Concealed Carry Safety

The foundation of safe concealed carry is the holster. Whatever else the holster does, it HAS to meet three minimum safety requirements first, before you even consider putting a loaded gun into it.

It's up to you as the consumer to evaluate which holsters are safe. Just because someone will take your money doesn't mean they're selling a good product. There are a lot of dangerous holsters on the market, and it's up to you to protect yourself. Never accept 'it works for me,' especially not from random people on the Internet. Invest a few minutes learning the basic holster safety requirements, and you'll be able to evaluate for yourself whether a product is safe.

Choosing a Safe Concealed Carry Holster: 3 Requirements

1. Full trigger protection
   • Rigid enough that the trigger CANNOT be manipulated from the outside
2. Retention through a FULL range of motion
   • Retain the gun in the holster
   • Retain the holster in a consistent position on the body
3. Safe reholstering
   • MUST be able to reholster without sweeping (pointing the gun at) any part of the body
   • A safe mechanism for one-handed reholstering is STRONGLY recommended -- the best way to accomplish this is with an unobstructed, rigid mouth, so the holster does not collapse when the gun is drawn

How To Safely Reholster a Handgun

When you draw or holster the gun, make sure not to sweep (point it at) any part of your body at any time during the process. Reholstering the gun is an especially dangerous time, so use caution. Step back with your strong side leg, tilt your hips so that the holster angles away from your squishy bits, and LOOK the gun slowly, carefully, and deliberately back into the holster. One advantage of appendix carry is that the holster is visible (for most body types), which allows you to check it for obstructions while you reholster.

If you have a bit of belly, you can use your free hand to pull your skin taut, so it doesn't get pinched in the holster. You may also need to step back further and exaggerate your backwards lean in order to clear all body parts.

Reholstering is not a race, so make sure to give yourself enough time to STOP the motion if something is wrong. If you rush the gun back into the holster, your reaction time is not fast enough to stop if a drawstring or a wrinkle of t-shirt wraps around your trigger. Slow down, be deliberate, and give yourself enough time to think and respond.

Is Appendix Carry Dangerous?

It's a fundamental rule of gun safety that you never point your gun at something you're not willing to destroy. So it's natural to question whether appendix carry is safe. After all, the gun is pointed right at a bunch of important arteries and/or dangly bits, especially when you sit. How can that be safe?

There are two parts to this answer. One is that carrying a gun is inherently dangerous. This is true in all carry positions. With safe handling practices, we can reduce the risk of injury, but it's never zero. You must accept some risk whether you carry a gun in the appendix position, strong side, or behind the hip.

The second part of this answer revolves around the difference between HANDLING a gun and STORING it.

The firearms safety rules are HANDLING rules. They apply whenever you HANDLE a gun. On the other hand, when you properly STORE a gun, you render it inaccessible to humans -- so that it cannot accidentally fire. This is why you can do things like place your gun inside a gun case, then walk around behind the gun case without getting shot. When stored sensibly and responsibly, the gun cannot fire on its own.

The same logic applies to a holstered gun. When a gun is inside a properly constructed holster that meets the safety requirements, it is rendered unable to fire -- it's basically inert. That's why the safe holster requirements are so important. When your holster fully protects the trigger and retains the gun securely, then you may treat the gun as if it is stored -- that is, until you handle it to draw or reholster.

When you draw or holster the gun, make sure not to sweep (point it) at any part of your body, at any time during the process. Reholstering the gun is an especially dangerous time, so use caution. Step back with your strong side leg, tilt your hips so that the holster angles away from your squishy bits, and LOOK the gun slowly, carefully, and deliberately back into the holster. One advantage of appendix carry is that the holster is visible (for most body types), which allows you to check it for obstructions while you reholster.

Reholstering is not a race, so make sure to give yourself enough time to STOP the motion if something is wrong. If you rush the gun back into the holster, your reaction time is not fast enough to stop if a drawstring or a wrinkle of t-shirt wraps around your trigger. Slow down, be deliberate, and give yourself enough time to think and respond.

