To my current LE people: Are you seeing an up tick in the use of IWB holsters for your plainclothes/off duty personnel where authorized ? The reason I ask is that any casual perusal of this forum or other gun related forums would give the impression that 98% of gun carriers are using IWB. I retired a few years ago, but the vast majority of my fellow officers/agents strutting around the office carried their hardware OWB. Is the culture changing in LE ?
I work in plainclothes now, and I used to work in uniform with colleagues who commonly carried off duty. My observation (which is of a very small sample) is that OWB is more prevalent than IWB, by a long shot.
I'm in an all plain clothes agency, and I'd guess that 95-98% of the folks in my agency carry OWB, at least on duty. I wouldn't want to guess what percentage of folks carry off duty at all, for fear of bursting into tears.
I do know that, back in pre-history, we made agents conduct an annual "non-standard holster" qualification (about 15 rounds over 10 or so draws) for anyone who wanted to carry anything BUT strong side OWB on duty. I'd guess about 10% of the agents would show up for these - mostly with ankle holsters or fanny packs, one or two shoulder rigs. I don't recall anyone but me ever completing the course with an IWB holster. That requirement has gone the way of the dodo, and I have seen one or two young guys carrying AIWB - usually in soft suede holsters with Glocks of P365s - what could possibly go wrong?
78 days, 11 hours, 31 minutes to eligibility...
In the mid-aughties I showed up for our annual off-duty/back up qual course with a Milt Sparks Summer Special and you would have thought it was some kind of alien artifact by the way people reacted to it.
I'm around plain clothes local and Federal cops quite a bit when I go downtown to work and I see that "covered up" but not really "concealed" is the order of the day. I mostly see kydex OWB holsters very poorly concealed under a polo shirt or similar.
It could be that there are high speed people that are doing a good job of 1) not looking like a cop and 2) concealing their piece.
I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.
I’m in a mostly plain clothes agency. The majority of my coworkers carry OWB in the issued Bladetech holster. It’s like a cheaper copy of the Raven Perun. I’m assuming that if the agency issued an IWB holster, these folks would be carrying IWB.
There are a few other guys who carry IWB but they generally do so with smaller guns (G26, P365, etc). The only times I don’t carry AIWB is when I have to throw my vest on for enforcement operations because the vest greatly impedes my draw and reholstering. I’ve been qualifying from my AIWB holster and the FIs and higher ups seem to be supportive of it.
My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.
Plain clothes: Nearly all OWB.Originally Posted by Inspector71
Off duty: A more even mix, with AIWB and strong side IWB making strong appearances.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
"Plainclothes" varies a lot. At my department (and most around here):
- Suits = OWB
- Polo/khakis = OWB
- Guys with beards wearing jeans = All IWB or AIWB
The first two categories are obviously readily identifiable as being police even though they aren't wearing a true uniform (though they might as well be). The third actually wants to be sort of discrete. That's generally the difference.
Our jail and IA investigators and alternative sentencing staff all carry OWB. Issue holster is a Safariland pancake style leather holster even though I see a few Serpas being worn. Off duty, who knows for sure. I use IWB with Glocks when my back is not acting up.
I'm starting to see more of the younger officers carrying AIWB in some local agencies I'm familiar with. So far, holster choice seems good, with most opting for purpose-built Kydex or injection-molded rigs.
When i first started it was OWB all the way, 4 O'clock position. Sometime during the 2000's, IWB rigs by Galco and others became popular locally and I started using those. I made the jump to AIWB, either RCS or PHLster for off-duty, a few years ago and haven't looked back.
However, there are still a number of dudes around here opting for "pickup truck glove box carry", though...
Last edited by Horseman; 12-12-2019 at 02:30 PM.
If you're talking street clothes, it's almost all OWB here, on and off duty, using the issued Raven Phantom.
I'm in a minority that carries IWB in street clothes.
In my observation, once you hit that minority that carries IWB, qual scores, time dedicated to training, the carriage of extended mags for reloads, and the use of custom ordered gear all sharply rise.
ETA: To be fair, IWB was a little more popular when we were issued an absolute shit holster (Safariland 568) and virtually everyone was out buying their own stuff. Now there's not much of a need, as honestly the Raven conceals G19s and G26s as good or better than many IWB holsters for the bulk of agents.
Last edited by TGS; 12-12-2019 at 02:54 PM.
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