Non-permissive Environment

There are numerous places that prohibit an ordinary citizen with a valid CCW permit from carrying.  Excluding such places like police stations, jails, and other location with metal detectors there still remains a non-trivial number of locations.

These places could be where you work, stores you shop at, places you go for entrainment or medical treatment, all of which say guns are prohibited.  You may find yourself out-of-state without a reciprocal agreement on CCW, or in communities that simply ignore the law.

It is inherent that being forcibly disarmed makes you even more of a target.  An out-of-state plate or a rental car bumper stick can attract unwanted attention.  Moving towards or away from a tourist destination may signal you are disarmed. 

What option does the aware person have?

While I would never suggest breaking the law, I recall the wisdom of growing up on the south side of Chicago:  If you’re going break the law, don’t be obvious about it.

Wear it under the sock!  

One solution is the ankle holster.  Your gun is not on your waist, under an arm or in a pocket.  When standing, properly fitted pants drape over and hide the weapon.  Sitting becomes a problem as slacks ride up.  As I write this, my ankle holster is nicely concealed when standing, but when seated an interesting bulge appears on my left ankle.  Of course, wearing shorts is out of the question.

The extra weight and perhaps discomfort can throw off your stride and a number of people take pride in their ability to see gun concealment clues, like a broken stride, pulling your pants up or inappropriate dress.

Are these other options?

Belly bands also have better than average hiding power, if the gun is sized right and you are dressed to accommodate it.

Pocket holsters also have an advantage.  Many have a shield that breaks up the outline in your pocket and helps retain the holster during a draw.  They quickly become useless then seated and prevent the pocket from carrying anything other than the holstered gun.

Perhaps the best concealment and slowest to access is the compression holster shirt (CHS).  Several manufacturers sell them.  I use a black CSH from CCWTAC.com and a white one from 511.

Black CCWTAC shirt.  I don't have a body builder model, but I have IDPA targets..

Both are basically compression shirts with two very deep pockets located just under each pectoral muscle, sliding under the arm and over the ribs.  CHS usually have additional reinforced support  to keep the gun from leaning out or sagging away from the body.

5.11 white shirt
The construction of these two different brands looks identical, just an observation,

The pockets are padded on the rib side to prevent the levers, release and what nots from being crushed into the ribs.  Here too a little thought is required on your part, the smoother the side of the firearm the more comfortable it will be.

Firearm size is a factor as well.  While the pocket holds both large and small frame guns, smaller semi-autos are typically easier to conceal but harder to shoot effectively over distance.  Balancing anticipated needs and concealability I carried a Taurus PT738 for three days.  The gun slides all the way down to the bottom of the pocket.  A spare magazine was carried in the right pocket.  Here are few observations.

The right pocket is open and it's a long way to small gun.  Both shirts used Velcro to seal the pocket and help pull the gun against the ribs. 

Both manufacturers recommend you order a size smaller than the tee-shirt you wear.  That was too small for me.  I felt like pound of hamburger on the quarter pound bun.  I reordered in a LX, my normal size and that worked fine.

The 5.11 had a crewneck that took hours to get used to.  I constantly felt I was being strangled.  The CCWTAC had a V-neck and that worked much better for me.

The gun is difficult to draw from either.  You need to reach way down and grab it.  With my large hands that was difficult and very show.  Clearly this is not a competition holster set up for speed.

You will cross yourself with the muzzle if you don’t get your arm out of the way.  Being a righty, I needed to move my left arm up as if I was brushing hair off my left ear.  This is the same component I use drawing from a shoulder holster.  No, you can’t be cool and promise yourself finger off trigger.  Pulling a small gun out of these shirt pockets has a certain amount of fumbleness inherent to it.  Taking an accidental round to the brachial artery and blowing away chunks of muscle will have a serious impact on your survivability.

You need a cover garment.  An open shirt works well in the summer and a button front will have to suffice in cold weather or for dressier occasions.  It is almost impossible to perform a Hackathorn rip and pull the edge of a pullover shirt high enough to access the gun.  Since the draw is so slow, you need to accomplish it with a minimum of fuss and notice.  Simply opening your shirt allows access with a minimum of fuss.

I use both a white and a black concealment shirt.  The white was significantly cooler.  I was impressed how, even sitting in an air conditioned car, the black shirt soaked up sunlight and became uncomfortable.  I suggest you wear a cover shirt that minimizes the contrast between the cover garment and the holster shirt.

By the end of the day I had gotten use to the compression shirt and no longer felt like I was overflowing the shirt.  I was equally glad to get out of them at the end of the day.

Both shirts rinsed out well and were almost ready to wear the next day.  I found a way to hang it near the hotel room’s AC unit and it dried nicely.  I suggest a minimum of two CHS for a multi-day trip.

CHS may also be the answer to a BUG in permissive locations.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways, Because of the slow draw stroke, you must be hyper aware of your surroundings.