Safe appendix carry draw and reholstering starts with good gear and good technique. But there are also some simple holster hacks that can make the process safer. For example, in the left picture below, see how the gun is titled in toward the model's pelvis? With the holster at that angle, it would be difficult for her to lean back far enough to reholster safely. But when she adds a wedge to her holster, the muzzle of the gun angles away from her body, giving her a safer path back into the holster with less exaggerated leaning required.

Comfortable Concealed Carry Starts With SKILLS

Comfort is the foundation of concealed carry success. While carrying a gun will never be as comfortable as NOT carrying one, it's crucial to consider comfort from the very beginning of your concealed carry journey.

The first step is to find your body's comfort boundaries. Those are the areas where you can place your holster without interfering with your movement or causing pain. That's what allows you to sit down comfortably while appendix carrying your gun, and do all your normal daily activities, like driving, bending, squatting, or running.

As you'll see in the video below, comfort boundaries are unique to each person, but they're easy to find with a little practice. Pro tip: Find your comfort boundaries when you're sitting down first!

Once you know which carry positions are in-bounds and which are out-of-bounds for your body type, then you can move on to the next section.

Concealed Carry in Three Steps

There are three basic steps to get invisible concealment on any body type:

1. Find your Sweet Spot
2. Get the grip (handle) of your gun to rotate toward your body
3. Get the grip of the gun to tuck into your body

Concealment Sweet Spot: Find Your Perfect Carry Position

Your concealment Sweet Spot simply means the best spot on your body to conceal your gun. The ideal carry position will be different for everyone, depending on body type and wardrobe.

Imagine your body as a landscape: you want to avoid placing the gun on a peak, and instead place it into a valley, where your clothing can drape around it.

When you're getting started, it's normal to feel like you're all peaks, no valleys. Everyone feels that way at first! But rest assured, you don't have to find a perfectly flat spot on your body to conceal the gun -- all you need is an area that is relatively flatter than the areas around it. An area where your clothing drapes relatively more, allowing for an envelope of empty space between the clothing and your body. Remember, if your clothes are tight or clingy enough to touch your body without a gun, adding a gun in that spot will definitely print. So look for a valley with some natural clothing drape.

To find your own concealment Sweet Spot, start by looking down at your body, then looking from the side. Mirrors and cell phone recordings are your friend!

If you're struggling with this step, make sure your gun isn't too big for your Sweet Spot by calculating your Concealment Percentage.

Concealment Sweet Spot Guide (Blog)

CONCEALMENT PERCENTAGE: How To Make Sure Your Gun is the Right Size

MEN: Tips for Male Body Types

WOMEN: Tips for Female Body Types

Poke and Check - How To Get the Gun to Conceal

Once you've found your Sweet Spot, the next step is to make your gun lay as flat as possible against your body. The more it sticks out, the more your clothing will get hung up and look unnatural - this is called printing. When the gun is tucked in tight against your body, your clothing can flow around it, reducing printing and giving you better concealment.

The goal is to get to your Maximum Concealment Potential: that's when you have the gun in your sweet spot, with all your concealment mechanics fully maxed out to give you the best possible concealment with that firearm. When you're at your MCP, you have the most freedom to wear what you want, rather than having to dress around a gun that's poorly concealed.

So how do you know what holster features you need to get to your MCP? That's where the Poke and Check comes in. Put on your holstered gun, and look to see any areas of printing. If you see any places where the gun isn't tight to your body, POKE them! For example, if your grip is printing, press in on it. Observe how the gun rotates horizontally, or tucks vertically, to get closer to your body. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This insight tells you what holster features you will need to get better concealment.

You'll learn about holster features in the next sections, but first, watch the video below to see the Poke and Check in action.

Holster Wings

Holster wings convert belt pressure into grip rotation (see how in the Poke and Check video above). A wing is basically a lever that attaches to your holster, and it helps your grip to rotate closer to your body, which reduces grip printing. You'll hear them called wings, concealment wings, claws, concealment claws, or other creative names that holster manufacturers sometimes make up out of thin air. Not all wings are created equal, and some have varying levels of effectiveness and durability, but they all do the same basic task -- rotating the grip inwards.

