fight, but, try it, with an inert weapon, with one’s usual trousers, bent at the waist/hips, to see if there will be problems getting the weapon free of the pocket.

From a Conditioned-Reflex standpoint, anything can be learned, with sufficient repetitions, to develop a Conditioned Reflex. Keep in mind that if you have conditioned yourself to reach into your right pocket, for tools that you are using at the moment, you will have to overcome that Conditioned Reflex, if you are not going to carry your weapon in there.

For a number of years, I pocket-carried a small revolver in the left pocket, while my usual “primary” weapon location has always been right hip*. Somewhere along the way, my usual primary blade ended up being clipped into the left front pocket, and that may have been when the small revolver migrated elsewhere. (At this point in time, everything about weapon carry location is in a state of flux, as I deal with a right thumb/wrist/shoulder not aging very well, and retirement from LEO-ing. I may well up-size the primary bladed, and/or shift my primary blade to the right side, and may end up regularly pocket-carrying a J-Frame revolver, again, in the left front pocket. J-Frame recoil really hurts my ailing right thumb, so a J-Snub, in any serious chambering, means lefty-only, anyway.)

On a side note, a Raven Concealment Systems Eidolon can be a quite nice pocket holster for a G26- or even G19-sized Glocks, if the pocket has enough room. I have forgotten which trousers in which I have done this; perhaps some of my PD-issued cargo pants.

As for pocket holsters I have used, well, I was happy with my early Desantis Nemesis, for a number of years, until the exterior grippy-ness diminished. Just about every pocket holster I now use is a Kramer. I have these to fit pistols from the Seecamp to the SP101. I think I had one to fit Baby Glocks, but may have sold or karma’ed it.

*This does not mean that I am right-handed. Actually, I am left-handed, but use large tools right-handed, so, I am left-handed, but right-armed.

[BobM]

For me, it is role dependent. If the gun its to be a backup to a primary, it rides in the off side pocket. If it is a primary it rides in the strong side pocket. This is just the way I've been doing it. There are others here, who are wiser, other niche role methodology. It think that it boils down to defining the role that you want filled and then work backwards from there. The J frame lends itself to that.

Here is an ambidextrous pocket holster that I have a lot of good service from. Its the "cutdown pocket revolver" about halfway down the page.

http://bellcharteroakholsters.com/pocket.html

For dedicated off side pocket carry I have a Kramer pocket holster.

That’s what I do, on and off duty. If for some reason I don’t have a gun on me (maybe wearing sweats around the house), I might put a snub in my strong side coat pocket if I have to step out, say to take the dog out.

[BillSWPA]

Another vote for a strong side of the gun is your primary, and weak side if it is your back up.

Aholster makes the best pocket holster I have ever used, and I have tried several. For best results, wrap some moleskin around the hook by the rear sight so that it does not poke a hole in your pocket.


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[flyrodr]

Agree with others. Pocket carry is, well, slow to engage. I'd rather carry IWB/AIWB, but if I can't I do pocket carry. Too old and stiff to get to an ankle holster.

If the pocket gun is all you're carrying, I'd want it to be as accessible, and as useable, as possible, so I'd recommend strong side. Shift whatever else to other pockets, unless accessing something else (knife, spray, etc.) is of greater priority.

I've tried a bunch of different pocket holsters, and like the Aholster . . . except when I'm carrying a P365 with Shield red dot. Called Aholster, and they said they couldn't modify the holster to work with a dot. Robert Mika did build me a pocket holster that covers the dot and works well.

That said, choosing the holster might be a lesser priority than choosing the pants, or at least the pockets. Some allow much quicker, and more consistent draws than others. And some . . . well, some just don't work for accessing a gun. And, as others have said, when you're sitting, it's near impossible to get a gun out of your pocket.

So, looser-fitting pant, pocket deep enough to hide the pistol, but not too deep, and with a wide enough opening to get it out. Not the best choice, but if that's all you can do, do what you can.

[Crazy Dane]

I think I have answered my own question. After I wrote and posted this thread, I went out to replace the lights in my garage, florescent to led. I went out the door with the lcr aiwb. It didn't take but just a minute of standing on the step ladder to move the pistol to 4:00ish. By the time I got done unwiring and rewiring 4 lights, my right front pocket was full of wire nuts, ties, my knife and a roll of black tape. The left was empty. I had a screwdriver and pliers in my back right. My biggest threat isn't Russian paratroopers dropping in on my mountain but the occasional stray dog or a sullen Copperhead so I'm ok with a lefthanded draw. I am also wondering after today if I may be chasing an idea that may not even work as I intend and should be looking for a 4-o-clock holster. Just to reiterate, this is for working around the house carry. I have everything else covered. This is also something that I am trying to get used to doing and make a habit out of.

[Cookie Monster]

I’d vote for JM Custom Kydex holster, not on the website you gotta email to order but my favorite pocket holster.