Outdoor Sports

Do Shirt Firearm Holsters Work?

In my last job as a SEAL, I had to carry concealed weapons as part of my duties. I didn’t go anywhere without a least two weapons.  As the popular Navy SEAL saying goes: “Two is one and one is none.”

Most of the areas that I had to carry in were very dangerous.  To define dangerous, in some of the places that I had to carry, if a “good guy” noticed my gun, I was headed straight to a foreign jail , and if a “bad guy” noticed my gun, I was headed straight to a shootout.  For these reasons , I needed to avoid both of those dangerous scenarios.

I give this background to ensure the readers that the opinions that I share come from experience and not from theoretical musings.  Take notice that I use the word “opinions” as I use that word purposefully.  I will never claim that what I teach or write about is the right way or only way to do something.  What I will claim is that my opinions are based on experience and significant thought and research.

Ways to Carry a Concealed Handgun

There are many ways to carry a concealed handgun and all of these come with their individual pros and cons .  It is important to think about the positives and negatives of each as well as your expected use before you decide your individual course of action.  I am going to cover the use of “holster shirts” and the limitations that I see in their use.

I stick to discussions around defensive firearms use as a primary concern.  I define defensive firearms use as using a weapon to stop or deter a lethal threat to your life or another’s life.  I am not going to discuss these topics from a weekend range shooter, or a competitor shooter’s point of view.

Holster Shirts

“Holster shirts” come in many shapes and sizes; most are tight and are meant to be worn under another shirt, while others are normal shirts with holsters stitched into their construction.

The one capability (pro) that I see with using a tight undershirt type of carry is that they provide for very good concealment of the firearm.  You generally do not have to worry about “printing” (being able to see the outline of a firearm under your clothes) with these types of holsters.

The one positive capability is outweighed by the many limitations:

-       Slow on the draw – the more secure something is, the slower it is to get to!

-       Sweeping others  –Crossdraw rigs require that the weapon starts out facing the wrong direction and that results in the “sweeping” (intentional or unintentional pointing of the weapon) 180 degrees, which can pose many dangers in public.

-       Sweeping yourself – another limitation of crossdraw rigs is that it is very difficult to remove a weapon pointing backwards from under your arm without “sweeping” your own arm.

-       No close quarters options – when you have to draw across your body, it does not take much for the bad guy to trap your weapon against your body.

-       Requires a different physical actions from traditional weapons presentations.

Whatever you practice the most you will do

This last point is the most important.  Whatever you practice the most you will do in high stress situations. This means that if you practice nothing, you will do nothing…can you say, “deer in the headlights?”

So if you have always practice your firearm training and weapons presentation out of your favorite outside the waistband hip holster, but you carry your firearm in your long underwear shirt, be prepared for a surprise when the rubber meets the road.

My favorite story is that of my SEAL buddy who always had the newest gear .  His home looked like a cross between REI and a Police equipment store.

With all the options he had to choose from , he was always changing his gear around.  He decided that having a pistol on his belt was not cool enough so he mounted it on the front of his load bearing equipment.  His theory was sound and it did make it more comfortable to sit in a car, but I saw an opportunity to make some easy money.

He was incredibly fast with his pistol and would constantly beat me.  So I proposed a challenge : one shot with our Car-15s and then a weapons transition to our pistols for the second shot . Whoever won would get $100.  That much money would be sure to add to the stress level I knew I needed to create for him.

We lined up and the starting buzzer sounded.  Off he blazed with his rifle, he beat me by at least half a second , then a quick transition; his hand beat mine to the pistol by a good bit.  Yet, I walked away with a smile and $100.

Why?

His hand may have been faster , but he was left grasping for a pistol on his hip that wasn’t there anymore .  I will never forget the confused look on his face as he looked down and realized that his pistol was not where his muscle memory remembers it being , it was sitting on his chest instead.

The point of this story is to plan ahead, and practice your gun training; when getting attacked is not the time to start developing muscle memory.

About the Author

Lt. (ret) Lawrence Yatch, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Navy SEALs, has been a leader while serving in extreme environments around the globe. Mr. Yatch planned and led his SEAL platoons in the assault on the world’s largest oil platform in the most extensive Special Operations mission in history during the opening night of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the commercial sector, Mr. Yatch has provided security and operational management guidance to international architecture firms, high net worth individuals, the Motion Picture Association of America, Walt Disney, SONY, FOX and Warner Brothers Studios.

Thigh Holster (for women’s concealed carry)

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