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Lou,
I wear a suit all day and often I just leave my coat on its hanger. I have a Kimber Ultra Carry II and I am wondering if there really is such a thing as a "good" tuckable holster. Or should I just go with an ankle?

I just do not want to buy into another trend. It would appear that you do not carry one? True? Reason?
All feel free to chime in...
Thanks CJ

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Rev 1:8 "I am the alpha and omega" say the Lord, "I am what was, what is and what is to come..."

Good for you! Perhaps he can be nudged into making one if he doesn't already do so. And perhaps it can even be based on his Talon J-clips, which to my mind are the best fasteners by far. I wish they had tuckability.

My usual mode of dress is similar to yours. Mostly I wear a dress shirt tucked into my pants. When I wear a suit or a sport jacket I need to be able to remove the jacket. So I want what you want: an IWB shirt tucker, without belt loops or any other tells, and I want my belt to cover the clips.

The most workable holster I've found so far to meet those requirements is the Milt Sparks Versa Max II. Its Kydex J-clips are what does the trick. Blouse the shirt a little all around the belt (to compensate visually for the holster's volume) and the pistol virtually disappears within the shirt. An added feature is that the Kydex clips are available for every belt size. Unfortunately the VM II is dreadful to put on and take off. After a couple of years wrestling with it I put mine aside (actually I have several of them, in each 1911 size and for other handguns too).

I then tried Alessi's Talon Plus as a semi-demi-hemi-shirt tucker. It is possible to blouse a shirt around it but it's asking the Talon Plus to do what it wasn't intended to do. I found myself checking to see that nothing was becoming exposed. I do admire its clips though. They're much easier to manipulate than Milt Sparks' and they're among the great inventions of our time. (I exaggerate just a little.) An especially nice feature of Alessi's Talon clip is that it doesn't depend on the belt for support, so a Talon can be clipped to casual pants or shorts without a belt but with an untucked shirt. That's good versatility. But it's not a shirt tucker.

I've come to depend on pocket carry with small pistols. Presentation is slower for me from a pocket holster than from a shirt tucker, and a shirt tucker is slower for me than an OWB holster. But for me an OWB holster is suitable only for the range. It is flatly unsuitable for the ways I must dress daily and, I gather, for your daily dress too.

If Alessi made a good shirt tucker with his Talon clips I'd leap at it for several different handguns: all 1911 sizes, all Glock, and various others. Or if Alessi doesn't have one and isn't interested in doing one I'd certainly give serious consideration to entries from other first rate holster makers. I'd even volunteer to be a guinea pig/tester for them. I believe that the market potential is much greater than just the two of us.

Hey Lou,
See you would have a huge number of sales!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please make a tuckable holster.

Lester

Keep up the good suggestions. will cost me more money also. The wait for them will also increase. well that is life.

Tony

Cape Canaveral, Florida

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Tony T
The only guns I like are those with triggers..

Personally, I doubt I'll ever be able to wear a tuckable , but I agree with Robert that the Talon clip is perfect to mount a holster of that type, and that the demand is there . Would the Watch Six Dual Talon be a more suitable platform for a tuckable rig though ? What say you Lou ? ...Tom

in your dress environment i strongly recomend this setup..

http://www.thunderwear.com

some people think it s to slow ect. i gaurantee you i can beat someone on the draw using a tuckable strong side holster.!! every time.

but the only drawback. is to make it 100% non noticeable you have to use a smith jframe or keltec, kahr. that is as wide as you can get. even guns like baby glocks get kinda wide.especially for dress pants.

not dissin the tuckable by lou, just given you guys another outlook.

worst case scenerio. its only like $50.00 or something. you could sell it or just eat the cost...

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm just not interested in changing my life so drastically: my carry weapon, its caliber, its container, and its mode of carry all at once. In fact I've tried Thunderwear. It's probably the single most uncomfortable contraption I've ever had on my body. It reminded me of why I chose not to be a kangaroo. I'm pretty happy as things are now and I'm trying to increase my effectiveness. Besides, some of the fine pistolsmiths here such as Ted Yost and Don Williams have been kind enough to provide me with really fine pistols and Lou Alessi has supplied me with really fine leather. I wouldn't risk giving them offense by turning my back on their work.

(I work for brownie points. )

You're devious. I respect that in a man.

I have a Rosen Workman holster for my Kahr pistols and I am honest when I say I do not care for tuckables. Regards, Richard

I’ve never used a tuckable holster (never saw the need) but I would love to hear what Mr. Alessi’s thoughts on them are.

I can't get too enthused about the concept of tuckable holsters, particularly as they are being offered as a strong side holster by various makers.
My concept of a tuckable holster would be a holster that can be worn up front with a smaller gun. Something like our APX holster could evolve into a tuckable design very easily. My thinking is that it is much easier to pull the shirt up and out of the way with the weak hand with the holster positioned at the front of the body, as opposed to having to reach around to the strong side, or trying to pull the shirt out with the strong hand if the week hand is being used to fend off an attacker, or that hand is otherwise occupied.

