Concealment is a Process

Concealment does not exclusively come from this gear or that holster. Anything you buy is going to require at least some amount of customization. Fitting a gun onto your body is not exactly intuitive, and knowing how to customize even the best holster to your body isn’t always simple. Customizing to YOUR body becomes a lot easier with at least a base level of knowledge on how and what makes concealment happen. Sarah Hauptman talks about the “press check” in part 2 of her Concealment Principles series over on PhillyEDC. Essentially, look at your concealment and poke at the spots that may need to be hidden more affectively. Maybe your grip needs more tucking, maybe your grip is great but the top of your rear sight is printing, or maybe everything above your waistband is concealing just fine, but you’re experiencing a rather undesirable bulge below your belt. Each of those problems have very different solutions, and although certain holster come with concealment features like a wing or even a built in wedge, more than likely you will still have some customizing to do.

I am ALWAYS tweaking my set up, and trying new things. Sometimes I have to place my holster slightly more to my center or strong side depending on what jeans or what top I’m wearing, sometimes I play with small wedges or opt for more aggressive grip tuck.

When you get a new IWB holster in and you put it on, it may not work for you right away. Keep in mind that this very well may not be a reflection of the holsters quality, but rather that you need to take time to tweak it to your body. We are all very unique shapes and sizes.

For example: My husbands holster and my holster may be the exact same holster, but he uses an aggressive wedge on his muzzle to tuck in his rear sight, but I don’t need that aggressive wedge, I need a lot of grip tuck. Same holster, different guns, very different body shapes, different clothing choices and different concealment features added for customization. Be patient and put in the time it takes to customize your set up to your body shape.