holsters

Top Ten Concealed Carry Holsters – Peep The Best

Concealed carry allows the everyday Joe and Jane the means to pack a firearm for self-defense. One of the most important considerations to concealed carry in your holster. Your holster selection plays a bigger role than you might know. Holsters are responsible for helping keep the firearm concealed, keeping it safe, and ensuring you can fill your hand when need be. With that in mind, you might be asking yourself, which holster should I use? Well, I got good news for you, I have ten of the very best concealed carry holsters on the market.

Phlster Spotlight Concealed Carry Holster

Phlster makes some of the best holsters on the planet, and they provide an unbeatable holster option in the form of the Spotlight. The Spotlight allows shooters to conceal any compact or full-sized medium frame Glock pistol, with a TLR 1 weapon light, a red dot sight, a muzzle device, and suppressor height sights.

If you carry a Gucci Glock, you might as well carry a Gucci holster to accommodate it. Phlster holsters are superbly comfortable, well made, safe, and easy to draw and reholster from. It’s tough to beat the best, and Phlster takes the number one spot for a reason.

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Compatible with – Glock 17/22/31/19/23/32/34/35

Raven Concealment Systems Perun OWB Holster

Raven Concealment are masters of discreet carry, and when you pack a big piece for concealed carry, you need a good holster, especially when you want to carry OWB. The Raven Concealment Systems Perun OWB holster gives you an ultra-thin but ultra well-made OWB option.

It clings tight to the body and makes it possible to conceal a Glock 19 with nothing more than a T-shirt over the top. Users have adjustable retention, and the holster can be reversed for either left or right-handed carry. It’s a downright dirty trick of a holster that disappears and carries with absolute ease.

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Compatible With – Glock 19/19x/23/26/32/44/45

Galco Miami Classic

Shoulder carry comes in and out of fashion, but regardless of the current fad, the quality of Miami Classic remains pristine. This is the flag bearer of shoulder holsters and combines comfort with retention but allows for easy access and excellent concealment. The Miami Classic gains its name from its starring role on the television show Miami Vice.

Opposite the holster is a double mag pouch for a reload or two. The rear of the holsters features a spider harness that allows the four points to pivot independently. This ensures complete and total maneuverability and total comfort. The Miami Classic makes concealed carry simple and comfortable.

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Compatible With – Numerous Glock, SIG, Beretta, and S&W handguns

Concealment Express OWB Concealed Carry Holster

If your budget is tight and you want a rock-solid concealed carry holster, then it’s tough to beat the Concealment Express OWB rig. It provides the comfort and speed of access that OWB offers with a tight fit and easy concealment you need for a stress-free carry experience.

This rig allows users to have complete ambidexterity, as well as room for all the modern doo-dads. This includes suppressor height sights, threaded barrels, and red dot sights. This simplistic polymer holster delivers excellent retention, easy concealment, and a relatively low price point.

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Compatible with – Too Many To List.

Bravo Concealment Torsion 3.0

Life is all about options. With the Bravo Concealment Torsion 3.0, you get two options for carry. You can run the Torsion 3.0 as a traditional strong side concealed carry holster or as an appendix carry rig. Users can remove or adjust one belt clip to add cant or reduce bulk.

This polymer holster delivers outstanding performance in all conditions and a near impossible to break design. This thin rig disappears under a t-shirt and allows you to carry guns both big and small with near invisibility. The Bravo Concealment Torsion 3.0 rig gives users a minimalist rig that provides exceptional comfort and instant access when your concealed carry firearm is needed.

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Compatible with S&W M&P series, Most Glocks, HK VP9, SIG P320 series

Desantis Mini Scabbard

Polymer-based holsters are without a doubt the superior option for duty holsters, but leather can still produce an amazing concealed carry holster. The Desantis Mini Scabbard is the perfect example of an outstanding leather holster. This custom-molded holster accommodates specific firearms and allows for a sure fit and excellent retention.

