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I echo the sentiment in this thread that you just have to experiment for yourself. KRM45's suggestion about borrowing or trying on an IWB holster is gold. When I was waiting for my CHL to arrive in the mail, I contemplated all of the different carry options and decided that IWB was the right fit for me. I personally use a Comp-tac Minotaur MTAC, which is a hybrid leather backing with a kydex shell. The leather makes it extremely comfortable and the kydex makes it sturdy and easy to draw/reholster. I think it would be safe to say that living in Texas means that the summers can get pretty toasty so cover garments aren't always possible. With my IWB I can easily carry a 3" 1911 wearing cargo shorts and just a t-shirt, with no worries about concealment or retention. I sometimes carry OWB at work, and I would have to admit that OWB is more comfortable than IWB. As always, depends on the person, depends on the gun, depends on your choice of clothing.

Many good ideas have been presented but whatever you decide to purchase it will probably not be your final or last holster purchase. The more often you carry and the more holsters you try will eventually help you decide which you prefer. Personally in the summer months I carry a smaller gun (ppks) and find an IWB quite comfortable and concealable. During the winter months I carry a 1911 in an OWB and find it just as comfortable and concealable. It took years of different carry options before I settled on my choices. I always enjoy buying a new holster though. I guess I might be old school because I prefer all leather as opposed to the kydex options. Carried a backup in a shoulder holster for years, but must admit it was only for convenience, not comfort or conceal ability.

Wow - What a great education!

Thanks to all for your knowledge and insight!

The effort to try before buying is right on the money. I've bought a number of holsters up to now without doing such with mixed results...not this time.

I dislike the look of an untucked shirt, but have taken up the habit whenever wearing an IWB or even a paddle-holster. After reading various posts regarding the Crossbreed brand I began experimenting (actual definition = barely figuring out what you all were talking about) and have found "tucking" to be esthetically (sp?) unpleasing.
If I want to wear a tucked shirt I wear my Kangaroo pouch or the T-shirt holster (can't remember the brand-name). Along with being slower to draw, the T-shirt holster also tends to drop a little bulge where the gun weighs it down towards my beltline. In order to make it less obvious (to me at least), I tend to compensate by pulling the shirt out and making it baggy around the sides.
Frankly, I do not see any viable way to wear an IWB holster with a tucked-in shirt. If my shirt is tucked-in, I want it to look nicely tucked, not bunched up around the holster (especially trying to rearrange it in the bathroom after standing up from the commode).

Purplehood wrote: ...Frankly, I do not see any viable way to wear an IWB holster with a tucked-in shirt. If my shirt is tucked-in, I want it to look nicely tucked, not bunched up around the holster (especially trying to rearrange it in the bathroom after standing up from the commode).

Hmmm. I have not encountered this problem with most of my shirts. I had one polo shirt with an extra long hem that is a bit of a problem, so I just gave it away. Sometimes I find it easier to tuck if I turn the hem of the shirt under, so that the part of the shirt between the holster and the pants is a double layer, instead of being a scrunched up single layer.

With my collared shirts, instead of actually tucking in the part right over the holster, I sometimes just turn the tail way under until there is just enough to let it hang ever so much over the top edge of my pants belt. As long as I tuck in the shirt to the front and rear of the holster, the part that is turned under but not tucked in pretty much stays in place. This works best with my collared shirt -- the bottom hem on collared shirts is cut differently than on my polos and t-shirts.

It was a bit of a struggle to figure out all this at first, but now I've worn it this way for almost three years, and have gotten pretty fast at getting it tucked in with a reasonable appearance.

I think my problem is that I am still learning to dress myself at age 50.

I am a small guy and I have a CZ 75 compact that I will be using for my CCW. I am 5'7 and 165lbs. Not a lot gets hidden on me. I wear a tucked in Polo style collared shirt to work. I usually don't tuck in my shirt outside of work unless I am going out for drinks-which I would not carry anyway. I can not carry at work so I'm not really worried about tucked-in carry but more casual carry. I mostly wear t-shirts and cargo shorts outside of work. I am hesitant to order any holster b/c I don't think I can hide a darn thing on my build. My pistol is not HUGE nor is it a pocket pistol. I am staying tuned to this thread for sure...I want to know how big you guys/gals are what your dress is and what position and type of holster you carry. I.E. what position=3 o'clock what cant or angle.

