Shoulder Holsters

To supplement my income I provide a taxi service for the senior citizens in my building, taking them shopping, to their doctor, etc. Some of the clients formerly lived in the questionable areas of town and still have contacts or obligations there. So sometimes I spend an hour or so sitting alone in my car in the gang-infested parts of the city, waiting for a client to finish his/her business. All this by way of explaining my search for a shoulder holster.

(I'll also mention that concealment is paramount: having a gun in my apartment building is grounds for eviction - and I hate moving. So I can't even let my passengers know I'm carrying.)

Though I can pocket carry (always in a suitable holster) my Ruger LCP or my Taurus Slim, I've learned that getting them out of my pocket while sitting in a car involves several contortions - movements I probably won't have time to make if suddenly confronted by a thug or a car-jacker.

For the same reasons, OWB and IWB are not solutions I can use.

So I've spent a lot of time searching for something that works. One case in point will illustrate the difficulty: Recently I purchased a DeSantis Patriot shoulder holster. This is nylon with nylon straps and while DeSantis makes many fine products donning this one felt like I was trying to insert myself into a spider web: so many adjustable straps and buckles and by the time I adjusted the straps to fit I had long ribbons of excess material going off in several directions. (Of course, I could have trimmed these once I had a proper fit.)

Couple that with the fact that properly adjusting most shoulder holsters requires two people and you get the idea.

When I was a juvenile delinquent I carried (for a while) a Marksman air pistol in a shoulder holster. All I remembered of it was that it was good leather and must have been easy to get on and off.

Finally found it: It's a U.S. Army M7 (really a chest holster) with a single strap that goes over your head and rests diagonally over your chest. Though made for larger guns (1911s) a holster not already stretched worked fine for my Slim.

The newer M9 holster also works. This has a single strap that goes on your left shoulder and a band that encircles your chest to keep everything in place.

Either can be concealed under a jacket, so long as you keep it zipped up enough to hide the strap.

More recently, I learned about the Kangaroo Carry holster. Very simple affair made of cotton cloth and velcro. I now have two of them: one will fit my Slim and my even larger Cougars; the other has a smaller pocket and is made for my LCP.

I won't try to describe them except to say they are comfortable, inexpensive and do the job. Pictures and more complete descriptions are on the wensite:
http://www.kangaroocarry.com/

As for the M7 and M9 holsters, replicas are made by several companies but I found the best buys on Ebay. Just search on "shoulder holsters" and you should find plenty at varying prices.

Really good shoulder holsters are expensive, like $100-150+ for a decent rig.

I still have a couple of shoulder holsters left over from my cop days long ago. One is a Bianchi 9R "Agent" upside down clamshell shoulder holster for a 2.5" K-frame model 66. That's a great holster for that gun and worked perfectly for me. Only downside is that it was picky on the type of grips you used on it. Luckily I preferred to carry with the stock small round-butt grips and just a Tyler "T" grip adapter which work fine with it. I'd still use it today except my wife confiscated that gun (it's now hers) and she likes larger Pachmayr grips which won't work with the holster.

I've also got a Bianchi X15 holster for a 4" revolver. It's the more traditional kind where the butt faces forward and the gun points down, parallel to your body. I no longer have the 4" revolver that I used with that holster, so it's been in the holster box for years.

Quick access when seated in a car is always difficult. Pretty much the only options are crossdraw and shoulder holsters.

Thanks, JC.

Expense is the lesser of two problems in finding the right holster. (No, I haven't won the lottery. Yet.)

Seems the guns I buy and wish to carry are just not mainstream enough for many holster manufacturers. That's one advantage of the Kangeroo: being cloth, the pocket for the gun isn't molded to a particular shape so it will fit a variety of weapons of roughly the same size.

Is ankle carry out of the question? That would be definatley easier for while you're in the car waiting.

Calvin wrote:

Is ankle carry out of the question? That would be definatley easier for while you're in the car waiting.

I've always thought there may be an ethical question about that: Should you remove your ankle gun before trying to kick someone's ass?

good stuff lance...i don't wear a holster because i don't wear a belt. this kangaroo holster might work for me & at those prices i can get more than one.

thanx,
TB

I too struggled with a method of carry that would be confortable every day. For several months I carried a Ruger LCP in my right front pocket, but I wanted something a bit bigger.
When I bought the Bersa UC 40 cal I also bought a Crossbreed holster which had been described to me as the most comfortable holster ever. Well being a bit overweight, it felt like it was pulling my pants down all the time so I sent it back.

I had a "Deep Concealment Shoulder holster" which is basically a 4 inch wide elastic band that goes around your chest with a cris cross elastic band over the shoulder and an elastic "holster" under the arm.
It worked fine but chafed and made me itch something aweful after all day wear.

Then I discovered the kanagroo holster. My wife is a seamstress and when I saw how simple the design was, I asked her if she would make me one. By the end of the day I had one, and after a few adjustments I am wearing it now. It keeps the pistol tucked tight against my left side and keeps it totally concealed under my regular shirts.

I tried wearing it without a T shirt but it got too uncomfortable too quickly so I wear a T shirt under it.

I think this is my perament carry rig because I can use it with any clothing I wear.
Dale

Dale:

Seems we think alike. I also wear my Kangeroo over a T-shirt and under a dress shirt or Dickie's work shirt.
On another forum, someone was bemoaning that he might have to rip off butons to get to his gun quickly. To each his own but my life is worth more than a few popped buttons.
Even so, my philosophy - no matter how I'm packing - is to first be aware of my surroundings and that means 360 degrees whenever possible. At the first inkling that something might be amiss, I put my hand in my pocket or unbutton my shirt.
Next step is to actually get my fingers around the butt of the gun.
Haven't reached the third step yet but when I do the gun will either be held in my lap or down at my side. And I always carry with one in the chamber.
No quick-draw, rack-slide-under-pressure stuff for me: I've gotten used to living and I hate change.

Hey how did you know I was wearing a Dickies work shirt?

I have never felt afraid or threatened and really carry mostly because I can. Also I was asked to carry at work because of an incident a couple years ago when a person came in and was very beligerant about not being hired.

I do the same thing, I learned in martial arts training and Army training not to count on being faster than an oponent. As I age that is even more true. I look around, I unbutton a button, I try to give myself the edge.

I don't ever intend to draw my weapon unless there is a real reason to do so, therefore, I would rip off all my buttons and make a trip to Walmart if I suvive the incident.

Dale

For about the first six months of owning a handgun, it was kind of hit or miss as to whether I carried it.
Then, in the parking lot of my apartment building, an elderly couple was car-jacked at knifepoint.
Within a week, there was an armed robbery of a couple in the parking lot of the apartments across the street.
Now, if I happen to leave the building without a weapon I'm uncomfortable until I go back and get one.

Dickies shirts are great for concealed carry: roomy enough for a shoulder holster and if you leave those long shirttails untucked they'll pretty much cover a front pocket. (I buy mine one size larger than I need so I'll have that roominess and the longer tais.)