The Mini Scabbard encloses the firearm completely and provides a fixed, non-collapsing design for the utmost safety. This holster comes from Desantis, masters of leatherwork, and they produce outstanding holsters for concealed carry. The Mini Scabbard clings tight to the body and makes it easy to dedicate yourself to concealed carry. You’ll forget you’re even wearing a gun on your hip with a holster this comfortable.

Compatible with S&W M&P Shield, SIG P365, and S&W J frames

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Blackhawk T Series L2C

Do you live a life of blood and danger? Full of adventure? Or maybe you move furniture for a living, climb ladders, or swing a hammer? If so, you likely find yourself in situations where concealed carry is challenging. You need active retention, and not many concealed carry holsters offer it. That’s where the Blackhawk T Series L2C comes into play.

The L2C sports a thumb-activated retention device that ensures the gun stays in place until you need it most. The thumb activation falls where your grip naturally falls, so defeating it is far from an obstacle. The L2C allows you to have a concealed carry, minimalist OWB rig with the retention of a duty holster. Adventure away and do so knowing your firearm is safely tucked away.

Compatible With S&W M&P 2.0, S&W Shield, Glock 17/19/22/23, SIG P320, SIG P365

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Safariland 7378 ALS

Safariland made their bones making duty holsters, and their adventure into concealed carry gave us the 7378 series of OWB concealed carry holsters. They took all the features of their famed duty holster designs and shrunk them a bit, made them easier to hide and ultimately easier to conceal. The 7378 uses the ALS system to retain the weapon.

The retention is outstanding, but all it takes to draw the gun is a straight upwards tug. The 7378 series provides excellent security, a very easy draw, and awesome concealment. Safariland even gave these rigs an excellent price point that makes them perfect for nearly any budget-conscious shooter. It’s an outstanding concealment rig that makes your weapon disappear with ease.

Compatible With- Almost Everything Made after 1911

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Phalanx Defense Stealth Operator OWB/IWB Package

I’ve been using the Phalanx Defense Stealth Operator for years now, and it’s my favorite ‘universal’ holster. The Stealth Operator provides polymer construction with compatibility with over 150 handguns designs. The IWB and OWB models offer an insane degree of concealability. Phalanx Defense has packaged both the IWB and OW holsters together for one very affordable price point.

This gives users two options for the price of one. Both encourage active concealment and allow you to keep your gun close at hand. This design provides you options not only near modern firearms but for a multitude of carry positions. You can’t beat it when it comes to versatility. It also provides you an exceptional amount of comfort, concealment, and it’s perfect for any concealed carry condition.

Compatible with Over 150 different firearms.

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Galco Underwraps Belly Band

Belly bands are tricky. Most are cheap crap you find for a few bucks, and believe me; you get what you pay for. With the Galco Underwraps, you get an outstanding belly band for a little more money. The investment is well worth the little extra cash. With the Underwraps, you can effectively conceal a handgun, as well as extra magazines, a flashlight, and more with little effort.

Your firearm will be secure, safe, but easy to access, and damn sure it’s concealed. The Galco belly band allows you to concealed carry regardless of the situation. You can carry comfortably in gym clothes, yoga pants, or if you decide to just Winnie The Pooh with a shirt and not pants. At least you got your gun. It’s a comfortable deep carry method to safely carry your firearm.

Compatible With – Most subcompact firearms.

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Boom, Bang, Pow

When you strap a holster on your body, you should have complete confidence in it. You shouldn’t worry about your gun flying out, your trigger being exposed, or your firearm being hard to draw. With a high-quality concealed carry holster, you’ll have none of those worries. When you choose one of the above holsters for concealed carry, you won’t have those worries.