While there are many different types of wings, by far the most popular is called the Modwing. Designed by Andrew Henry, the Modwing is adjustable for three levels of grip rotation, and it is ambidextrous for right and left handed holsters. Other popular wings include the Darkwing, and the Ravenwing (RCS).

Some holster companies accomplish grip rotation with raised areas on the holster itself, either molded into the kydex, or attached as separate inserts. While not technically considered wings, these features serve the same purpose, and can be equally effective when properly designed. When you tighten your belt over these features, the belt pressure causes the gun to rotate inward, much like a wing.

Holster Wedges

A holster wedge goes under the muzzle of your gun, and it helps tilt the top of the gun toward your body, increasing grip tuck, and decreasing printing. The placement of your wedge really matters! In addition to the basic grip tuck effect, you can also shape your holster wedge to improve grip rotation, reduce optic printing, add extra keel, or solve a number of other common concealed carry problems. For a deep dive on holster wedges, read our detailed holster wedge article, and watch the Holster Wedge Master Class video below.

For many people, a holster wedge also solves one of the most common appendix carry comfort problems - the muzzle poking in and creating a painful pressure point. When you add a wedge to your holster, not only do you cushion the bottom of the muzzle, you also cause the gun to lay flatter against your body at the bottom, which reduces pressure points and leads to a much more comfortable experience.

In the photo below, note how the bottom corner of the muzzle digs into the model's pelvis. This will create a painful hotspot over time. In the wedge photo, you can see that this pressure point is eliminated because the muzzle of the gun is no longer angled into her. Adding the wedge improved both her comfort and concealment. This is especially important for bigger people. Dad bods, mom bods, and folks who have a gut will especially benefit from holster wedges.

How To Tell if You Need a Holster Wedge

FILL and FULCRUM: Two Crucial Holster Wedge Concepts

Holster Wedge Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Read the PHLster Wedge Guide

Belt Pressure

Belt pressure is the foundation of most of the Concealment Mechanics we discuss on this page. A holster won't just magically conform to you and stay in place securely on its own. If you want it to hug tightly to your body for good concealment, it must have force applied to the outside of the holster. This force acts on the holster's concealment features (such as wings and wedges) in order to press the holster into you.

This is why so many people struggle to get good concealment with soft-sided holsters like bellybands, concealment leggings, and other concealment garments. Stretchy elastic may put pressure over the gun, but the lack of structure doesn't allow you fine control over the tilt and rotation of the holster.

The lack of structured pressure is also why holsters that clip to your clothing without a belt, such as Ulticlips and Fabriclips, don't conceal as well as they could. Clothing isn't designed to support a gun, and while you can certainly build concealment features into a beltless holster, they won't work very well without a belt. For example, if you try clipping a kydex holster with an Ulticlip to your jeans or leggings, you may find that instead of rotating the grip in, the wing merely pushes your pants out, and the gun continues to print.

As with most things about concealed carry, there are tradeoffs. Belt pressure is what gives you good concealment, but it can also cause muffin top. So it's worth reviewing all the Concealment Mechanics to make sure you're getting the best possible combination of features for your body shape. Getting your setup fully optimized will help reduce muffin top.

Keel Principle

The Keel Principle refers to adding length (or wedge) to the bottom of your holster to extend its length. Though counterintuitive, using a longer holster can actually be much more comfortable and concealable for many body types. This is especially true if you have a bit of a belly -- a bigger gut tends to push the gun's grip out more and make the muzzle dig in. Longer holsters also work better with holster wedges.

Guns with short muzzles can be top-heavy and difficult to conceal comfortably. To solve this, some holsters have extra length added to the muzzle end. If you're carrying a longer-muzzled gun or a revolver, adding extra length may not be necessary for you, but for short semiautomatic guns, it's often very helpful.

