CCW Holster Quest
While shopping for a holster for concealed carry, I ran across this text that dispels some of the myths about shoulder holsters:
Myth: Shoulder holsters have no advantage.
Reality: The shoulder holster offers a number of specialized advantages. First, when wearing it, you don’t need a belt. In an emergency, you can throw it on your naked body and it’ll work (to a greater or lesser degree).
Second, holding the gun under the weak side arm, it is by definition one of the easiest holsters to draw from with the non-dominant hand, though you have to cross your own body with the muzzle to do it.
Hunters like the shoulder holster because it keeps the gun under garments and safe from inclement weather; because it distributes the weight of very heavy high-powered handguns, and because it puts the gun in a place where it’s less likely to snag on brush.
Myth: Shoulder holsters are uncomfortable.
Reality: That’s only true of the badly designed ones. A good, soft “figure eight” harness of wide leather or synthetic that has some stretch capability will allow easy carry for a 10-hour work shift or longer — if the hardware it carries is reasonably light. Avoid thin, stiff leather straps, or any straps that go across the back of the shoulders close to the neck.
Myth: Shoulder holsters are too slow to draw from.
Reality: Damn few professionals ever show up for a quick-draw match with a shoulder holster, but most quick draw matches begin with the contestant standing in a ready position. Started from a seated position, things change, particularly if you’re strapped in place by safety belts. This is why so many police, military pilots and chauffeur-bodyguards use the shoulder holster.
When danger threatens, it’s less of a giveaway to fold your arms and let your gun hand sneak onto the grip of your shoulder-holstered handgun than to reach behind your hip in a ready-to-draw position.
The holster in the picture is a Barsony brand. They have an online store on eBay.