Bravo Concealment Torsion 3.0 Holster: Makin’ it disappear

Bravo Concealment is a company that has risen from just another polymer holster manufacturer to one of the leaders in concealment holsters. In a short period of time, they have dominated the market. They are like 5 Guys Burgers and Fries in a lot of ways. Bravo Concealment doesn’t make a million different holsters. They keep to a core group of holsters and magazine pouches and focus on making them the best they can be. When they release a new holster the industry takes notice. The new Torsion 3.0 is their newest holster. I recently received one for my SIG p365 and have been rocking and rolling with the holster as my EDC for quite some time.

The Torsion 3.0 is an IWB holster designed to work with appendix and strongside carry. The holster is of course polymer in construction. The 3.0 can function with two clips or a single clip depending on how you are feeling that day. The Torsion 3.0 comes with two clips. The Torsion 3.0 is also designed for the Glock 19, 19X, 45, 23, and 32. The holster will not work with the 80% lower Glocks so be aware of that. That being said the SIG is the only non Glock model the Torsion 3.0 is molded for. However, I’m positive more and more guns will be added over time.

What’s New with the Torsion 3.0

One of the biggest changes from the older Torsion holsters is the addition of the ability to adjust the retention between two positions. This includes a heavy medium and a light medium retention. With a simple twist of a screwdriver, the tension is easily adjusted. Additionally, the holster uses a new injection molding. This gives the holster a much smoother design and more of a gloss appearance. The holster feels thinner and hides very well.

Carrying the Torsion 3.0

The Torsion 3.0 is a very deep concealment holster. It instantly makes the svelte and small P365 disappear under a t-shirt. I prefer a 5’clock carry for concealed IWB and this is the perfect holster for it. I ran two clips because I like the security of that design. What I fear most when carrying IWB is my shirt coming up over my gun.

The Torsion holds the gun at an angle that it’s not going to happen. The grip is presented for a right proper presentation and I can grab the gun and get into action, but at the same time, the gun stays concealed.

I’ve carried the P365 in the Torsion 3.0 holster over and over again, day after day and found it to be quite comfortable. The 5 o’clock position does make it prod a bit when sitting in a vehicle, but I have no other major complaints. The utter smoothness of the holster makes it extremely comfortable.

I love that the old seamlessly blends into my daily wear. The inward cant keeps the gun close you your body and less likely to create printing. The Torsion 3.0 is invisible when concealed.

Drawing and Firing

Hitting the range with the Torsion was a must. I experimented with varying positions beyond my normal IWB carry position. Drawing and firing from the Torsion 3.0 is easy to do. While the gun is held tight to the body you can still get your hand on the grip and draw the gun with.

In my normal carry position, I typically would rest my thumb on the rear of the slide until the gun was drawn. Then I could wrap my thumb around the gun and achieve a proper firing grip.

For appendix and strong side carry this wasn’t necessary. There was plenty of room to grip the gun fully in these positions. As long as I didn’t goof moving the cover garment I could easily draw and fire for any position. I tried both retention levels and never found the retention level to be so rough I had issues drawing.

In both the light and heavy settings the gun was natural to draw, with a noticeable difference between the two. I run the light-medium setting for daily carry. I could see great usefulness in a heavier form of retention for those most arduous days.

A long time ago I worked in a truck moving furniture in and out of homes and warehouses and all that climbing, moving, and lifting basically required me to have an active retention device on my gun. With passive retention, I’d feel the gun move way too much. I think in these kinds of situations the medium heavy setting would be perfect.

Crank It Down

The Torsion 3.0 IWB holster is a simple design, one that works, and will serve you for a very long time. It adds minimal weight and bulk and best of all it’s ready if you upgrade your gun. For example, this model is designed to function with my P365 if the barrel is extended and threaded as well as if it was wearing a red dot sight.

It’s perfect if you choose to adapt your weapon to your needs. The added ability to adjust retention is a nice touch, that doesn’t add bulk or much in terms of price. I think Bravo Concealment has made good on upgrading the already excellent Torsion series. Check them out here.

