Seeking some advice on "concealability"

[Chefdog]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Any time, chef. We need to have a forum get together over dinner at your place some time.

[Chefdog]

Any time, chef. We need to have a forum get together over dinner at your place some time.

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]

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]

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]

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

Congrats on the new addition to your family, Chefdog.