Best Way To Conceal For a Small Guy

[Milspec]

I use a SmartCarry too. Holds my HK .45 USP compact & two spare mags...no problem. Even with jeans and a tucked in T-shirt it's impossible to spot. Plus you can swing it around so the gun's behind your hip...works just fine.

Milspec

[LongRider]

Originally Posted by Running Arrow Bill

HOWEVER, for a small guy that doesn't wear oversized jeans or shirts and who doesn't have a "potbelly" to help hide the gun, I can't see it would work for me...unfortunately.

I don't wear T-Shirts or pullover shirts for outerwear. Shirt is always tucked in.

I am about the same stature as you smaller actually. To my knowledge I have not been made on nearly forty years. Currently I carry an XD .45 compact in a custom holster just over my right rear pocket, either OWB or IWB depending on the season and what I am wearing
IMO you may want to reconsider your priorities

Shirt is always tucked in
doesn't wear oversized jeans or shirts

If making a fashion statement is your major concern than you will always have problems carrying concealed. I have had this very same discussion with my wife. The fact is that you have chosen to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Doing so IMO requires a evaluation of all of your priorities. Everything from how you dress to how you carry yourself and interact with others. You can be true to who and what you are or true to your look and image
Again IMO It's easy. Relax, you don't want to stand out. Blend in wear relaxed fitting clothing. Consider wearing a medium T-shirt untucked or if you tuck it in wear a flannel shirt over it unbuttoned. Get some looser jeans. It is not a big deal. No one is suggesting that you adapt the baggy jeans show your underwear wanna be thug look. But do consider WHY thugs dress the way they do. It was not a fashion statement.

Or take the hard line and insist on whatever you feel must be your fashion statement and style.

[Running Arrow Bill]

Originally Posted by LongRider

I am about the same stature as you smaller actually. To my knowledge I have not been made on nearly forty years. Currently I carry an XD .45 compact in a custom holster just over my right rear pocket, either OWB or IWB depending on the season and what I am wearing
IMO you may want to reconsider your priorities

If making a fashion statement is your major concern than you will always have problems carrying concealed. I have had this very same discussion with my wife. The fact is that you have chosen to carry a concealed deadly weapon. Doing so IMO requires a evaluation of all of your priorities. Everything from how you dress to how you carry yourself and interact with others. You can be true to who and what you are or true to your look and image
Again IMO It's easy. Relax, you don't want to stand out. Blend in wear relaxed fitting clothing. Consider wearing a medium T-shirt untucked or if you tuck it in wear a flannel shirt over it unbuttoned. Get some looser jeans. It is not a big deal. No one is suggesting that you adapt the baggy jeans show your underwear wanna be thug look. But do consider WHY thugs dress the way they do. It was not a fashion statement.

Or take the hard line and insist on whatever you feel must be your fashion statement and style.

I'll assure you my situation has NOTHING to do with a "Fashion Statement". It is strictly a safe way to dress in what I do: Work & manage Longhorn cattle, mow pastures with tractor, move hay bales with tractor, etc., etc. Wearing baggy or oversized clothing would create a safety hazard using machinery, not to mention the chance of something oversized getting caught on barb wire when I was trying to qickly get out of a pen for whatever reason. On the other hand, my idea of "comfortable clothes" is wearing clothes that fit and allow me to do the chores I need to do without having to worry that they will get hung up on something creating a safety hazard. On a side note: More than once even with the clothes I wear, I have accidentally caught my jacket (in winter) on a tractor hydraulic lever...fortunately no accident occurred. Since then I am overly cautious about what I wear for both comfort and safety issues.

All said and done, I am now leaning toward using a "belly band" type holster and buying a smaller framed handgun to carry in summer when I can't wear a vest or jacket...possibly a compact or sub-compact 9 mm or even another .40.

[Ryan H]

I'm 5' 7" and 140 lbs, aka short and skinny. My Kahr P40 completely disappears on my hip even wearing a rather small shirt. I carry it in a basic Uncle Mike's padded IWB holster. I carry this when clothing does not permit carrying my 1911.

Now on to the 1911- I carry that in a Galco IWB leather holster which clips to the outside of the belt. I must wear a slightly larger shirt than normal however it also disappears as long as I cant it so the grip doesn't "hang" out from behind. I also find that drawing is quicker in this position so its basically win-win. I carry my full size Kimber Custom II with me wherever I go in normal clothing and have never been made. This is in the hot FL sun as well.

I have a few trustworthy friends who after sharing with them this secret, all have been taken aback. None of them ever knew or even considered that I may have a pistol on me- let alone a full size 1911!

[Stiofan]

I'm 5'8", and I carry only one gun, summer and winter. It's a Ruger LCP carried in my front weak side pocket. It pretty much disappears in my wranglers. Summer time I'm wearing cargo hiking shorts and a tee shirt.

I never carry IWB or OWB as I can't stand dressing around my CCW. I know a lot of people have no problem with belt carry, I do though so my solution works for me.

[utimmer43]

Originally Posted by Running Arrow Bill

All said and done, I am now leaning toward using a "belly band" type holster and buying a smaller framed handgun to carry in summer when I can't wear a vest or jacket...possibly a compact or sub-compact 9 mm or even another .40.

I do have a belly band, but I would seldom recomend it to someone else. I'm not too crazy about the constant constriction around my waist. Plus it is like a layer of insulation. In the winter that isn't too bad, but in even 40-50 degree weather it makes me sweat, AND then absorbs it. I go home with a wet gun everyday. Plus, like you I tuck in my shirt at work. This means that if I must draw, I have to pull my shirt tail out to get to the gun. This is why I am saving up for a Rohrbaugh 9mm to carry in a wallet holster. I don't really care for stuff in my pockets either, but for me, that is easier to deal with than the 5" of elastic around my waist all day.

Originally Posted by Stiofan

...It's a Ruger LCP carried in my front weak side pocket...

Just curious, why in the weak side pocket? That seems like a difficult place to draw and take aim from.

[LongRider]

Originally Posted by Running Arrow Bill

On the other hand, my idea of "comfortable clothes" is wearing clothes that fit and allow me to do the chores I need to do without having to worry that they will get hung up on something creating a safety hazard.

That being the case I really do not see a problem. Maybe I am being unclear I did NOT suggest you wear baggy thug style clothes but for your size say about 30 waist pants and a medium size T-shirt should be comfortable work clothes loose enough to work in with out being so baggy that they are hazard. You don't want to look like a thug with the saggy draws but you don't want to be Elvis printing your package either. A relaxed fit that is comfortable and safe to work in should be loose fitting enough to conceal a compact XD.45. At least that is what works for me, with a good quality custom holster made to fit your gun. If you insist on tucking your shirt in be sure that you gets a tuckable IWB holster and you should be fine. If you use cheap off the shelf holsters you will always have problems be it with concealment, fit, draw or retention. I would suggest the guy that made my holsters but as of late he has had some credibility problems coming through with what he promises