The Phalanx Defense Stealth Operator – New and Improved

A long time ago I purchased my first Stealth Operator holster. It was a kydex holster that could accommodate over 150 different holsters securely. I was curious, and I consider most universal holsters to be absolute garbage. However, the holster was quite affordable. This was 4 years ago and to this day that same Phalanx Defense Stealth Operator holster still works like an absolute champ. It accommodates a wide variety of guns, including big name guns like Glock, S&W, and even Walther and CZ. It accommodates mostly double stack, polymer frame guns.

That being said it has no problems with my Walther PPS, which is a single stack 9mm. They’ve updated the construction of the Stealth Operator to last even longer, and they’ve utilized redesigned belt loops and more modern screws. Additionally, they’ve created a special edition model that is Hydro dipped in the colors of Old Glory. This is the compact model and it does leave the barrel and slide of most guns exposed but fits nearly any modern gun. For a complete list of guns that are compatible with the system check out their new website here.

The Stealth Operator Improved

The kind folks at Phalanx Defense sent me one of the new Stealth Operator compact models, hydro dipped in Old Glory. Comparing it to my older model I see a few differences. Instead of screws, the two halves of the holster are bolted together. The belt loops are slightly curved more than the older models and this allows for a more form-fitting design.

This pulls the gun in closer to the body. This holster arrived at the right time as I did need a new holster for a Polymer 80 Glock I finished some time ago. Most Glock holsters won’t accommodate it, but the Stealth Operator does so with ease. This is the full-sized model and the holster makes it easy to secure.

It holds the gun close to my body and makes it nearly invisible under nothing more than a T-shirt. It prints just a hair, but it still an impressive amount of concealment for such a big gun.

Because it holds the gun tight to the body you will feed some abrasion from the grip on the gun as it rubs throughout the day. That’s just part and parcel of concealed carry though. The holster itself is sized for 1.5-inch belts and fits nice and tight on those belts. I’ve used it in combination with my Propper Carbon Carry belt and they’ve been a great combo

Hows the Retention?

Retention is going to be a concern when you try to design a holster to accommodate a wide variety of guns. However, the design of the Stealth Operator uses a rather simple but elegant solution. This is a bulge on both sides of the holster that creates a friction point. This clips in over the trigger guard with a nice and loud ‘click’. It secures the weapon well and for concealed carry it works well.

You can hang the gun upside down and it’s not going anywhere, but when it comes time to draw the gun its a smooth move. I’ve only had and used this specific holster for a couple of weeks now, but durability wise I trust it. My previous model has lasted me a good four years without any issues. Retention has always been tight, even with the old school screw design.

Oddballs

What I originally loved about the Stealth Operator is that it accommodates guns that can be tough to find a holster for. Newer designs or those not well known don’t always have the best holster market. The Stealth Operator is often an excellent go to if your gun isn’t the most common on the block.

I will say at the time the Stealth Operator will fit most popular pistols, especially if they are polymer frame double stack guns. This is an affordable and well-made holster assembled in the Great State of Florida. I’ve been a fan, and continue to be a fan. If you need an affordable and reliable holster designed for daily carry this is a great choice. If you have a multitude of guns and don’t want to break the bank buying holsters this may be the ultimate solution for you.

US Marine drops some knowledge on holsters

Holsters are a necessary part of owning a pistol. A holster allows safe carry of a firearm for both duty and range time. I personally, if carrying a duty pistol at all, am relegated to using either the SERPA design or the old school USGI green Cordura holster. Both are terrible options in my opinion so for this article I’ll discuss what I use for personal carry. First off all of my holsters are manufactured from Kydex material. It’s a thermoplastic that can be easily molded with the proper application of heat. It’s durable, easy to work with, and comes in a variety of different colors to suit your style. The days of the Cordura holster with snap retention are over. If you’re still in the stone ages an upgrade is long overdue. Two of my four overt holsters are mounted using a genius system that Safariland came out with called the Quick Lock System or QLS. This allows the user to mount sets of “forks” onto their holsters and quick swap holsters with minimal effort. This is perfect for mounting your pistol in different places as well if you find yourself mounted and need it in a more accessible position. The other two holsters are a higher ride using a paddle and belt loop mounts respectively. I prefer to use these holsters when not wearing my gear belt.