It's not as quick as a drop thigh holster but IWB is the most comfortable way to carry.

aardwolf wrote:It's not as quick as a drop thigh holster but IWB is the most comfortable way to carry.

Though I'm currently looking for a good OWB holster as well. Its comfortable and conceals well, but options never hurt.

Purplehood wrote:Frankly, I do not see any viable way to wear an IWB holster with a tucked-in shirt. If my shirt is tucked-in, I want it to look nicely tucked, not bunched up around the holster (especially trying to rearrange it in the bathroom after standing up from the commode).

Not all IWB holsters are effectively used with a tucked in shirt covering the pistol. It has to have a "tuckable" desigen on the belt attachment clips. If you have an IWB that is not made to be "tuckable" you do got a bunching of your shirt tail right at the point where the holster attaches to the belt. This compounds the already existing bulge from the pistol itself...expecially if you holster mounting clip is set directly on you holster. You can do it OK if you blouse out your shirt. It is certainly not ideal but it does work. I didn't care for it much but I don't think I was ever made.

A ShirtTucker and other "tuckable" designs are made to accomodate the shirt tail between the holster and the belt. It covers the pistol well and you do not have the gathering of material to attact attention or just look sloppy. With the tuckable design and the offset belt attachment clips fore and aft of the holster there is not bulge other than the actual thickness of your pistol plus the thickness of boths sides of the holster. Kydex tends to be thinner.

One can really look well dressed with a tuckable type.

Purplehood wrote:Frankly, I do not see any viable way to wear an IWB holster with a tucked-in shirt. If my shirt is tucked-in, I want it to look nicely tucked, not bunched up around the holster (especially trying to rearrange it in the bathroom after standing up from the commode).

IWB isn't too much different than an OWB holster with a tucked shirt but I think it looks sharper.

CWOOD wrote:

Purplehood wrote:Frankly, I do not see any viable way to wear an IWB holster with a tucked-in shirt. If my shirt is tucked-in, I want it to look nicely tucked, not bunched up around the holster (especially trying to rearrange it in the bathroom after standing up from the commode).

Not all IWB holsters are effectively used with a tucked in shirt covering the pistol. It has to have a "tuckable" desigen on the belt attachment clips. ...

Very good point! I had kinda of assumed we were all talking about tuckables at that point in the thread, but maybe not. The CTAC I use is a tuckable and works very well, and I do the shirt business as described above with it.

I carry IWB in an MTAC Minotaur from Comp-Tac most of the time. It is tuckable, although I never bother using that feature. The main reason I use that holster over several others I own is that it A) is comfortable; B) is stable (!); and C) conceals better than my other IWB pistols since it hugs the pistol closer in to my body than my Galcos, et. al. Also, it is reasonably comfortable to sit with, but not perfect because the front belt clip tends to poke me sometimes when I'm sitting. It doesn't poke me hard, but it is noticeable.

That said, I have chronic back issues, and on some days, IWB just isn't very comfortable. If it is bad enough, even the MTAC, which is otherwise a very comfortable IWB holster, isn't comfortable enough. For those occasions, I also own a couple of cheapie Fobus paddle holsters. They don't conceal my pistols as well because they stick out more to the side, and in the case of my 5" 1911, it is just a long pistol so I have to make sure that my covering garment is long enough. But, having just the paddle under my belt is better on those days than having the entire pistol under the belt. Even so, sometimes the paddle hurts too, so I am thinking of buying a good leather OWB holster.

You guys just totally lost me. I thought we were talking about concealing under the shirt. Sorry.

I assumed everyone was talking about an IWB holster and tucking the shirt over the pistol which did not make ANY sense to me. So when everyone was talking about a tuckable holster they are talking about the shirt being tucked in and the pistol being in between the tucked shirt and the waist line, like the picture. If that is the case the pistol is not concealed at all and you would need a cover garment like an OWB or shoulder holster. More pictures of body types and sizes and concealed pistols are a big help.