Beltless Clips and their Foundation
Q: What holster is best for carrying without a belt?
This question winds up in my messages very frequently. So Iโd like to answer it here for you. ๐ผ ๐๐ค๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ฎ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฅ. The clips, the foundation that youโre attaching them to, and the gun are what make or break beltless carry.
Clips: These are behind the belt clips from @discreetcarryconcepts (Mod 4 universal). They hold on for dear life and I never have to be concerned with them letting go of their foundation. I prefer these to any other beltless clips such as the fabriclip or ulticlip. Off topic, but still useful: FOMI CLIPS ARE CRAP AND SHOULD NEVER BE WORN WITHOUT A BELT. Phew, glad I got that off my chest...now back to the point...
The Foundation: this is SO key. Attaching the pictured set up to basketball shorts would result in my holster eventually flipping outside of my pants and upside down. Which is unsafe in and of itself, but it could also result in your chambered firearm falling out of the holster and onto the floor...certainly less than ideal, and truly just unacceptable. The pants in this photo are mid rise and theyโre even a bit loose on me, theyโre not ideal for beltless carry, but theyโre what Iโm wearing today. Ideally you would be wearing something with a thick enough waistband that is also rigid (like a non stretchy Jean) and tight fitting to keep the gun/holster close to your body. This also helps to prevent the flipping holster/gun scenario we talked about with the basketball shorts.
Gun: There are certain size firearms that just do not allow you to safely carry without a belt (in my opinion). For instance, my 48 loaded with 15+1 is just way too heavy to carry without the support of a belt, regardless of the clips or the foundation.
Carrying with a belt is ideal, but itโs also not always the reality, and I get that. Iโve been having some pretty pressing back pain as of lately so downsizing to my 42 without a belt these last two days has been helpful to avoid my back from flaring up while still allowing me to carry.