Of the small number of holsters, I have two are an active retention style, meaning the user has to trigger some mechanism to draw the weapon. SERPA, Bladetech Thumbdrive, ALS from Safariland are the three I am most familiar with. The two I personally own that I’m not forced to own (looking at you SERPA) are the Bladetech Thumbdrive and the ALS or Auto Locking System from Safariland. These are both good solutions to the need for retention that I desire. Some jobs may require a higher level of retention but I stick to level II meaning only one mechanism of securing the firearm. The rest of my holsters use retention adjustment screws and rubber washers to passively retain my firearms in a satisfactory manner. My SOB Tactical deep concealment holster actually “clicks” when the firearm is inserted whereas the Kydex from Cascadia Concealment is a firm fit but no audible click.

Holster selection is based on your desired endstate and carry style. I wouldn’t rock my Safariland ALS on a mid-ride outer waistband to a restaurant however I would use my Cascadia Concealment appendix inner waistband (AIWB) and spare mag holder. I also wouldn’t use an active retention holster at a USPA match if draw speed was coming down to the hundredths of a second. Overall you need to analyze what your need for the holster is. What is your mission? Taking the wife out to the mall may require a discreet AIWB whereas a day on the range your passive retention OWB rig works sufficiently, and finally for the Police Officer responding to a domestic violence call that extra level of active retention may be needed should the call go south and a suspect tries to take the Officer’s weapon. As long as you PRACTICE and put the reps in, very few holsters are the “wrong answer”.

A few other notes I’ll share to hopefully shorten some learning curves include the ride height, cant, and spacing of the holster. Ride height is referring to how high the holster sits on your body with relation to the hip. I prefer the Mid-ride set up putting it out of the way of any gear I may be wearing on my torso. It also allows me to have a smoother and quicker draw stroke due to the length of my arms. Also, consider ride height should you find yourself in a vehicle. Can you access the firearm quickly from the seat? The cant of the holster refers to the angle off of perpendicular (right angle for those of us that struggled with shapes) the holster sits. The common variants are a straight drop, FBI, and negative cant. The straight drop is what I use on my mid-ride setups, however, my waistline mounted holsters are all FBI or 10-20 degree forward cants to allow me to grip the firearm smoothly without awkward elbow positioning. Negative cant is primarily used when drawing from crossdraw so think appendix or small of back carry where the firearms angle is less than 90 degrees. And the final note of spacing refers to how far the holster is off my body. This is a fine line for me. Too close and it snags on my plate carrier or jacket, too far it snags on everything else and prohibits me from doing certain things. This is a shooter preference much like everything else but for me, the QLS system spaces the holster perfectly away from my hip.

At the end of the day, very few holsters are dead wrong to buy. The only holster that’s a poor choice is one you don’t practice with. That being said I personally recommend Cascadia Concealment, a LEO owned company out of the pacific northwest, Safariland of course though on the pricey side they make amazing gear in use by a lot of battle-proven units. Hopefully, this helps you make a more informed decision on holsters but to state it for the record long as you practice you almost can’t go wrong.

Author – Tanner Hodges

Desantis Holsters 2019 Line-up

Desantis is a legend is the holster business and plenty Loadout Room Writers love and appreciate the gear they make. I’m a huge fan of the Desantis DSD rig, but that rig is really an oddity. They produce much more traditional holsters for both duty and concealed carry. The new 2019 lineup shows that Desantis is certainly looking at all angles of the holster market. Here are a few of my favorite new Desantis holsters.