Note that while extra muzzle length reduces grip printing, it can increase muzzle printing, aka 'gundick,' which can be a concern with lower carry positions and tight fitting pants such as leggings or yoga pants. Longer holster length can also get in the way if your goal is deep carry -- carrying at or below the waistband.

Read the Keel Principle Blog

Deep Carry - Gun At or Below Waistband

Deep Carry is when you carry your gun at or below the waistband of your pants. This is an advanced concealed carry technique that requires some special considerations to be safe and practical. For some, deep carry is for special occasions only. For others, it's necessary for daily concealment challenges. While deep carry can be controversial, it is a valid concealed carry choice, as long as due consideration is given to the pros and cons, and you make an informed choice that's right for your lifestyle and level of commitment.

Deep carry isn't a new concept or practice, but the PHLster Enigma holster allows for new deep carry techniques that significantly change the discussion around deep carry. It's now possible to get the benefits of deep carry while giving up little in terms of draw speed, security, or safety. Pioneered by Rhett Neumayer of Demonstrated Concepts, LLC, these new techniques are game changers.

Why Deep Carry Your Firearm?

Typically, deep carry is used when you need extremely good concealment - way more than an average level of discretion. You may be carrying in an unfriendly environment where you absolutely do NOT want anyone seeing your gun. Or you may have challenging wardrobe conditions, such as a uniform that makes concealment difficult. You may have a job or lifestyle that puts you in close physical contact with people.

It's also more common for people with outlier body types to prefer deep carry. Not every body type has enough clothing drape at the waistline to make concealed carry easy. People with larger bellies, people with anterior pelvic tilt, petite women, pear shaped women, and extremely slim men may find that concealing a gun with traditional belt holsters just doesn't work. For some people, deep carry is the only way they can keep their gun hidden to the level of concealment they need.

How Do You Draw from a Deep Carry Holster?

The first question most folks have about carrying below the waistband is 'Isn't the draw slower?' Yes, it can be slower. How much slower, and how much does it matter? That depends on your technique and your wardrobe.

With correct technique and practice, deep concealment is about as slow as drawing from a tucked-in shirt. A well-trained concealed carrier might find that tucking a shirt in over their gun adds about 0.25-0.5 seconds to their typical appendix or strong side draw.

The current best practice for Enigma deep concealment technique was developed and tested by Rhett Neumayer, whose original tutorial videos are found below. While it requires extra practice and attention, these techniques are possible for people from all walks of life to master.

Older Deep Carry Resources

Original Deep Carry Draw Tutorial

Deep Carry Draw Tutorial and Lessons Learned

Deep Carry Gun Considerations - What Works and Why?

What are the Advantages of Deep Carry?

If you are willing to sacrifice some draw speed for deeper concealment, what do you get out of it? Basically, the ability to make your gun nearly undetectable in a wider variety of clothing. Whether or not this level of concealment is necessary for you depends on your individual concealment context. There are times when it may make sense for you to make sacrifices to get the level of concealment you need. Or you may decide that deep carry isn't worth it for you. As with many aspects of concealed carry, the answers will be highly individual and contextual. An informed choice is rarely a wrong choice, and it is okay to make sacrifices according to your priorities. Just keep in mind the reason you're carrying the gun in the first place, and make sure you can still get an acceptable level of performance under pressure.

What are the Disadvantages of Deep Carry?

While it has many benefits, deep carrying your gun also requires more training and commitment than traditional belt carry. On average, it takes more practice to get a safe and consistent deep carry draw. And depending on the body shape and wardrobe, you may lose draw speed (draw speed is important). While some of these disadvantages can be mitigated with proper deep carry technique, there's no free lunch. If you choose to experiment with deep carry, make sure to do so responsibly, and consider all the pros and cons.

Above all else, deep carry requires EXTREME attention to safe reholstering practices. You MUST be willing to commit the time and attention it takes to learn safe draw and reholstering technique and practice it EVERY TIME. While this is no different than the level of diligence it takes to carry a gun at all, deep carry garments can be harder to clear, and require more caution.