I haven't seen a tuckable yet that doesn't allow the gun to print through a dress shirt during normal movement like reaching, bending, etc.
I imagine a heavy shirt would hide a tuckable just fine, but most of the people I have seen asking for tuckable holsters are people who are working in an office enviroment in business casual clothes.

Actually, an ankle holster is probably better suited for this type of enviroment. They actually hide better, and can be more comfortable for all day wear.

I think most people expect too much from a holster like this. If the guns were kept to a specific size, like J frames, or small semi autos, it can be pulled off, but then people expect things like reinforced mouth bands, and being able to get a perfect combat grip on the weapon for presentation, etc.. I think total concealment (if that is the goal) should be the first priority.
If, as a civilian, I thought I would need to wear a tuckable holster, my last concern would be the ability to reholster the gun.

I might be all wet here, but why would reholstering be a consideration with a deep cover holster?
I would think that the holster should be as thin as possible, and the gun should ride as deep as possible to effect complete concealment.
I also think that the appendix position would be a perfect place to hide a tuckable holster.

Lou

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Alessi Holsters, Inc.
You'll never know it's there, until you need it...

Lou I agree with you. I am also willing to T&E a tuckable APX for a S&W 642. Your APX has go t to be one of my favorite holsters for this Texas heat. I've even been known to use the APX for carrying my BUG with my 220 on the strong side hip.

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And this eternal resting place Is known as Fiddlers' Green.

Lou is right on the money about this. We have discussed this type of carry at length. There is no way that you can carry a tuckable behind the hip and get it out before you would get your head smashed in, shot, or get the crap beat out of you. Even wearing the thing right on the hip is problematic. In my opinion these holsters are a gimmick.

The only way this mode of carry works is when worn in front of the hip with a small gun (i.e. J frame, PPK, PM9). An added advantage to wearing one of these in front of the hip, is that you can actually tuck the shirt around the holster without too much trouble. You can actually get the gun out fairly quick with a limited range of motion, considering you have to rip your shirt out from around the gun. But this brings up another problem. If you have to draw under stress, what happens when your shirt gets caught up around the gun? You've got a serious problem on your hands, that's what.

A tuckable should be a single layer of leather, with no stiffener. The holster should have the gun offset the inside. The holster should be either a vertical drop, or with the muzzle slightly forward and worn at 2 O'clock. The belt attachment should be off to the front of the holster body and positioned as such that the gun rides very deep. That is why a revolver is such a good choice. The angle and shape of the grip allows the gun to sit deeper in the trousers while still affording the wearer a grip (more so than an auto of the same size).
The Talon Clip would be a great choice do to the thin profile, whereas a standard snap loop would tend to print. Plus, the clip would be hidden behind the belt to further camouflage the holster and gun.

I've been working on a prototype with the talon clip. When I get some time to finalize one, I'll post some pictures for those that are interested.
Josh

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Bulman Gunleather
http://www.bulmangunleather.com
(814)696-8615

Love to see that Josh.

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Heirloom Precision, LLC.
480-804-1911

"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
- General George Patton Jr

I pretty much share the same opinion as Lou and Josh. Louie and I have had more than one conversation about real life concealment and the role tuckable holsters can/should play and I will echo his recommendation of an ankle holster.

The biggest problem I have with tuckable rigs is that they are simply too concealed and thus don’t offer what I would consider even the smallest amount of adequate draw speed. There is simply too much covering the gun and, as Josh pointed out, a weapon worn behind the hip in a “tucked” rig can be next to impossible to access with any expedience. A tuckable rig worn on a strong side hip is just too slow into action and one would be much better served with a pocket holster, assuming of course one could not wear a gun in a more conventional mode of concealment.

For those who can’t wear a pocket holster or conventional belt mounted rig ankle rigs are the about the best option. Ankle rigs are super easy to dress around and, while the draw speed may not be as fast as a good OWB or IWB, throughout my experience they offer a much easier and potentially faster presentation than any tuckable rig I’ve ever played with.


Josh – I would love to hear more about the prototype you mentioned.

I was wondering after reading this thread if maybe a tuck-able wouldn't be better suited worn cross draw at 9:30-10:00. As for comfort it would have to be better than 4:00 strong side plus you are drawing attention away from what is going on when you reach across to weak side.

It also puts your grip close and in tight where you want it. Maybe I am all wet and missing something But Josh if you get a proto-type made up I would be more than happy to run through it's paces. If I'm crazy feel free to tell me so!!!!!!!

Gary

I know Galco isn't a custom holster so I probably shouldn't be asking here but, has anyone tried the Skyops. I actually liked mine as a civie but agree getting it out in a hurry would be a real problem/

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The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there.

yeah, i think at that point you have just a good of a chance with an ankle rig or a smartcarry/thunderwear....

Tuckable holsters seem best suited for appendix carry (1-2 Oclock) for
right handed people.

The left hand pulls the shirt up, the right hand goes for the gun and
the rest of the draw is the same. AIWB is pretty fast and can be a good
thing for people whose shoulder motion is limited.

AIWB is a bit un-nerving at first since your gun points, well, at your gun.

You def. need to practice.

Velcro lined belt with clips that have a velcro tab (comp-tac v-clip) really
keeps these things out of sight. (Or so I'm told. I still use a clip to
secure the holster to the belt...)