The Inner Piece

This is the perfect name for a deep concealment holster. The Inner Piece is designed to be an affordable holster that’s designed for appendix carry. Its also designed to maximize comfort. The Inner Piece is made from padded ballistic nylon that is quite comfortable and very soft. It’s lightweight and uses a single clip adjustable for cant and height. The Inner Piece also allows you to carry an extra magazine, and the Inner Piece fits over 60 different guns. This is unique when it comes to Desantis Holsters, but is certainly a worthy entry.

FLETC 2.0

The FLETC 2.0 is a collaboration between the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and Desantis Holsters. This holster is designed for the snub nose revolver, and the FLETC series incorporates both a speed strip holder and a speed loader holder. The FLETC 2.0 holds the gun very tight to the body and aids in easy and comfortable concealment. Revolvers are old school, and so is leather, but the FLETC 2.0 is a modern take on the classic leather design. Plus, when it comes to just pure looks you can’t beat leather holsters and a revolver.

The Intruder 2.0

The Intruder 2.0 from Desantis Holsters is a multi-fit holster designed for both IWB and OWB carry. The end user can swap between either method of carry in about 5 minutes. This is a hybrid holster that uses a polymer shell and a steer hide backing. The Intruder 2.0 is a tuckable holster in its IWB configuration and the user can set the angle and cant of the holster.

The Variable 13

The Variable 13 is a deep concealment OWB holster. It clings extremely tight to the body and the design can be swapped from left to right-handed configurations. The holster is made from premium saddle leather and the holster can be adjusted for cant and tension. The Variable 13 is a very sexy design and the leather work is absolutely amazing. It’s almost a shame to conceal it.

The Kurz Shotgun Case

The best part about being the writer of this article is when I say Desantis Holsters I can take that lightly and do what I want. The Kurz Shotgun Case is not a holster, but a scabbard or case designed for my favorite ultra short shotguns. These are designed for the Tac 14, Shockwave, and other similar short shotguns. This scabbard is extremely high quality and looks like a very old school leather scabbard. On the outside is a swappable shell carrier for 410, 20 gauge, and 12 gauge rounds. You could like store a shorty 300 Blackout upper equipped AR without a magazine in one as well.

Desantis Holsters and 2019

This is a very short list of the new Desantis Holsters but was some of my favorite at SHOT Show 2019. I’m a huge fan of Desantis and hope to have a few of these in my collection by the end of the year. Keep an eye out for future reviews of these holsters.

Blade-Tech Revolution Combo Pack

I’m in the airport at LAX having just finished my 11th Direct Action Group ( http://dag-usa.com/) Combat Arts Symposium (CAS). It’s always a great experience with Max Joseph and his cadre of experienced Instructors. I first trained with Max in 1998 taking his Tac Pistol I & II and have used what I learned then ever since in relation to my pistol handling. In 2007 I started attending the CAS and have been back every year except last year when business travels kept me away. I have always run pretty slick on gear and first started using a Blade-Tech combo set of holster and mag pouch for my Glock 19.

As time passed I use a few different setups but this year decided to go back to basics and purchased a Blade-Tech Revolution Combo Pack for my Glock 19. The Revolution Combo Pack comes with a holster that can be attached by either belt loops or an attachable paddle, belt attached mag pouch, and a yellow training barrel. Price is around $30.00 from various outlets. This is a great package for someone new to handguns or someone looking for a set up for a handgun class. The holster and mag pouch are made from injection molded polymer and will hold up to years of use and abuse, I still have and use my original combo set up.

The past three days I did hundreds of draws and reholsters without a hitch or problem from the gear. Draws and reholstering was smooth and issue free. The pistol and magazines are held snugly but come out without a problem and stayed in during the active portions of the training which included running, assuming kneeling positions, and personnel down drills. I think that this combo is a good bang for the buck especially for someone looking to attend their first training classes. It’s always mindset and training over gear that wins the fight.

Author – Art Dorst served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves and eventually retired as an NCO from The Army National Guard. He is also a retired municipal Police Officer, a Certified EMT, NRA Instructor, and is currently a security provider/trainer.