Deep Carry Dedicated Page Demonstrated Concepts YouTube

Tips for Concealed Carry Instructors

Instructors have an additional challenge - not only do they need to master the concealment challenges of their own body type, they also need to be a guide and reference for their students, who may have completely different body types, lifestyles, and experience levels. But fear not, the Concealment Mechanics principles give you a consistent, repeatable structure to guide your students to success. Take them through the same process: Sweet Spot, Poke and Check, grip rotation, and grip tuck. You can help them troubleshoot any issues that come up with the comfort video, gun size/body size match, and the Keel Principle.

All of the learning materials, images, and videos here are free for you to use in your classes. You may use our images and videos in your slides and powerpoint presentations. You may also print them out and hand them out to your students. We have a Concealment Mechanics ebook PDF and a Concealment Worksheet PDF that you may find helpful!

Credit is always appreciated, but not required. If you would like to include credit, please mention PHLster Holsters, or link to: https://www.phlsterholsters.com/how-to-conceal-a-gun-comfortably-and-safely

We also highly recommend joining the PHLster Concealment Workshop community on Facebook. With 35,000 members, you will see a huge variety of body types, carry positions, and interesting concealment challenges. After hanging out in the Workshop for a while, you'll develop a good eye for how to help people reach their concealment goals.

Concealment Mechanics Ebook (PDF) Concealment Worksheet (PDF) PHLster Concealment Workshop

Glossary of Concealed Carry Terms

What Is Printing?

Model: Jeff Bloovman of Armed Dynamics

Printing is when the outline of your gun shows through your clothing. It may look like an obvious gun, or it may be more subtle, like a corner poking out where your shirt should be smooth, or a lopsided shape that disrupts your silhouette. Even if it's not obviously gun shaped, printing can make people stop and take a second look at you to try to figure out why you don't look quite right.

Impress your friends and daunt your enemies by using the correct terminology. It's 'printing,' NOT 'imprinting.'

When your gun is completely hidden inside the envelope of space between your clothing and your body, it's concealed. Note that concealment is dynamic, and it can change when you move, reach, or bend. To test your concealment, take a video of yourself moving around and see if you can spot the gun.

What Part of the Gun Is The "Grip?"

Your gun's grip is the part you hold. Some folks call it a handle, but 'grip' is more technically correct (which is the best kind of correct).

If your grip is printing, try a holster wing, which helps rotate the grip towards your body for better concealment.

What Does 12 or 3:00 Carry Mean?

Imagine standing in the center of a clock. We use clock positions to describe your carry position, or where the gun is located on the body. For example, if you're carrying a gun on your right side, it would be at 3 o'clock. If you're carrying behind the left hip, the gun may be located at 8:00. And for appendix carry (defined in detail below), most people keep the gun between 10:30 and 2:30.

What Is "Appendix Carry?"

Imagine standing in the center of a clock. Appendix carry (named after the vestigial organ) means carrying the gun on the front of your body, generally between about 2:30 and 10:30. 'AIWB' stands for 'appendix inside the waistband.'

Contrary to popular belief, appendix carry does NOT necessarily mean carrying the gun at 12:00, directly on your center line. While that carry position works for some body types, the majority of people will find the most comfort and concealment by moving the gun further toward their strong side (defined in the next section). To find your ideal appendix carry position, you need to find your body's concealment Sweet Spot.

With a properly sized gun and properly positioned appendix carry holster, you should be able to comfortably sit, squat, and perform a full range of athletic motion.

What Is Strong Side Carry? Which Hand Is My Strong Hand?

Your 'strong hand' refers to your dominant hand. If you're right handed, your strong hand is your right hand, and if you're left handed, your strong hand is your left hand.

Imagine standing in the center of a clock. We use clock positions to describe your carry position, or where the gun is located on the body. So when we refer to 'strong side carry,' we mean the gun is located on your body near your strong hand. So 3:00 carry would be strong side carry for a right handed person, and 9:00 carry would be strong side carry for a left handed person.

Frequently Asked Questions